Psalm 119:17-24 His Word, our Reward

Psalm 119:17 “Deal bountifully with Your servant, That I may live and keep Your word.” (NASB)
Psalm 119:24 “Your testimonies also are my delight; They are my counselors. ” (NASB)

What is the prize or reward of a goal? Have you set any goals and attained them recently? This morning my goal was to get home despite the snow, sleet, and icing rain. Driving home required the careful, measured applications of power to my car, easy braking, and a careful awareness spread out as far as I could as to what all was going around me. The vehicles in the ditches on the side of the road gave evidence of people who had not really and truly taken as much care at their goal of achieving their destination as I had. Maybe they had made one mistake, taken their eyes off the road, or maybe their mental eyes left their mental goal for just a split second and they ended up in the ditch, in disaster.

This small portion of the 119th Psalm deals with the ideas of conveyance, travel, and rewards and prizes (both beneficial and detrimental). The Psalmist based this third 8-verse section (remember that big word from earlier? Octonory) on the letter “Gimmel” which literally means “Camel” and has the connotations of rewards and punishments, and carries the thought of a journey or a goal. David wrote dealing with goals. He set a goal at the end of the previous octonory, wanting to meditate on the Lord's precepts, contemplate His ways, delight in God's statutes, and never forget His word. (Psalm 119:15-16) I know this seems really dry and boring, but think about it! A goal was made and here we see David crying to the Lord to deal bountifully, to reward him so that he could live and keep God's word. The whole idea here is that the only way that anyone is able to keeps Gods word is only through the charity, and the reward of God no matter what hardships we are going through in life. The reward of journeying after his goal was finding joy and delight in the word of the Lord!

Joy! What a concept! That there is joy in what we perceive as the dry and boring topic of the laws and regulations of God and that His testimonies and precepts are counselors for every occasion - and not just any old counselors but more like mentors or royal advisers! In the 20th verse, David proclaims that His soul is consumed with longing for God's laws at all times! Yes, that's right, at all times meaning constantly! David did not see the law or studying God's word as boring or time consuming, he wanted to know it so badly that he lusted after it! And it gave him great joy to see all the wondrous things that come from it and all the great and mighty acts of God through it.

David had this goal before him and he sought it like no other with no worry or care where that seeking took him, which of course makes my goal this morning of getting home safely seem rather tame and timid. David set this as the goal of his life – not one or two days or weeks or months, but his entire life! This is a goal that he set before his son Solomon, who wrote “Every word of God proves true” (Proverbs 30:5a). Why don't we take David's lead in this as well, and choose to set this as our goal also: That you and I will be seeking, searching, dwelling, and abiding in God's word for the duration of our lives. It is a most worthy goal.

Priceless is thy treasure,
Book of grace divine,
Here, in love’s own measure,
God’s heart speaks to mine.

Joy my soul is swelling,
As these lines I scan;
God’s own message telling
Of His love for man.