"O how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day." (Psalm 119:97)

This emotional stanza in Psalm 119 bursts with passion for the Word of God. "How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" (Psalm 119:103).

Previously, David's 19th psalm opened with praise for the "speech" and "knowledge" available in "the heaven" (Psalm 19:1-6) and gave his most open praise for the "perfect" laws (Psalm 19:7) of God that are "more to be desired . . . than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb" (Psalm 19:10).

The focus of this particular stanza (Psalm 119:97-104) is on the practical effect that knowledge of the Word of God has had on the psalmist's ability to give a powerful witness.

• "Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me" (v. 98).
• "I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation" (v. 99).
• "I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts" (v. 100).

The excitement that comes with the "love" and the "sweet" taste of God's Word in a believer's life produces an assurance that results in a readiness to "give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you" (1 Peter 3:15). Indeed, since it is clear that "the weapons of our warfare are not carnal" (2 Corinthians 10:4), we should be all the more commited (as is the psalmist) to refrain "from every evil way" (Psalm 119:101), being sure that we do not depart from the "judgments" (v. 102), and that our understanding of the precepts ensures that we "hate every false way" (v. 104). HMM III