The Benefits of the Word

Throughout the Bible, we are told that God’s word is good for our souls. It brings us life, it revives us, it blesses us, it purifies us, in other words, it is vital for the Christian. We ought to give ourselves to it. Many Psalms tell us that the one who obeys or walks according to the word of God is “blessed”. In the Christian context, that word is thrown around a lot and I believe its meaning is not entirely grasped. To be “blessed”, is to be “happy”, to be favoured by God, to be in a state of “good”, “flourishment”, “growth”, wellbeing and contentment. It is to be a recipient of the blessings of the LORD. The blessings of the LORD, as opposed to his curses are better detailed in the book of Deuteronomy when Moses gave the word of the LORD including the outcome for obeying or disobeying it to the people (Deuteronomy 28). In my continuous reading of the Psalms, I am astounded at the benefits of the word of God and its essential nature in the life of the Christian while puzzling at the lack of importance we give to it in our day to day lives when we know what it does to us. My goal in this post is to stir our hearts to love the word of the LORD like the psalmist.

Psalm 119 is probably the psalm that extensively talks about and celebrates the word of God. The entire psalm is divided in twenty-two stanzas following the letter of the Hebrew alphabet (ESV Study Bible footnotes). It is difficult to read that psalm and miss the depth of love the psalmist has for the word of God. For the psalmist, it is a matter of life and death to have the word of God in his life; it is essential for his wellbeing and the prosperity of his soul. I was meditating on the first eight verses which is after the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet (Aleph) and I was amazed at how much can be conveyed in just few verses about the word of God. First, the word of God exists to be obeyed. The psalmist uses interchangeably “laws”, “precepts”, “statutes”, “decrees”, “commands” to mean the word of the LORD. God is the supreme ruler of the universe, as our creator and the One who made all things, whatever He says must be followed. Irrespective of His character, just on the basis of His might and omnipotence and having no comparison, He must be obeyed because He is above everything, and all things are under His subjection. Moreover, as the creator, He decides how His world functions, it is not up to the creatures to decide how things should be therefore if He decrees a thing to be, it should be as He decreed. God’s decrees should be obeyed by all. This is not just something that must be done by the Christian, it is for all creatures. Jesus taught us to pray that the Father’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). There is a tension in the world we live in because it is in rebellion with the mighty God which stems from the original sin but Jesus reminds us that we ought to pray rightly by asking that God’s will be done on this side of the world as it is in heaven where there is no discussion about the Father’s authority. Psalm two touches upon that rebellion where we see the kings of the earth going against the LORD’s anointed which means the will of God is not done in their “mini kingdoms” but we are told in the same psalm that the King of kings laughs at them in their futility and will enforce His will. This enforcement I believe starts with us praying for God’s will to be done and in obeying His commands. 

Second, the word of God brings blessings to those who obey it or walk in accordance to it. Such people are called “blessed”. In other words, they are steadfast in their obedience, they are blameless, they are completely devoted to the LORD, their hearts are not divided or preoccupied with other demands of life, it belongs to the LORD. Psalm one tells us that such people are like a “tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers” (Psalm 1:3). Moreover, such people benefit from the protection of the LORD twenty-four seven. This is the promise we get from the word of God, all we have to do is obey Him. However, our obedience to the word of God requires a bit of sacrifice from us, it requires dedication, it requires discipline, it might require inconvenience and doing things differently from others, our society or even our upbringing. It requires a humility, letting go of what we know or think we know and embracing without reservation what the LORD is teaching us whether it makes sense or not. Obedience to the word of God pushes us to live contrary to the world and in alignment with the rules of the kingdom of God. These two kingdoms are so diametrically opposed that what is accepted in one kingdom can be utterly rejected in the other. For example, the world teaches us to live by sight, the famous saying is “seeing is believing” whereas the word of God tells us to “live by faith and not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). According to the word of God, living by sight is detrimental since things are not always as they seem plus, what is seen is temporal but what is unseen is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18). Our very belief in God is based solely on what we do not see for we believe in an invisible God that is very visible and real. No wonder without faith it is impossible to please Him!

Third, the word of God causes us to praise the LORD. As we learn God’s righteous laws, His decrees and commands, we learn more about Himself, His character, what He is like. The more we learn about God, the more we are to extol Him and praise His name. The more we meditate on God’s law, the more we are able to see ourselves through the lens of His character: His goodness and mercy and that causes us to humble ourselves before Him. A right appreciation of the word of God teaches us to worship the LORD correctly. Life is no longer about us, our wants and needs but it becomes about what the “lover of our soul” wants and has in store for us. Our lives are no longer ours but Christ’s (Galatians 2:20). This indeed is called freedom, and it is in this state one is truly “blessed” as the soul prospers. Mary, the mother Jesus was in that state as the Bible tells us (Luke 1:42). To the world, she was suffering but to the Father she was blessed. The same is true of us, those that have given their lives to Christ are foolish and perishing to the world, but to our heavenly Father, we are thriving and prosperous.

In closing, there is no other way to live this life without learning from the Father through His word and entrusting one’s self to the leading of the Holy Spirit living inside you. I pray that just like the psalmist, you learn to prioritize the word of God, see it as an indispensable part of your wellbeing so much so that without it you are dead. May the LORD grant you the grace to meditate on His word day and night so that you may prosper in all things. Amen.