December 4, 2019 -- Psalm 119:66 -- Tasting obedience

Teach me your good judgment and knowledge,

for I believe in your commandments.

Psalm 119:66 English Standard Version

The word teach has an underlying sense of “exercise”—you understand that, right? When you exercise something you are doing motions repetitively so that you will hone your muscles and get fit. When we are taught God’s good judgment we need to hear it repeatedly so that we will become spiritually fit and strengthened for holy service.

The word judgment carries a secondary meaning which is ‘taste’. When we are being taught a completely new way of living, obedience to Jesus as our King—rather than obeying our own lusts, desires, and wants—this new obedience might not be to our taste. It is unusual. It can seem sour. Even men and women who have been Christians for a long time and find they are called to obedience in an area they’d not previously submitted, well they will find that hard to swallow. Do not give up in doing good or following through on the LORD’s teaching. In time our tastes will be accommodated to what is new, and holy, and what is past will become vile.

The second part of the verse gives the ground for accepting God’s good judgment and knowledge—it literally says, for I amen your commandments. Yes, that word “amen” is actually a Hebrew word. We put it at the end of our prayers as a statement of our conviction that the LORD is more faithful to carry out His part of the covenant than we are willing to obey—still, we place our lives in His hands.

Here the psalmist will amen the knowledge and judgments of God the Father. As he is instructed and obeys, he finds the fruit of obedience confirms God’s goodness. To obey is to find our soul’s calling and our life’s best and greatest adventure. It is what we were made for: to serve God and delight in Him forever. Anything less than this will bring dissatisfaction. But to serve God and be instructed by Him makes the heart soar and the mind overflow with thankfulness.

Oh God, Source of every good gift and blessing, may our hearts prepare room for You. Let our hearts and hands, minds and actions, having been instructed in Your good judgment and knowledge, work in concert to serve You. Jesus, Captain of Salvation, direct us to the places where our faith and obedience will be a blessing to others. Spirit of God, keep us in close communication. By Your presence in our life may the written word and the Living Word—Jesus Himself—become ever more vibrantly real to us. Amen.