The Word of the Day Is......

Yesterday we focused on the word "understanding"........"The unfolding of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple" (Psalm 119:130).  If you did some research, you discovered that the Hebrew word translated here as "understanding" means to discern, to perceive, to observe, to pay attention to, to teach, to consider diligently.  If you dug a little deeper, you may have discovered that elsewhere in the Old Testament (Isaiah 29, for example) as well as in this verse, we learn that it is God who is the source of understanding.  You may also have discovered (see Daniel 12) that those who hear do not always understand!  I think the difference may be that those who understand are those who have their "listening ears turned on", to use terminology my grandson would understand.  Hearing alone isn't enough......we need to have our ears, our hearts tuned in to the right Source.

Today's word is "wonderful".  Psalm 119:124 says "Your testimonies are wonderful; therefore my soul observes them."  Take a minute to check your word study tools and look up the word "wonderful".  What did you learn?

Here's some of what I found:  the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament says that the word translated "wonderful" means "unusual, beyond human capabilities."  The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament gives this definition:  "a miracle, a marvel, something unusual or extraordinary."  It goes on to say that except for a reference in Lamentations, the word always appears in the context of God's words or deeds.  It is the same root word used to describe the child to be born as Messiah as "Wonderful Counselor".

Put all that together and you have a really good picture of the psalmist's view of, his opinion of God's Word. 
He has a very high opinion of the Word of God, and this impacts his behavior......note the last half of the sentence.  What does that have to do with you and me?

The first question is:  exactly what is my/your opinion of the Word of God?  The follow-up question is:  how does that impact your/my behavior?  It's one thing to say we value, we esteem as right, we have a high opinion of the Word.  But if that opinion does not line up with our behavior......in other words, if we don't walk that talk......then it's only words.