Psalm 119:103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
The psalmist continues to meditate on his great theme in verses 97-120. Two of the octaves are very positive (Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long, etc; Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path, etc) but in the third we remember again how this world is inhabited by the double-minded, evildoers, those who stray from your decrees, the wicked of the earth and so hopes can be dashed and deliverance is needed. The first octave ends with verses 103 and 104 - How sweet are your words to my taste, etc and I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. Verse 104 partly explains the striking metaphor in verse 103. It is the understanding the psalmist gains from God's precepts that is so sweet to him. Of course, honey not only tastes good but does you goo too and that may be in the background. Both verses make the point that there is something pleasing and rewarding in taking in the word of God and letting it roll around the tongue of your mind. Psalm 19:10 is very similar to verse 103. It is sort of "riff" on verses 72 and 103 of this psalm. There are some who would find such a statements implausible but such people would be those who fail to read and meditate on the commands, statutes, precepts, laws or words of God. When we take the word and really probe and explore it, there is something truly sweet in it. This verse is an example, as its focus on the words of God being sweet, sweeter than honey reminds us of the good things we have tasted in the past and stirs us up to delve deeper and deeper to know more. The God who gave us honey gives us many sweet things in his word.
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