Psalm 119:72 The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.
Coming to verses 49-72 of the acrostic Psalm 119 the theme continues relentlessly, with every verse a little window into a world where God's word reigns supreme. Perhaps verse 72 sums up what the psalmist is chiefly saying as well as any verse in the psalm. Literally, it is Better to me the law of your mouth than thousands of gold and silver. There are a number of verses quite similar to it in the psalm (see verses 14, 162 and 127: I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches, ... in your promise like one who finds great spoil; I love your commands more than gold, more than pure gold ... . See also Psalm 19:10 and trace the theme in Proverbs 3, 8 and 16:16 How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver! Here is the law from God's mouth, the very word of God himself and as you contemplate it, what do you find? May be not at first, not immediately - we can be like little children at times - yet slowly but surely you come to see how precious it is. It is worth more than thousands of pieces of silver and gold. That is why men and women have gone to extraordinary lengths at times just to have God's word for themselves and those around them. Think of someone like Tyndale, for example, or the Samizdat Bible printers of the Communist era in Russia. On the other hand, just as a man can be careless with very expensive jewellery or gadgets, so we can forget just what the law from God's mouth is worth and we can neglect to read it or meditate on it or make it our chief aim to conform to it. At times we are like blind men overlooking the stack of £50 notes or the gold rings even though they are right in front of our noses.
Coming to verses 49-72 of the acrostic Psalm 119 the theme continues relentlessly, with every verse a little window into a world where God's word reigns supreme. Perhaps verse 72 sums up what the psalmist is chiefly saying as well as any verse in the psalm. Literally, it is Better to me the law of your mouth than thousands of gold and silver. There are a number of verses quite similar to it in the psalm (see verses 14, 162 and 127: I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches, ... in your promise like one who finds great spoil; I love your commands more than gold, more than pure gold ... . See also Psalm 19:10 and trace the theme in Proverbs 3, 8 and 16:16 How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver! Here is the law from God's mouth, the very word of God himself and as you contemplate it, what do you find? May be not at first, not immediately - we can be like little children at times - yet slowly but surely you come to see how precious it is. It is worth more than thousands of pieces of silver and gold. That is why men and women have gone to extraordinary lengths at times just to have God's word for themselves and those around them. Think of someone like Tyndale, for example, or the Samizdat Bible printers of the Communist era in Russia. On the other hand, just as a man can be careless with very expensive jewellery or gadgets, so we can forget just what the law from God's mouth is worth and we can neglect to read it or meditate on it or make it our chief aim to conform to it. At times we are like blind men overlooking the stack of £50 notes or the gold rings even though they are right in front of our noses.
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