Sweeter Than Honey

Sunday Sermons

Mark Dunagan
07/02/06 - Sunday Evening

“Sweeter Than Honey”

When David declared that the Law of God is sweeter than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb (Psalm 19:10), this probably caught many ancient people by surprise as it does many modern individuals. “One can well understand this being said of God’s mercies, God’s visitations, His attributes. But what the poet is actually talking about is God’s law, His commands; His ‘ruling’ as Dr. Moffat well translates in verse 9 (for ‘judgments’ here plainly means decisions about conduct)” (The Inspirational Writings of C.S. Lewis, p. 159). Notice that David does not merely respect God’s law, or try his best to obey God’s law, rather, he said that the law of God was delicious and exhilarating. Thus when Psalmist said that the righteous man is one who has his delight is in the law of the Lord (Psalm 1:2), it would be very similar to us saying that someone “loves history”, that is, it is his favorite subject.

The Beauty of God’s Law

Psalm 119:14 “I have rejoiced in—as much as in all riches”: To study them is like finding treasure.

Psalm 119:16 “I shall delight in Thy statutes”

Psalm 119:18 “Wonderful things from Thy Law”: “As one’s eyes are more and more opened, one sees more and more in them, and it excites wonder” (Lewis pp. 161-162).

Psalm 119:54 “Thy statutes are my songs”: They affect him like music, they stir his soul.

Psalm 119:72 “Better than thousands of gold and silver pieces”.

All of this is “the language of a man ravished by moral beauty. If we cannot at all share his experience, we shall be the losers”(Lewis p. 162). “This untiring emphasis (in Psalm 119) has led some to accuse the psalmist of worshipping the Word rather than the Lord; but it has been well remarked that every reference here to Scripture, without exception, relates it explicitly to its Author; indeed every verse from 4 to the end is a prayer or affirmation addressed to Him. This is true piety: a love of God not desiccated (made dry) by study but refreshed, informed and nourished by it” (Kidner p. 419).

What about the Hard Parts of God’s Law?

“This was to me at first very mysterious. ‘Thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not commit adultery’—I can understand that a man can, and must, respect these ‘statutes’, and try to obey them, and assent to them in his heart. But it is very hard to find how they could be, so to speak, delicious, how they exhilarate” (Lewis p. 159). Lewis accurately describes the way many religious people view Scripture. They claim to respect it, they claim to obey it, but the attitude is often, “Yes, I believe in……. but that does not mean that I have to like the idea”. The same might be true of such passages as Matthew 19:9. A person might say, “I understand what Jesus is teaching here, but I wish it were otherwise”. Yet I find David saying something entirely different. When David said that God’s law was sweeter than honey and something he delighted in, he was talking about at least the first five books of the Old Testament, which contained not only many “Thou shalt not’s”, but also a number of judgments upon the disobedient. The law that he delighted in often issued the death sentence upon the rebel (Hebrews 10:28), yet this was part of the very law that he claimed to love. David did not say that he only loved the convenient or positive (from his perspective) portions of the Law. He loved the entire law, including all the judgments, condemnation, and “Thou shalt not’s”. “Of course, ‘the Law’ does not here mean simply the ten commandments, it means the whole complex legislation (religious, moral, civil, criminal and even constitutional) contained in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy” (Lewis p. 160).

Loving the “Thou Shall Not”

Often people will depart from some biblical doctrine with the justification, “Well, I always had a problem with that verse or teaching”. First of all, this is evidence that they were not delighting in God’s law on this point. Secondly, I have found that when people have a “problem” with something Jesus or the apostles taught, the real problem is that they are delighting in their own opinions rather than delighting in God’s absolute truth. It is very difficult in delight in God’s law as long as one insists upon attributing validity to their own feelings and human think-so. So how does one delight in what is viewed by most people as a very negative command, verse or topic?

· We should be delighted that that Creator cares about how people treat one another. As a child who desires to have their parents stay together, “Thou shalt not commit adultery” is a wonderful maxim.

· When we realize how much pain even in this life the word of God has spared us—there is nothing more beautiful.

· I am delighted that God cares so much about what is right and wrong and He is willing to execute severe judgments upon those who do evil.

· We should rejoice that God does not compromise the standards on right and wrong, that He cannot be bribed, or intimidated.

· “There were in the eighteenth century terrible theologians who held that ‘God did not command certain things because they are right, but certain things are right because God commanded them’. Such a view of course makes God a mere arbitrary tyrant. (Yet the biblical writers knew) that the Lord (not merely obedience to the Lord) is ‘righteous’ and commands ‘righteousness’ because He loves it (Psalm 2:8). He enjoins what is good because it is good, because He is good. Hence His laws have ‘truth’, intrinsic validity, rock-bottom reality, being rooted in His own nature, and are therefore as solid as that Nature which He has created. But the Psalmists themselves can say it best; ‘Thy righteousness standeth like the strong mountains, thy judgments are like the great deep’ (Psalm 36:6)” (Lewis p. 162). In like manner, God has issued stern teaching against divorce precisely because He Himself hates the practice (Malachi 2:16).

· Thus we should rejoice that God hates evil practices (Psalm 119:105), for who would ever want to serve a God who was indifferent to evil, or who was fearful of upsetting popular opinion?

· In addition, when one actually sees first-hand the damage that is caused in this world by human selfishness, greed, envy, and pride, one can clearly see why God has not only issued various prohibitions, but pronounced eternal woe on those who practice such things.

“The absence of anger, especially that sort of anger which we call indignation, can, in my opinion, be the most alarming symptom. And the presence of indignation may be a good one” (Lewis p. 147). The same writers who loved God’s Law and delighted in it, expressed an equally strong emotion against those who rebel against God and His Law. “Appoint a wicked man over him; and let an accuser stand at his right hand. When he is judged, let him come forth guilty; and let his prayer become sin. Let his days be few” (Psalm 109:6-8). Now these men knew that one was not to rejoice over the fall of one’s enemy (Proverbs 24:17), and that mercy was to be shown to an enemy (25:21). Yet this strong emotion against God’s enemies is evidenced by the following:

· They took right and wrong more seriously that we often do in our modern culture.

· They understood that all sin is ultimately directed at God (Psalm 51:4; 2 Timothy 3:4). “For if we look at their railings we find they are usually angry not simply because these things have been done to them but because these things are manifestly wrong, are hateful to God as well as to the victim” (Lewis p. 147).

· It is a true understanding of the real nature of evil. The righteous man realizes that the wicked are not “misunderstood”, rather they are selfish, and they would eliminate the God who loves us—if they could.

· We need to grasp this concept when it comes to the topic of hell. Hell does not exist because God enjoys seeing people punished, rather, hell is absolutely necessary if God and those who love righteousness are going to have any peace. The unconverted cannot be allowed into heaven for they would contaminate it (Revelation 21:27) with their arrogance and self-serving ways, we see this when the rich man was arguing in the afterlife (Luke 16:30 “No”).

· The righteous man or woman is very concerned about evil being dealt with and the righteous being vindicated. “And men will say, ‘Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth’” (Psalm 58:11). I believe that the Psalmist is rejoicing, as all righteous men and women do when they realize that the Creator cares.

Lewis noted that much of our modern society has reduced all wickedness to some neurosis. “Against all this the ferocious parts of the Psalms serve as a reminder that there is in the world such a thing as wickedness and that it (if not is perpetrators) ishateful to God” (Lewis p. 148). David and the other writers of the Psalms were not naïve; they understood that rebellion against what is right is a clear manifestation of actual hatred against God. In our modern culture we tend to make excuses for unbelievers, we might say something like, “Well, they are having some problems with that that verse”. Yet the real truth is that they are having problems with God Himself, who they may resent, wish did not exist, or even despise. Among the sins mentioned in Romans 1:30 is the expression, haters of God.

Sweet because it is True

Often the Psalmist asserts that God’s law is true (119:142,160 “The sum of Thy word is truth”. “The word (truth or true) I understand, could also be translated ‘faithful’, or ‘sound’; what is, in the Hebrew sense, ‘true’ is what ‘holds water’, what doesn’t give way or collapse. They mean that in the Law you find the real or correct or stable, well-grounded, directions for living. The law answers the question, ‘Wherewith shall a young man cleanse his way?’ (119:9). It is like a lamp, a guide (119:105). There are many rival directions for living, as the Pagan cultures all round us show. When the poets call the directions or ‘rulings’ of Yahweh ‘true’ they are expressing the assurance that these, and not those others, are the ‘real’ or ‘valid’ or unassailable ones; that they are based on the very nature of things and the very nature of God” (Lewis p. 162).

Practical Applications

· 119:9-11 God says, “If you are going to live for Me, you must begin at the earliest possible moment, without delay” (Boice p. 977). “The mind which stores up Scripture has its taste and judgment educated by God” (Colossians 3:16) (Kidner p. 424). “What can preserve us from ruin? What can empower us to say no to temptation? What can enable us to live a holy life in the midst of our most wicked surroundings? Only the Word of God” (Boice p. 979).

· 119:28 “What is wrong, is allowing such feelings to turn us inward, or even worse, away from God. Instead of looking inward, the writer renews his determination to hold fast to the promises of God” (Boice p. 985).

· 119:34 “’To the end’ means without time limit, and ‘with all my heart’ means without reservation’” (Boice p. 990).

· 119:41-48 “Does it seem surprising that one of the first results of coming to know God as a God of love is obedience? It does to many people, but the reason it does is that they have an inadequate, and even warped idea, of what love means. We think of love as mere sentimentality, a feeling to be enjoyed and wallowed in. In the Bible, love is a relationship resulting in moral actions (John 14:15)” (Boice p. 998). “It is certain that he is ready to confess God’s truth in the highest courts of human power and not be ashamed. Here is a free person indeed” (Williams p. 367). When he says, “And I shall lift up my hands to Thy commandments”, the writer is saying that he is completely devoted to God’s Word. “I revere is literally ‘I lift my hands to’, which is usually a term for praying; here, a bold expression of yearning for God’s revelation in Scripture” (Kidner p. 425).

Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017