"I opened my mouth, and panted: for I longed for thy commandments" (Psalm 119:31).
Psalm chapter 119, which is the longest chapter in the bible, is devoted to exalting the beauties and wonders of the word of God. In this chapter the Psalmist declares how vital and valuable the word of God was to him. The Psalmist declared, "Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors" (v.24). "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee" (v.11). "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path" (v.105). "O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day" (v.97). When you read this Psalm you learn that the word of God was the Psalmist source of strength, delight, and comfort. The word of God was also his hope, guide, and power to overcome sin. The word of God was of more value to him than Gold. "He wrote, "The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver" (v.72).
In order for a believer today to grow spiritually He/she must have that same eager longing for the word of God. The Apostle Peter wrote in the New Testament, "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious" (1 Peter 2:2-3). I use to read this verse all wrong. I once interpreted it to mean that when you're a babe in Christ (new believer) you must read the milk (the easier to digest portions of the bible) before you get into the meat of the word of God so that you can grow. But what these verses actually mean is that all believers need to crave and desire the word of God as an infant desires milk. We must have an appetite for the word of God to grow and be spiritually healthy. A new born baby has to have milk every few hours. If you miss their feeding time they will let you know by crying until you put a bottle in their mouth. When a new born baby isn't crying for milk, something is wrong. This can be a sign of ill health. Can I tell you that when a Christian doesn't have a longing--an appetite for the word of God this is a major sign of spiritual ill health.
We were created to know God and apart from reading, meditating and obeying the word we will not grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord. When Peter spoke of desiring the word of God like a baby desires milk, he followed that up with, "If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious." Do you want to taste and see that God is good for yourself? Then you need to personally get to know God through his word. Someone said that the more you read the bible the more you will want to read it. The less you read the bible the less you will want to read. The Psalmist wrote, "I opened my mouth, and panted: for I longed for thy commandments" (Psalm 119:31).
We can come to know God through his word in such a way that when we wake up in the morning our souls will be panting (eagerly longing) to get into the word of God to hear from Him. We will long to get on our knees to talk to Him. Let me repeat it again. We will not grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus--we will not taste and see that He is good, unless we our spending regular time in the word to get to know Him. Make time for the precious word of God.
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