What you value most is what you spend the most time doing. What you spend the most time doing is what fills you with the most joy.

When was the last time you experienced joy in God’s word? I pray that you experience it every day. If not, perhaps you need to learn from the example of the writer of Psalm 119.

Psalm 119 contains 176 verses that beautifully express the greatness of God’s word and the psalmist’s delight in it. The writer of the psalm described God’s word in various ways—as law, commandments, precepts, rules, statutes, et al. The psalmist understood God’s word to be all that was contained in the Old Testament Scriptures. As New Testament believers we understand that the whole Bible is God’s inspired word. We know that it both reveals his plan of redemption through his Son and equips God’s people for service.

Scripture really is an amazing gift from God. It is a demonstration of his grace to us that we have this record of his self-revelation. The psalmist recognized this fact and expressed the value of Scripture in the monetary terms of his day. He wrote,

“The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces” (119:72).

There wasn’t much of more value in the psalmist’s day than items of gold and silver. Yet, he understood that God’s law, his instruction written in Scripture, was worth far more.

The value of Scripture is not just a 2,500 year-old sentiment. It is as true now as it was then. God’s word is more valuable than any amount of money one could ever accumulate.

Is it that valuable to you? Before you answer with an emphatic “yes,” consider that which you truly value. Whatever you spend time doing is what you value most. Is God’s word better to you than television, movies, internet, smartphones, music, hobbies, sports, hunting, fishing, fitness, beauty, friends, family, work or service? I’m sure you could add more to this list.

My fear is that our hearts are so far from delighting in God’s word that we value it much less than life’s most trivial pursuits. How is it that we can treat what God has revealed to us as of such little value?

Let me encourage you to delight in God’s word, to meditate on it, to believe it, to be consumed with longing for it at all times. Turn off the TV, shut down the computer, say “no” to that activity, and consume God’s word. Train to increase your appetite for Scripture. All other pursuits will begin to taste stale in comparison. It is then that you’ll begin to experience the eternal joy of God’s presence in his word.

God, give us hearts to delight in Scripture. By your grace may our joy increase in you and your word.