They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.
Psalm 19.10
Thus David describes the law, statutes, precepts, commands, ordinances and the fear of the LORD! And as I write I find myself asking could I honestly make the same declaration.
We live in a materialistic society and we only have to look at the way the Lottery has grown and how people will invest considerable sums of money week by week in the hope of becoming rich to see how central is ‘gold’. We work to earn ‘gold’. We talk about the ‘gold standard’ and as we see from this Psalm it has always been so. Perhaps I should modify this to say it has been so since the fall. For reading Genesis 1 and 2 we see a world where the presence of God was all that was needed. Tragically the fall changed that and men ‘changed the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles (Romans 1.23). And thus it has been ever since and still is today.
But in the eyes of David, all of God’s revelation of himself is more precious than gold, and note the added emphasis ‘more…than much pure gold.’
Gold is just one part of the magnificence of God’s creation and God’s provision for his people but all the material benefits, and there are many, that riches bring, do not satisfy the deepest longings of the human heart for we were made for him and the only thing that truly satisfies is walking in his ways.
The material world presses in on us, the advertising industry, seeks to persuade us that we ‘must have’ this, that or the other and we strive for these things, yes even Christians, and as we do so we forget where true riches lie, where true sweetness is found.
I ask myself ‘do I need to refocus in this area?’ Do you need to ask the same question?
The challenge once again is to put God’s Word in prime place in our lives and as we do we shall by his grace demonstrate to the world that he is the only source of true joy and contentment.