The Secret Behind David’s Love for God’s Word

What If Opening Your Bible Became the Part of Your Day You Look Forward to Most?

22 Life-Transforming Benefits of Engaging with Scripture from Psalm 119

By Greg Mauro

What if opening your Bible became the part of your day you looked forward to most?

On July 15, 2018—3,033 days ago—the Lord asked me a question that changed my life:

What would you think about not starting another day without first spending time in My Word?

That question has affected every day of my life since. What began as a daily commitment became something I could not wait to do. I began discovering a God who was more for me, more invested in me—and more interested in what He could do for me than in what I could ever do for Him—than I had ever imagined. Every morning, I wanted to discover more.

This morning, I went into Psalm 119 for a very practical reason. I am teaching an online class based on Pick Up the Bible and Let the Bible Pick You Up, and I gave our students an assignment for tomorrow night’s class: study Psalm 119 and bring at least ten benefits of engaging with Scripture.

Of course, I needed to go back into the psalm myself and be refreshed. Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible, and from beginning to end it is an extraordinary celebration of the life-transforming benefits of engaging with God’s Word. I went in looking again for those benefits. I found joy, purity, wisdom, freedom, comfort, courage, hope and peace.

But what touched me most was not simply what David received from the Word. It was the passion with which he pursued it.

I believe Psalm 119 is David’s declaration of his love affair with the Word of God. Although his name does not appear in its heading, its language carries the same heart we hear in Psalm 19. In both psalms, God’s Word is sweeter than honey and more precious than gold. Charles Spurgeon also heard David’s voice and experience throughout this psalm.

God commanded Israel’s king to keep a copy of His instructions close and to “read it daily as long as he lives” (Deuteronomy 17:19 NLT). David did not treat Scripture as a ceremonial object. He read it, spoke it, sang it, prayed it and hid it in his heart. I believe this was one of the great secrets of his life—his prayer life, his courage, his strength, his mental and emotional health, his growing anointing and his relationship with God.

The Bible is God’s self-revelation. It is a declaration of who God says He really is and who God says you really are. The greatest battle over your life is what you believe about God and what you believe God believes about you. When those beliefs change, everything changes.

David’s Love Affair with God’s Word

Listen to the language David uses. This is not the language of obligation. It is the language of appetite, affection and delight:

“I have rejoiced in your laws as much as in riches.” —Psalm 119:14 NLT

“I will delight in your decrees and not forget your word.” —Psalm 119:16 NLT

“I am always overwhelmed with a desire for your regulations.” —Psalm 119:20 NLT

“Oh, how I love your instructions! I think about them all day long.” —Psalm 119:97 NLT

“How sweet your words taste to me; they are sweeter than honey.” —Psalm 119:103 NLT

“I pant with expectation, longing for your commands.” —Psalm 119:131 NLT

“I stay awake through the night, thinking about your promise.” —Psalm 119:148 NLT

“I rejoice in your word like one who discovers a great treasure.” —Psalm 119:162 NLT

David delighted in the Word even while people lied about him, opposed him and caused him pain. He loved it, treasured it, recited it aloud and thought about it day and night. He clung to it when he was worn out and in danger. He sang it, praised God for it and stood in awe of it.

This was more than David’s Bible-reading plan. It was a love affair with the Word of God. And I believe it was one of the great secrets behind his extraordinary life.

A desire becomes a discipline, and a discipline becomes a delight.

If you are waiting to feel what David felt, ask God for the desire and begin with what you have. Open the Bible. Read slowly. Say a verse aloud. Ask God to show you something about Himself. Our love for God can never rise above our revelation of His love for us. The more you discover His love for you, the more you will want to come back.

Psalm 119 contains 22 stanzas. Each one shows us another life-transforming benefit of engaging with God’s Word.

1. God’s Word Leads You Into the Joy of Knowing Him

“Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord. Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts.” —Psalm 119:1–2 NLT

The Bible is not primarily a rulebook. It is God’s self-revelation. When you open it, ask, What does this reveal about the One who gave it? David joins obedience with searching for God.

2. God’s Word Places Its Own Power Within You

“How can a young person stay pure? By obeying your word… I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” —Psalm 119:9, 11 NLT

The Bible is the only book in the world that gives you the power to become what it says you can become—and to do what it says you can do—simply by reading it. The implanted Word works in you, grows in you and gives you strength. You don’t simply try harder. You pick up the Bible—and you let the Bible pick you up.

3. God’s Word Opens Your Eyes to What You Could Not See Before

“Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in your instructions.” —Psalm 119:18 NLT

You can know a passage for years and suddenly see something wonderful about God that you never saw before. Give God’s voice the attention you have been giving to other people’s opinions.

4. God’s Word Encourages You and Corrects the Lies You Tell Yourself

“I weep with sorrow; encourage me by your word. Keep me from lying to myself.” —Psalm 119:28–29 NLT

The person you speak to more than anyone else is yourself. The Bible is God’s voice of encouragement to you. The voice that pushes you away from God is never the voice of God.

5. God’s Word Changes What You Desire

“Give me an eagerness for your laws rather than a love for money! Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life through your word.” —Psalm 119:36–37 NLT

God does not merely command a new direction; He can give you a new appetite. Every time you open Scripture, transformational seed is planted in your heart and mind.

6. God’s Word Gives You Freedom and Courage

“I will walk in freedom… I will speak to kings about your laws, and I will not be ashamed.” —Psalm 119:45–46 NLT

When God’s voice becomes the greatest voice in your life, you have an answer when guilt, fear or inferiority begins talking. True humility is agreeing with what God says about you.

7. God’s Word Comforts You and Gives You a Song in the Night

“Your promise revives me; it comforts me in all my troubles… Your decrees have been the theme of my songs wherever I have lived.” —Psalm 119:50, 54 NLT

When I open my Bible, I walk away strengthened and encouraged. Fear begins to leave. Peace begins to grow. Clarity begins to increase.

8. God’s Word Anchors You in the Knowledge That You Belong to God

“Lord, you are mine! I promise to obey your words.” —Psalm 119:57 NLT

David begins with belonging. Knowing that you belong to God gives you somewhere solid to stand when you need to change direction.

9. God’s Word Reveals the Goodness of God

“You are good and do only good; teach me your decrees.” —Psalm 119:68 NLT

The enemy’s oldest strategy is to attack God’s character. Scripture answers by declaring, This is who God really is.

10. God’s Word Makes Your Hope Visible to Other People

“May all who fear you find in me a cause for joy, for I have put my hope in your word.” —Psalm 119:74 NLT

People can see hope in the way you carry yourself through difficulty. What God plants in you is not meant to stop with you.

11. God’s Word Sustains You While You Wait

“I am worn out waiting for your rescue, but I have put my hope in your word.” —Psalm 119:81 NLT

The Bible makes room for honesty. Consistency, not intensity, is what changes a life. Let His Word keep you company while you wait.

12. God’s Word Strengthens Your Mental and Emotional Life

“Your eternal word, O Lord, stands firm in heaven… If your instructions hadn’t sustained me with joy, I would have died in my misery.” —Psalm 119:89, 92 NLT

Daily time in God’s Word became one of David’s great secrets of mental, emotional and spiritual strength. The faithfulness you meet there is strong enough to hold you.

13. God’s Word Gives You Wisdom and Discernment

“Oh, how I love your instructions! I think about them all day long. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies.” —Psalm 119:97–98 NLT

Reading gathers the truth. Meditation digests the truth. Prayer applies the truth.

14. God’s Word Illuminates Your Next Step

“Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.” —Psalm 119:105 NLT

You may want God to illuminate the entire road, but He often lights the next step. Take that step. The transforming power is in the Word itself.

15. God’s Word Leads You to God as Your Refuge

“You are my refuge and my shield; your word is my source of hope.” —Psalm 119:114 NLT

The refuge is not ink and paper. The refuge is God Himself. His Word reveals the One to whom you can run.

16. God’s Word Teaches You What Is Truly Valuable

“Truly, I love your commands more than gold, even the finest gold.” —Psalm 119:127 NLT

When God teaches you to recognize what is true, He also teaches you what it is worth.

17. God’s Word Gives Understanding to Ordinary People

“The teaching of your word gives light, so even the simple can understand.” —Psalm 119:130 NLT

You do not need to be a theologian to hear God speak through His Word. Ask Him to show you His love and where to put your feet today.

18. God’s Word Produces Joy Even Under Pressure

“As pressure and stress bear down on me, I find joy in your commands.” —Psalm 119:143 NLT

Stress and joy can be present in the same moment. Some truths about God’s faithfulness can only be discovered under pressure.

19. God’s Word Reminds You That God Is Near

“I rise early, before the sun is up; I cry out for help and put my hope in your words… But you are near, O Lord.” —Psalm 119:147, 151 NLT

David’s enemies were near, but the Lord was nearer. The Bible reveals a God who is more for you, more invested in you and nearer than fear wants you to believe.

20. God’s Word Answers the Voice of the Accuser

“Argue my case; take my side! Protect my life as you promised.” —Psalm 119:154 NLT

There are two voices: the voice of the accuser and the greater voice of our Advocate. When accusation fills your thoughts, Scripture reminds you that God is for you. Establish the voice of God as the greatest voice in your life.

21. God’s Word Gives You Great Peace

“Those who love your instructions have great peace and do not stumble.” —Psalm 119:165 NLT

The greatest battle over your life is what you believe about God and what you believe God believes about you. His peace can steady you before anything around you changes.

22. God’s Word Helps You Hear the Shepherd Calling You Home

“I have wandered away like a lost sheep; come and find me, for I have not forgotten your commands.” —Psalm 119:176 NLT

Correction is not condemnation. The Shepherd does not expose your wandering to push you away; He calls you home. If you have wandered, open your Bible today and ask the Shepherd to come find you.

Let the Bible Pick You Up

The Bible is the only book that has the power to help you become what it says you can become as you take its words into your heart. God uses Scripture to change what you believe about Him and what you believe He believes about you. When those beliefs change, the way you live begins to change from the inside out.

Tomorrow morning, before you give the rest of the world your attention, open Psalm 119. Pray verse 18 in your own words: Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in Your instructions. Ask God to show you something wonderful about Himself. Then carry one verse with you into your day.

Give His voice room to become the greatest voice in your life.

Pick up the Bible. And let the Bible pick you up.

If this encouraged you, share it with someone you would love to see fall in love with God’s Word.

If you would like to go deeper, I wrote Pick Up the Bible and Let the Bible Pick You Up to share what God has taught me through thousands of mornings with an open Bible and a listening heart.

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Read Psalm 119 in the New Living Translation

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Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.