i will delight in your statutes; i will not forget your word. [psalm 119:16]
i forget.
i forget when i am under stress or in pain. i forget when i feel lonely, insecure or fearful. i forget when i sin and feel shame.
i forget in the good times too. i forget when things are going well, when i get a compliment from my bosses at work, when ends meet, when marriage and parenting are going well.
i forget his word.
i forget, because i do not delight.
this is what satan wants. the enemy knows that you will forget in the bad times, but he also twists the good so that you will forget then, too. it doesn’t matter how satan destroys you, he will do it by making you forget who you are.
for if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. for he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like [james 1:23-24]
the psalmist knows that delight is intimately connected to not forgetting God’s word.
how do we not forget his word?
by saturating ourselves in it. by prioritizing it, by meditating in it, by pursuing it, by hiding it in our heart. by asking for eyes to see Jesus in it.
this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. [joshua 1:8]
and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. [john 1:14]
the Word is objectively truth. the Word is objectively beautiful, objectively delight-filled. let us abide in the Word. let us not forget his Word!
~ conor eastman