Therefore I love thy commandments
Above gold; yea, above fine gold (Psa 119.127).
Some desires are good, and some things you cannot desire too much. This contradicts the so-called “Second Noble Truth” of Buddhism, that the root cause of all suffering is “thirst” or desire, with its corollary, the so-called “Third Noble Truth,” that “nirvana” or bliss comes through the cessation of desire altogether.1 Well may we feel pity for the poor deluded souls in this ascetic false religion who think that desire itself is inherently evil, who hope in vain to eradicate all their desires, and who dream that spiritual progress comes by repudiating any and all gratification of desire!
God created us for fellowship with him. As image-bearers of God, we possess a special capacity for this, along with an innate unsatisfied craving until he becomes our all-consuming and all satisfying holy gratification.
In his immortal work “Confessions,” Augustine wrote,
Man desires to praise thee, for he is a part of thy creation; he bears his mortality about with him and carries the evidence of his sin and the proof that thou dost resist the proud. Still he desires to praise thee, this man who is only a small part of thy creation. Thou hast prompted him, that he should delight to praise thee, for thou hast made us for thyself and restless is our heart until it comes to rest in thee.2
In modern times, C. S. Lewis penned words no less true and penetrating in a stunning sermon entitled, “The Weight of Glory:”
If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.3
Desire per se is not our problem, but desire that is misguided, ignorant, and slumbering, needing to be aroused and inflamed to a fever pitch. Spiritual health exists and increases when we give in and are absolutely dominated and driven by this sacred fire in the belly. Enjoying its gratification both satisfies and whets the appetite further in our pursuit of God and his Word.
Because by fallen nature our desires are no longer what they should be, the Lord condescends to speak of holy and heavenly desires using earthly good to which we can most easily relate. The love of gold is compared to the love of God. The psalmist acknowledges that gold in general is desirable, and he uses that to tell us of his desire for and delight in God. In this way David sets a good example for us, encourages in us this holy craving, and calls to mind the Savior who is himself the best Examplar as well as the grand object of a right-thinking and right-feeling person’s deepest desire.
THE NATURE OF THIS LOVE
“I love” is the psalmist’s testimony before God in prayer, but in what sense does he mean this? The original Hebrew is a word sometimes used to describe human love for another human, including both family and sexual love. It can also refer in some contexts to the human appetite for objects such as food, drink, and sleep—sometimes very strong indeed.4 We have a clue from the context what is uppermost in the psalmist’s mind: a love that is comparable to the love of gold, but much more intense. “I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.”
His use of the word “love” here, then, especially has connotations of strong desire and delight. If “gold” is desirable, even more is “fine gold.” The first word may refer to gold in a raw state, the second to gold highly refined and most lustrous. It appears in 1 Kings 10.18, “Moreover the king [Solomon] made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the best gold” (emphasis mine). We may not appreciate how desirable this is because we probably have none, but if we were more familiar with its beauty and value, if we had a large safe deposit box in a bank vault full of this stuff and, knew that it made us fabulously wealthy and humanly speaking, secured our future, then we could relate more tangibly to the power of David’s statement, who wrote as one in possession of considerable gold, both in quality and quantity (2 Sam 8.7; 1 Chron 20.2; 21.25; 1 Kgs 7.51).
THE OBJECT OF THIS LOVE
A worldling must consider it positively shocking to discover by this verse what it was that had so captured the heart of the writer, what he loved to such an exalted degree—even Holy Scripture! That which is so disagreeable and distasteful to the sinner is the saint’s chief delight.
He loved his Bible better than he loved his money—above gold, yea, above fine gold. Gold, fine gold, is what most men set their hearts upon; nothing charms them and dazzles their eyes so much as gold does. It is fine gold, a fine thing in their eyes; they will venture their souls, their God, their all, to get and keep it. But David saw that the word of God answers all purposes better than money does, for it enriches the soul towards God; and therefore he loved it better than gold, for it had done that for him which gold could not do, and would stand him in stead when the wealth of the world would fail him.5
This verse belongs to a family of similar texts, starting with Psalm 119.47, “And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved.” He said also, “The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver” (Psa 119.72). Consider his encomium of God’s Word in Psalm 19:
7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. 8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. 9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. 10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. 11 Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.
Scripture is more beautiful than gold in the eyes of those who are not spiritually blind. It is more precious than gold for those who are not foolishly short-sighted, without a vision of their eternal destiny. It is more useful than gold for those who have learned by grace what use to make of it. It is more glorious than gold as it reveals to us the Great Creator of gold and of everything else that dazzles the eyes and excites the heart.
THE WAY TO THIS LOVE
It is altogether possible that the Bible reader here may both understand and accept the psalmist’s testimony of his love for God’s Word, and yet come to realize that from his heart he cannot say “Amen,” for he is utterly devoid of any love like this. Even real Christians, sensitive to their little progress in spirituality, must admit that we have such a paltry degree of love in this direction, compared to what we ought to have. In our best moments, spiritually speaking, we may weep for joy over the euphoria induced by Scripture in our hearts, but such moments are relatively rare and fleeting.
How, then, can anyone gain and increase in love of these written words from heaven? The only answer is found in Jesus Christ our Lord. King David was but a dim reflection in this of his greater Son. In Jesus, the Word of the Father, there is a perfect and eternal affinity for biblical truth, for Jesus is its Author and Conveyor. He left heaven’s glory and endured hell’s fury that we might have such a book bequeathed to us, with its glorious message of redemption by grace alone. The Bible, as it were, is a book of blood-stained pages, crimson with the sacrifice of Jesus, once-for-all offered for the millions who would read this book and receive through it from the Holy Spirit the gift of faith to be saved.
We do not naturally love God or his Word, but when Christ dwells in our hearts by faith, so does his love for Scripture! We love not with inherent love, but with love imparted and infused by Christ in us. It is no more possible for a nonChristian to love Scripture this way than for a murderer to love the writ of his death sentence, for such is the Bible to everyone who is not “in Christ.”
But for Christian believers, this Book is a message of God’s gracious love at work for our deliverance from all misery—a powerful love that cannot be frustrated or thwarted. Saints know that the Holy Bible is the most desirable treasure in this world, a gold mine of things that matter most. Amen.
Notes:
1. ESV Study Bible, “The Bible and World Religions.”
2. Book 1, Chapter 1, translated by Albert C. Outler.
3. Source: Holman NT Commentary on Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians & Colossians, p. 95.
4. Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon #157.
5. Matthew Henry, in loc.