Praying With Wisdom From the Word

The thirteenth section of Psalm 119 is about wisdom. This section, 119:97 – 104, is entitled mem, the thirteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. One of the first things you notice is that there is not a single request in this prayer. This prayer is one confession of truth after another. This is the first indication of wisdom, which this prayer prays. The first line reveals the secrete of wisdom, “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.” The rest of this prayer unfolds the truth of that confession by describing the result of that confession, which is wisdom.

The next three lines highlight three powerful words for wisdom in the Hebrew language, which results from loving and meditating on God’s word. “Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me.” The word “wiser” is the Hebrew word hokmah, which has the meaning of a special skill or ability that God gives in His word. This word is used in Exodus 28:3 to describe men whom God filled with His Spirit and skill to construct the Tabernacle. It is used extensively in Proverbs. Here it is describing the wisdom and skill to overcome opposition with a single commandment! The New Testament declares this truth in this way, “…and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:17.

The next word for wisdom is in the next line, “I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.” The Hebrew word for “understanding” is sakal, which means wise behavior, good success, to prosper. It points to the application of wisdom from God. This word is used in Isaiah 52:13 and Jeremiah 23:5 to describe the Messiah in the way He would suffer, and the way He would reign; with sakal. It is also the word that God used when He commanded Joshua to meditate on His word, in Joshua 1:8, and promised him that he would have good success, sakal, as a result. This declaration does not minimize good teachers, it points to the fact that all of the earthly teachers combined fall short of the wisdom God gives in His word.

The third word for wisdom is found in the next line, 119:100, “I understand more than the elders, for I keep your precepts.” The word “understand” in that verse is the Hebrew word bayin, which means discernment. It is from a root word meaning to cut and separate. It is the ability to see the clear difference between good and evil in order to choose the good and to reject the evil, apart from an experience. It is wisdom before an experience. Have you ever heard the expression, “learn from your mistakes?” This word, bayin, is learning before a mistake! This powerful confession declares that obedience to God’s word teaches bayin! The elders can speak from experience, but bayin is wisdom before an experience. This word is used again in the last line, “Through your precepts I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way.” The sense of seeing clearly with bayin the difference between good and evil comes only from God’s word.

The next two lines, 119:101 – 102, declares how God’s word guards and keeps you focused, “I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word. I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught.” This is a statement of preventative repentance, recognizing the tendency toward sin and how God’s word keeps you on track in God’s word.

The last confession in this section is telling, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.” Your spirit has senses just like your body has senses. Your spirit can taste, according to this verse. When Eve saw that the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was good for food, it must have looked sweet. This verse declares that there is nothing sweeter than the taste of God’s word, which gives wisdom.

Today, try praying without making any requests. Declare what God has said and you have personally experienced as true. This pleases the Father. Pleasing God is what it means to worship Him in spirit and truth.