Psalm 19:7-11

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; ⁸ the precepts 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 forever;
the rules^[d] of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. ¹⁰ More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. ¹¹ Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

The word is perfect, without blemish, upright, complete, sound, wholesome and unimpaired. We know from John 1:1 that the word is God. Therefore, if the word is God, we can see why it is called perfect.

Psalm 19 tells us that it revives the soul. There is so much we do not know about our souls, but most of us know that many things in the world and life experiences can affect us deep within and change us for the worst. But no matter what it is that affects us, the law of God revives it. Revive here means it can turn us back. It can return us to the starting point. What does that mean? Back to where God wants us to be. His word can return us back to him. And interestingly, it means to return us, not just heal or fix us. It’s like taking us back to that place before it all happened. It is a clean slate, a do-over. We may not understand how and the details, but I know that it’s significant that it says to turn us back.

The testimony of God is sure, making simple the wise. The testimony or word of the Lord is sure. The testimony is the witness giving us that eyewitness account of God, who he is, what he has done and what he is going to do. It makes the wise simple. I have heard many say that God’s kingdom is upside-down, and I think it applies here. He calls us not to be full of wisdom but to be willing to learn from him wholeheartedly. To be able to throw away all our preconceived hurts and walls and seek God like a child, simple and ready to run to his father trusting, believing, and loving. His testimony helps us to get to that place.

His percepts are right. There is no room for wrong in his word. His commands and ways are righteous and will give us joy when we truly accept and experience them. We look at the world’s injustices today, and we have somewhere inside us that wants righteousness.

The commandment of the Lord is pure, and it enlightens the eyes. His word is without impurities, and it opens up our eyes to the truth of God. When we fear the Lord, it compels us to be clean and pure. The rules of the Lord are true and righteous. It is trustworthy, faithful and sure.

We should see the word of God as even more desirable than anything valuable in this world. It is more valuable than gold and sweeter than honey. And the last part of this verse tells us that we are warned that there is great reward in keeping the word of God. A reward that I know is better than any reward we can get here in this world.

So this is a reminder and a motivator of why we should want the word more and more each day. So, spend time reading and meditating on it, and we will not regret it.