Psalm 119:14 Happy Thanksgiving!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day, so I wish for you and yours a most joyful Thanksgiving!

Some families have a tradition that, during the Thanksgiving meal, each person around the table takes a turn talking about something they are thankful for.

I thought it might be interesting to think about how Jesus might answer this question. In Psalm 119:4, we get a clue as to how Jesus might answer that question.  Verse 14 of Psalm 119 can be translated into English as, “I have rejoiced in the way of Your Testimonies more than in all wealth.” Here we see Jesus exclaiming to His Father (YHWH) that given the choice between the Testimonies of YHWH (as recorded in the Bible) or all wealth, He rejoices more in the Testimonies of YHWH. 

This is a particularly stark comparison because the word for “wealth” in Hebrew is the word “hone.” “Hone” literally means “sufficiency.”  In the ancient Hebrew agrarian culture, sufficiency meant enough to eat, clothes to wear, shelter from the elements, safety from evil people, and other such things.  In other words, those things that are necessary to carry on one’s physical life. This is certainly a valid translation of the word “hone” as it appears in Psalm 119:14. 

Given these insights, Jesus is making the claim that He would rather have access to the Testimonies of YHWH as recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures, even if it were to cost Him those things that are necessary to sustain His physical life. And the Holy Spirit is at work in us to have this same passion. 

Did you know that Jesus was this “extremely” passionate for the Testimonies of YHWH in the Scriptures? Are you?

On this Thanksgiving day, perhaps you might like to give some thought to what your life would look like if you were more interested in the Testimonies of God in the Scriptures than you are in those things that make the physical parts of your life more comfortable. For you, would this be trading down, or up?