Passage Read: Psalm 119 Meditation Verses: 119:99-100
Thought
Meditation on and observation of God's Law is what makes a man truly wise, giving him more insight and more understanding than teachers and the aged. That seems like a dangerous thing, a prideful thing to say. We're supposed to learn from teachers and honor the aged, which would include respecting their experience and the wisdom they've gained by it. If meditating on and observing God's commands makes a man wiser than these people, why would he need them? But it is God's Word that commands humility and respect for teachers and the aged, so how could having more insight and understanding than them result in arrogance and dishonor toward them? Jesus had more wisdom and understanding and insight than all those around Him, yet He honored their positions but also taught truth and corrected wrong ideas. The more one understands truth, regardless of age or position, the more humble he should be but also more helpful as a guide, even to teachers and the aged.
Application
This reminds me of Jesus' teaching that the Jews were supposed to do what the religious leaders commanded, but not to copy what they did. They should honor those in authority by their obedience to instruction, but could find and know a greater wisdom, and that they should learn to follow. It is that greater wisdom, Jesus', that commands the obedience, but also teaches discernment: Do what they command (because of their position in the seat of Moses), but not what they do (because they are hypocrites). The common follower of Jesus should be wiser than the religious teachers and have more insight than those older than them who were not also following Jesus. The more I meditate on God's Word and do what it says, the more I can understand than even professors and long-standing believers who do not also meditate on and observe God's commands. It is one thing to learn from the established schools of thought and quite another to learn from God Himself through His Word by both meditation and observance. It is one thing to learn from experience gained by a long life of interacting with the world; it is quite another to learn from interacting with God and His Word. It cannot actually result in arrogance. It should result in greater understanding and insight. And it can result in divergence of views that brings separation. The Pharisees and Sadducees could join the true church, but the church needs to be careful to resist their unbiblical influences. I can know more than my teachers and those older than me, but only by greater meditation and greater submission to what it says. And that should result in greater honor of those teachers and the aged but with the ability to discern which ideas come from God and which do not.