A Feast of Words
Friends, I have a straightforward encouragement for you this morning: feast on the words of God. Make them your daily delight. Consume them in the morning, chew on them throughout the day, and go to bed with their taste on your tongue. Feast on God’s words!
Two Books
Now when I talk about God’s words, I don’t just mean Scripture because God has written two books. He has laid out this feast on two platters. He has spoken in both Scripture and Nature.
The poet of Psalm 19 highlights both of God’s books. In verses 7–9, he rejoices in the laws, testimonies, statutes, commandments, and rules of YHWH, his written words. They give life to the soul, light to the eyes, wisdom to the mind, and joy to the heart.
Yet, this poem begins with God’s book of Nature. In verse 1, the heavens declare the glory of God; their words fill the whole world. From the beginning, all creation resonates with the music of the triune God. Creation is heavy with the aroma of her Creator. Enchanted with his glory. The stars sing, the trees laugh, the hills bow, and the snow falls, dancing to his silent music, because God speaks. Creation is what it is because God is who he is.
These are God’s two sets of words: Nature and Scripture. Both share the same divine flavor, and both are a feast for our hungry souls.
Sweeter Than Honey
However, it’s not enough to simply identify God’s words. We need both to see and savor them. In verse 10 of Psalm 19, our poet tells us, “They” — namely, all of God’s words — “are sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.”
Friends, we ought to feast on the words of God because they are sweet. And they are sweet because they taste like God. The words are good because the words “declare the glory.” Each bite is rich with the goodness, truth, and beauty of our triune God! Let this divine flavor be always on your tongue. Savor the words to be satisfied in the glory. This is what we were made for.
The Sunday Morning Banquet
Which brings us to Sunday morning — the high feast of our week. Each Sunday, we come to the banquet table of God, and he loads that table with delicious words. Nature is begging to be savored in stained glass, high ceilings, harmonious music, and smiling saints — all thick with the beauty of God.
And of course, the main dish — God’s written word. Our pastors are humble, happy chefs, who delight to labor all week in the kitchen of study in order to spread a buffet before us. And yes, they have taste-tested everything. In each sermon, our pastors bid us come “taste and see that YHWH is good!”
And they bring us to the Table, where we feast on the Word through his created words of bread and wine just as we are invited to do in his written word. Sunday morning is, indeed, a feast of divine words.
Listen and Eat
Therefore, brothers and sisters, let us be a hungry people — a people who daily pull a chair up to the banquet table. Let us know, let us press on to know our God by feasting on his words. Let us heed the invitation of our Lord in Isaiah 55:
Verses 1–3,
“Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live;
Confession
And this reminds us of our need to confess.
Father, your words are sweet, and your words are life. They are thick with your glory, and we praise you for them. We confess that too often we forget, neglect, or even ignore your revelation. This is a great evil. Convict us now in this time of silent confession.