Psalms 119:98 - Meaning and Application

This gives us an account of David’s learning, not the learning of Egypt, but the learning of true Israelites.

His learning came in a good way. In his youth, he worked in the country as a shepherd, and later he worked in the court and camp. So how did he gain such a large store of wisdom? He says here that God was its source: “You have made me wise.” All true wisdom comes from God. He also got it through God’s word, through God’s commands and testimonies. These can make us wise for salvation and equip the man of God for every good work.

David treated these words as his constant companions. They were always with him, always in his mind and before his eyes. A good man carries his Bible wherever he goes, if not in his hands, then in his mind and heart. He also made them the joyful focus of his thoughts. They were his meditation, not just as ideas to enjoy, but as matters that guided his life and work. Like a man who keeps thinking about his business so he can do it well, David kept thinking about God’s word so he could obey it rightly. He also made them the rule for all his actions: “I keep your precepts.” That means he tried to do his duty in everything. The best way to grow in knowledge is to keep living in serious godliness. If anyone does God’s will, he will know more and more of Christ’s teaching (John 7:17). Love for the truth prepares the heart for more light, and the pure in heart will see God here.

By studying and obeying God’s commands, and making them his rule, David learned to act wisely in all he did (1 Samuel 18:14). He also outwitted his enemies. God used this wisdom to help David defeat their plans, because heavenly wisdom will finally win over worldly cleverness. By keeping the commandments, we keep God on our side and make him our friend. That is far wiser than making God our enemy. We also keep our own hearts in peace and quiet, which enemies would gladly take away. In that way, we are wiser for ourselves than they are, for this life and for the life to come.

David also outdid his teachers. He says he had more understanding than all of them. He may mean those who tried to teach and correct him, but who judged him wrongly. By obeying God’s commands, he handled his affairs so well that time showed he had taken the right path and they had taken the wrong one. He may also mean the priests and Levites, who sat in Moses’ seat and should have guarded knowledge, but neglected God’s law and focused on honor, income, and outward religion. David, by spending much time in Scripture, became more wise than they were. Or he may mean the men who had taught him when he was young. He built so well on their foundation, with the help of his Bible, that he became able to teach them too. He was no longer a child who needed milk, but one whose spiritual senses had been trained by use (Hebrews 5:14). It is no shame to our teachers, and rather it honors them, when we grow so much that we excel them and no longer need them. By meditating, we preach to ourselves, and so we come to understand more than our teachers can teach us, because we come to know our own hearts, which they cannot fully know.

He also outdid the ancients, whether the older men of his own day or the people of earlier times. David himself quoted an old saying (1 Samuel 24:13), but God’s word gave him a better understanding than tradition or all the learning passed down from earlier ages. In short, the written word is a surer guide to heaven than all the doctors and fathers, the teachers and ancients of the church. The holy Scriptures, when kept and followed, will teach us more wisdom than all their writings.