Psalm 119:72—“The law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of coins of gold and silver.”
David was a man who, most of his life, had his priorities straight. He lived a difficult life; a soldier’s life is never easy, in constant danger of being killed in battle. Then, when he became king, the temptations of power, pride, and the flesh must have been challenging, and, as we know, he didn’t always pass his tests successfully. None of us do. But still, when he had time to meditate—and he took the time to do so—he came up with wonderful gems like this verse, which is among the greatest wisdom ever penned.
“Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath,” (Zephaniah 1:18), a thought expressed more than once in the Bible. Riches are fleeting, as is this earthly existence. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away,” Jesus said in Matthew 24:35. It’s why He told us to lay up our treasures in heaven, “where neither moth nor rust destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matt. 6:20). David knew, and we must never forget, that the word of the Lord is the most precious thing on this earth, far more precious than silver or gold. David, as king, had plenty of the latter, but knew what was truly important. If only men today would realize the same thing.
Pursuing ultimate vanity is a very foolish course. We need to exalt the word of the Lord in our hearts.