What Happens When We Despise the Word?

Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, Bound in affliction and irons – Because they rebelled against the words of God, And despised the counsel of the Most High (Ps. 107:10-11 NKJ).

Despising the Word means knowing what God has commanded us to do, but choosing rather to do what we want for whatever reason. That will bring darkness and death, as the Psalmist above teaches us.

This attitude places the Word of God very low on our value system, which is why it is called a despise. It means something else is more important to us that what God has said. This is not only a tragic error but is never a good idea in any circumstances we face.

Adam will have volumes of books to write to us about this. Adam despised the Word once, and it has taken God close to 6,000 years and the sacrifice of Himself to fix the error. We might not realize it but whenever we disobey God’s Word, and do or say the things we want instead, the tragic error of Adam is again repeated – though we do not carry the high stakes that he carried.

Despising also means rejecting the Word. Since the Word of God is light and life, rejecting it means inviting darkness and death to ourselves as we see in the verse above. Darkness and death are a combination that represents things that cause suffering, grief, and hurt to humanity in all spheres.

Do not despise God’s Word. Rather, pay attention to ordering your mind, words, and actions by what He has said and you will enjoy light and life.

MEDITATION

What are some everyday examples of us despising the Word? Especially look for examples that are easy for us to miss because they seem to be “part of human life.” One example is worry (Phil. 4:6.)