As far back as the late medieval period, men such as John Wycliffe and John Hus called people to return to Scripture. When challenged by hostile church officials, Hus repeatedly answered his opponents, “Show me from Scripture and I will repent and recant!” Hus’s devotion to Scripture alone cost him his life, for this principle compelled him to attack both curialism (the principle on which papal authority stands) and conciliarism (the principle on which supreme authority rests in church tradition and in gatherings of prelates) (Beeke, J. R. (2008). Living for God’s Glory: An Introduction to Calvinism (pp. 132–133). Lake Mary, FL: Reformation Trust Publishing.).
Psalm 119 praises God for his Word, the Bible, because God has given us the Bible and it is only through the Bible that we can come to know who God is and how to praise him (Boice, J. M. (2005). Psalms 107–150: An Expositional Commentary (p. 970). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.). “Here we have set forth in inexhaustible fullness what the word of God is to (us) and how (we are) to behave in relation to it.” (Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms, 243.)
Today no evangelical rejects the authority of Scripture. But all too often we place our experience alongside Scripture or use experience to interpret Scripture—rather than the other way round. If we truly believe that Scripture is the divine breath of God, then it must thoroughly critique us. It must shape every through, word, or deed. If anyone, including our own perceptions, come into conflict with what is in the Word, then we must adapt our understanding, words and actions to it.
Showing how the Word of God is complete for all our thoughts, words and deeds, Psalm 119 shows how Scripture is 1) Permanent (Psalm 119:89-91), 2) Precious (Psalm 119:92-93), 3) Preserving (Psalm 119:94-95) and 4) Perfect (Psalm 119:96)
Scripture is
1) Permanent (Psalm 119:89-91)
Psalm 119:89-91 89 Forever, O LORD, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens. 90 Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you have established the earth, and it stands fast. 91 By your appointment they stand this day, for all things are your servants. (ESV)
This stanza concentrates on the enduring nature of God’s word. The Psalmist praises God for the permanence of His word in the opening statement that: “Forever, O LORD, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.
Please turn to 1 Peter 1 (p.1014)
Regardless of what else may change in all the universe, God’s Word remains firm (1 Pe 1:25). Like the heavens, it continually attests God’s unfailing power and unchanging care (Ps 89:2) (Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 1, p. 383). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.).
This is a fact that brings us to faith in Him and establishes our relationship to each other:
1 Peter 1:22–25 22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 24 for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you. (ESV)
• The living and abiding word of God, refers to the whole of written Scripture (cf. v. 25) but especially the saving message of the gospel (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (pp. 2406–2407). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.)
• As Jesus says, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Matt. 24:35). When we are engaged with God’s Word, we are engaged with that which lasts forever (Williams, D., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1989). Psalms 73–150 (Vol. 14, p. 365). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.).
Just as God is eternal, so is his revelation and as verse 90 mentions, is his faithfulness (see Ps. 89:1–2, and cf. Jesus’ words in Mark 13:31). There is constancy and order in all of creation, reflecting the “faithfulness” (ʾemûnāh) of the Lord (v. 90; cf. vv. 75, 86; 89:2; 104; 147:7–9). The order in creation reveals the love, care, and fidelity of the Lord. It was by God’s word that the heavens were established/created (Ps. 33:9), and it stands fast/remains as a testimony to that fact, as well as to his faithfulness in sustaining them. Creation is a witness to the power of God’s word, and generation after generation have a testimony, for nature confirms God’s steadfastness. The regularity of day and night witnesses to the constancy of the Lord. (VanGemeren, W. A. (1991). Psalms. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs (Vol. 5, p. 752). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.).
The laws that govern creation are inherent, for, as verse 91 specifies, they exist by His appointment. The word for appointment (91) is the familiar word ‘judgments’ or ‘ordinances’ by which, in a human context, he declares his will for our obedience (Kidner, D. (1975). Psalms 73–150: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 16, p. 462). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.).
The out flowing of this is that all things are His servants. The whole of creation has God as its maker and he established the principles on which it operates. Creation is not to be worshipped as though it was divine, for all parts of creation are but servants who do his bidding (cf. Gen. 1:14–18 which shows that the heavenly bodies are God’s servants, while Deut. 4:15–19 forbids the worship of creation). God is faithful and His Word can be trusted. The same Word that created the world (v. 90) and runs the world (v. 91) will also govern your life and make it secure (Wiersbe, W. W. (1991). With the Word Bible Commentary (Ps 119:89). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.).
Illustration: When flying through clouds or fog, which prevent them from seeing the horizon, pilots cannot feel the plane’s wings beginning to bank to the left or right. In fact in the early days of flight, pilots followed the myth of instinct: They believed they could feel the turn, and when their planes were accidently engulfed in fog or clouds, many banked unknowingly into a spiral dive that ended in a crash. That’s why pilot William Langewiesche writes, “Instinct is worse than useless in the clouds.” To fly through clouds, pilots must rely on instruments like the artificial horizon. The artificial horizon is a gyroscopically steadied line that stays level with the earth’s surface and unerringly indicates when the wings are banking left or right. The artificial horizon revolutionized flying, but when it was first invented, pilots resisted using it. The biggest problem flyers had was belief. They trusted their feelings more than their instruments. (William Langewiesche, “The Turn,” Atlantic Monthly, December 1993, 115–22.).
In the Christian life God’s Word acts as our primary flight instrument. Our feelings can mislead us, but God’s Word tells us the truth. The whole world will change but the permanence of the World of God allows us to steady ourselves when everything else seems to be spinning out of control.
Scripture is:
2) Precious (Psalm 119:92-93)
Psalm 119:92-93 92 If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. 93 I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life. (ESV)
The psalmist now reflects on the encouragement and support that came to him from God’s laws. By God’s word he has been preserved (cf. v. 88), and those statutes that he took delight in (cf. the same or similar expressions in vv. 24, 77, 143, 174) have been his stay in times of affliction (cf. v. 77 regarding the link between delight(s) and affliction). This has given him a sense of being so as to align his life with the revealed will of the Lord. If he had not found meaning in his experience of “affliction,” he felt that he would have perished. He would have been like a falling star (VanGemeren, W. A. (1991). Psalms. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs (Vol. 5, p. 752). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.).
• As we learn and trust the Word of God, we are prepared to withstand whatever pain may come our way. In His Word God shows us the secret of suffering. He shows us Satan as our true enemy. He shows us what sin has done to ravish His earth. He shows us that He is not distant from our sorrow, but in His Son He is a participant in it. He also shows us how suffering can become redemptive, and He gives us hope that He will come and save us and heal us from evil (Williams, D., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1989). Psalms 73–150 (Vol. 14, p. 365). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.).
Please look back to verse 17 (p.512)
A delight in God’s word is a delight in Him. He will honor our heartfelt requests for understanding and guidance for they bring us closer to Him. In the face of affliction the Psalmist pleaded with God:
Psalm 119:17–24 17 Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live and keep your word. 18 Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.19 I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not your commandments from me! 20 My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times. 21 You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones, who wander from your commandments. 22Take away from me scorn and contempt, for I have kept your testimonies. 23 Even though princes sit plotting against me, your servant will meditate on your statutes. 24 Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors. (ESV)
• Blessing only truly comes as we seek to obey God. We need His Spirit to understand His word. When week seek obedience to His word, we need not fear accusations, regardless of how powerful the accuser. We will possess wisdom beyond our years when we study, reflect upon and seek to obey the words of the eternal God.
The pledge never to forget them in verse 93 is a repetition of one already given several times in this psalm (see vv. 16, 61, 83). To forget something, in the psalms, implies disobedience (Whitlock, L. G., Sproul, R. C., Waltke, B. K., & Silva, M. (1995). The Reformation study Bible: bringing the light of the Reformation to Scripture: New King James Version (Ps 119:93). Nashville: T. Nelson.).
Illustration: Bouch, a waiter at a tavern in Chicago, wrote to the king of his homeland, Morocco. King Mohammed VI, who often interacts with his subjects in public and has freed political prisoners as well as helped the poor and disabled, wrote back. “Look at the letters,” said Bouch. “These are letters from the king. If I meet him, I’ll be so happy.” You think King Mohammed VI loves his subjects? You ought to meet Jesus, the King of Kings, and read his precious letters to you. (Lee Eclov, “Letters from the King,” PreachingToday.com; source: John Kass, “Waiter’s Pen Pal Just a Cool Guy Who Runs a Country,” Chicago Tribune (July 23, 2001)
• Scripture is the record of how precious we are to God. To forget that fact is to forget His love for us and to do that is an insult to the one who gave everything for us.
Scripture is
3) Preserving (Psalm 119:94-95)
Psalm 119:94-95 94 I am yours; save me, for I have sought your precepts. 95 The wicked lie in wait to destroy me, but I consider your testimonies.(ESV)
In Hebrew the emphasis here falls on the psalmist’s relationship with God: ‘I am yours; save me.’ As a consequence, he directs prayer to his God, and asks for preservation in the midst of present dangers (Ps. 54:1). The preservation of life is related to the covenantal relationship, as the psalmist knows that he belongs to God (“I am yours,” v. 94; cf. v. 125) (VanGemeren, W. A. (1991). Psalms. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs (Vol. 5, p. 752). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.).
The verb “sought out” in verse 94 means “to consult, to inquire, to beat a path, to read repeatedly. Here is a believer who beat a path to the Bible, read it over and over, studied it, and when he had to make a decision, consulted it carefully. Philosophies change, political expedients fail, promises and contracts are broken, but the Word of God still stands.( Wiersbe, W. W. (2004). Be exultant (1st ed., p. 124). Colorado Springs, CO: Cook Communications Ministries.)
Please turn to 2 Peter 3 (p.1019)
Verse 95 specifies how his enemies are intent on his total destruction, but he trusts in his Saviour to deliver him. He knows what God’s word promises, and he makes that his meditation. The expressions that he has ‘sought out God’s precepts’ and his statement that He will ‘consider/ponder God’s testimonies/statutes’ are virtually synonymous, with the former one identical with verse 45b.
2 Peter 2 calls for us to consider God’s testimonies that He has revealed and see the preserving action of His word:
2 Peter 3:1-12 This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2 that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, 3 knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. 4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. 7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. 8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. 11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. (ESV)
• Scoffers scoff at the promise of the Lord’s return, arguing that because everything has remained the same since creation, God will not intervene in the world. These scoffers deliberately overlook (consciously, willfully ignore) the fact that God did intervene when he created the heavens and the earth with the word of his mouth (Gen. 1:3–31; Ps. 33:6; Heb. 11:3), and also when he judged the earth with water and it perished (Genesis 6–9) (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 2422). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.).
• It is the same powerful word of God that creates and sends judgment. It preserves the current realm but by that same word, God will bring judgment.
Illustration:
To better understand the human body, in 1994, researchers made available a new computer tool called “The Visible Man.” The Visible Man consists of almost two thousand computer images. To produce the images, scientists at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center took a man’s body that had been willed to science and took CAT scans, X rays, and MRI images of it. Then they embedded the body in gelatin. They froze it, sliced it crosswise into 1,800 millimeter-thin sections, and digitally photographed each cross section. Medical students can look at The Visible Man from any angle, call up an image of any cross section they desire, rotate the images, and put them back together again. What The Visible Man does for the body, the Word of God does for the soul. God’s Word pictures the inner person—our motives, priorities, thoughts, and sins (767 Anita Manning, “Anatomy of a Research Tool,” USA Today, 29 November 1994, sec.-D, p 1.).
Scripture is
4) Perfect (Psalm 119:96)
Psalm 119:96 96 I have seen a limit to all perfection, but your commandment is exceedingly broad. (ESV)
As he looks around him, the psalmist sees the limitations of earthly things, as everything fits within the boundaries that God has allotted. This verse could well be a summary of Ecclesiastes, where every earthly enterprise has its day and comes to nothing, and where only in God and his commandments do we get beyond these frustrating limits (Kidner, D. (1975). Psalms 73–150: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 16, p. 462). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)
God’s commandment is exceedingly broad containing riches in them that can never be exhausted. God’s law transcends all that we can observe in creation. The bounds of created perfection may be defined, but those of God’s law in its nature, application, and influence, are infinite. There is no human thing so perfect but that something is wanting to it; its limits are narrow, whereas God’s law is of infinite breadth, reaching to all cases, perfectly meeting what each requires, and to all times (Ps 19:3, 6, 7–11; Ec 3:11)… (People can) never outgrow the Word (Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 1, p. 383). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.)
Please turn to Psalm 19 (p.456)
Scripture says in a number of places that God’s word is true, or truth. He is a God of truth. He desires truth in the inward being (Ps. 51:6). His word is the word of truth (119:43, 160). His law is true (119:142, 151). Jesus Himself prays for his disciples, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17) (Frame, J. M. (2010). The Doctrine of the Word of God (p. 170). Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing.)
Psalm 19:7–11 7 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; 8 the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; 9 the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. 10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. 11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. (ESV)
• The Bible is complete, it is perfect in terms of providing everything that is necessary to know the law of God which produces the benefit of totally transforming the soul, (nephesh, the inner person). The best Old Testament scholarship gives this meaning, this Hebrew word means all sided so as to cover completely all aspects of life. It is comprehensive. It is sufficient. It leaves nothing out. Yes, that is a feature of being flawless, but it says much more. To say something has no flaws doesn’t say that it’s complete. Yes the Scripture has no flaws but the issue here is that it lacks nothing. Here is the manual for humanity’s operation written by the manufacturer which leaves nothing needed out. To call it ‘perfect’ is to say that it is an expression of the pure will of God. The more we get to know the Bible, the more we realize how far short we ourselves come (MacDonald, W. (1995). Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. (A. Farstad, Ed.) (p. 743). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.).
(Format Note: Some base commentary from Harman, A. (2011). Psalms: A Mentor Commentary (Vol. 1–2, pp. 865–866). Ross-shire, Great Britain: Mentor.)
