Category Archives: Holy Scripture

Hope and Scripture (Psa 119.174)

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I have longed for thy salvation, O LORD;
And thy law is my delight (Psa 119.174).

Biblically speaking, hope is not wishful thinking but the joyful and confident expectation of blessedness yet to be fully experienced. This hope has an intimate relationship to Holy Scripture. People without Scripture have no hope in the true sense. People with Scripture but without faith are also completely devoid of hope. Hope is essentially faith with respect to the future based on God’s verbal promises in Scripture, and so only believers possess it. The same Bible which promises future blessedness also awakens a desire and craving for that blessedness. Apart from Scripture’s revelation of God’s glorious plan for his beloved ones, we would have never dreamt of such things. “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit” (1 Cor 2.9-10), and the Spirit reveals them by the
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Speaking of Scripture (Psa 119.172)

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My tongue shall speak of thy word:
For all thy commandments are righteousness (Psa 119.172).

When was the last time you had a conversation with anyone, a real exchange of ideas with thoughtful reflection, upon any particular passage of Scripture? I am not asking when you last heard someone else present a Scripture text with an interpretation, but when you and a friend sat for more than one minute and turned a text over and over to examine it this way and that, and to help each other come to a better understanding of it, with its application to life.
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On Glorifying God for the Bible (Psa 119.164)

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Seven times a day do I praise thee
Because of thy righteous judgments (Psa 119.164).

The Scottish Metrical Psalter of 1650 alters the wording of our text only slightly for singing, and with beautiful effect:

Sev’n times a-day it is my care
to give due praise to thee;
Because of all thy judgments, Lord,
which righteous ever be.

As everyone raised upon the Shorter Catechism knows, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever” (#1). Toward the fulfillment of this, the very purpose for our existence, the Lord has given us Holy Scripture, indispensable for our spiritual recovery. Our original fitness and inclination to worship the Lord as creatures in his image was horribly degraded by the fall, but the gospel of Jesus Christ, that biblical evangel, becomes a word of quickening and renewal to God’s elect when it pleases him to recreate his sacred host for eternal service. And when we have been saved by means of God’s Word, we come to appreciate, being illumined by the Spirit of light, that the Bible is one of his greatest gifts to us, besides being the sphere where his glory shines brightest.
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Elation over Scripture (Psa 119.162)

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I rejoice at thy word,
As one that findeth great spoil (Psa 119.162).

Some choice experiences of this fleeting life are useful as similes to describe the feelings of truly pious souls with respect to God’s dealings with them. In the very nature of things, the physical illustrations must of necessity fall short of their spiritual counterparts, yet because we can more easily relate to the former, they are useful for pointing us in the right direction, helping us grasp the saint’s blessedness even if we have not yet experienced it ourselves, or only to a small degree.
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Nothing More Sure (Psa 119.160)

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Thy word is true from the beginning:
And every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever (Psa 119.160).

More than any other Psalm, the 119th exults in God’s word written. Almost every one of its 176 verses mentions it in one way or another, and relates it to a myriad of other things. Select terms from across the vivid spectrum of the Hebrew vocabulary describe it: variously translated as law, testimonies, precepts, statutes, commandments, judgments, and word. Its inherent worth, consummate wisdom, practical counsel, and saving effects are all loftily praised in this psalm. This extended passage could aptly be entitled, “In Celebration of God’s Word.”
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God’s Self-Authenticating Word (Psa 119.152)

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Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old
That thou hast founded them forever (Psa 119.152).

How do we know that the Bible is God’s Word? Because God, in his Word, tells us that it is.

Some allege this is circular reasoning and therefore logically fallacious. They argue, for example, that many books may claim to be God’s word, but their mere claim does not prove their divine inspiration. False prophets lie.
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Pure Scripture (Psa 119.140)

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Thy word is very pure:
therefore thy servant loveth it (Psa 119.140).

An old advertisement for Ivory soap boasted that it was “99.44/100% pure,” and good sales proved people loved it. Here the psalmist proclaims his love for Scripture because of its purity. However, he uses a metaphor from the realm of metallurgy. Literally, “Your word is very refined, and your servant loves it.”1
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God’s Trustworthy Instruction (Psa 119.138)

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Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful (Psa 119.138).

Most people ignore the Bible, assuming it is not trustworthy as the Word of God. This seems to be true, even within the visible church, being mostly composed of mere nominal Christians. When we come to realize Scripture is absolutely trustworthy and then begin to exercise a living faith, we take the first steps on our trek to heaven and our whole lives are altered radically and permanently.
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The Righteousness of God and His Word (Psa 119.137)

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Righteous art thou, O LORD,
And upright are thy judgments (Psa 119.137).

This verse begins the next eight-verse section of Psalm 119, the one beginning with the 18th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Tzaddi or Tsadhe.

To worship God is to relate properly to him—that is, to be, say, and do that which is according to his nature and his revealed will. Here the psalmist worships in the presence of God by rehearsing his inherent excellence. As the psalms were all intended to be sung by the holy congregation, the human writer is leading them to worship God using the very same words. No exaggeration of God’s glory is possible since it is infinite. The most exalted language is never too high in describing God.
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