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.”
Verse 160 is a grand, sweeping proclamation of Scripture’s absolute truth, certainty, and reliability. As it appears in the form of a prayer, it is also a confession made before and unto God. Of no other created thing can such assertions be made, because unlike them, in a sense, Scripture existed before creation, and it shall not fail even when the present heavens and the earth shall be consumed with fire, giving way to the new creation. Even then God’s truth and his public declaration of it shall continue to reflect his glory. In short, nothing is more sure than the Word of God which is Holy Scripture.
An unshakeable confidence in the divine excellence of this Holy Book is foundational to the embrace, preservation, and propagation of authentic religion. In a word, faith is indispensable. Pop culture has perverted the sense of the word “faith” in many ways. It is applied to false religions, as if they were “faiths,” when Scripture proclaims there really is only one faith (Eph 4.5), and all the rest are counterfeit productions of demons (1 Cor 10.20; 1 Tim 4.1; Rev 2.24) and wicked men (Matt 15.9; Col 2.22; Tit 1.14).
Another popular assumption is that faith amounts to a “leap in the dark,” holding to things which by their very nature are unprovable, questionable, and even dubious. As one wag said, “Faith is believing what you know deep down just ain’t so.” Unbelievers glibly give lip service to such “faith” for its supposed therapeutic value: whatever gets you through the night. Too many Christians have become naïvely excited about scientific studies that show a correlation between prayer and healing, when all the atheistic researchers intended to show was that such spiritual practices may have a psychosomatic effect, and not that the Deity answers prayer. “If it works for you, fine; I’m happy for you.” “Faith” in this scheme is little more than wishful thinking based on nothing. I believe more Christians than Blaise Pascal in his classic treatise Pensées (Thoughts) have rationalized that their faith amounts to a safe bet:
If our gamble for God is right, we will win everything—happiness and eternal life. But nothing is lost if we turn out to be wrong. In other words it is better to live as if God exists and discover that he doesn’t, than to live as if he doesn’t exist and discover that he does!1
My dear Christian brethren, have you forgotten that there is nothing more sure than that the God of the Bible exists, and that the Bible is the very word of that true and living God? We do not prove these assertions from other things which are allegedly more sure, but rather all proofs stem from these unquestionably sound presuppositions. These are the twin pillars of all else, the solid place for our feet in surveying all reality besides. Reject them and we cannot consistently avoid being sucked into the vortex of Nietzschean nihilism.2 Receive them and begin to make progress understanding all things of ultimate importance.
Now let us meditate upon David’s Spirit-led words, appreciating their beauty and their benefit to us.
THE WHOLE BIBLE IS TRUTH
“Thy word is true from the beginning.” The possessive pronoun ascribes authorship of Scripture to God himself, consistent with the Bible’s astounding claim from cover to cover. Very frequently does the OT, for example, assert that its content is “the word of the LORD,” in this or comparable expressions.3 For the Bible to be merely a human book would involve the greatest fraud ever perpetrated upon mankind, and only the most hardened sinners could consider that plausible.
Various scholars render the Hebrew text of the first line variously: “The beginning of thy word is truth” (Calvin). “Thy word is nothing but truth” (Luther). Piscator agrees with the Authorized Version. “The head of thy word is truth” (Fabritius). “Thy most excellent word is truth” (Tremellius). “Thy word is true from everlasting” (Church of England). “The chief attribute of thy word is truth” (Street). “The sum of thy word is truth” (Hengstenberg).4
God’s word is true in every sense that either of these translations would indicate. The first thing he ever spoke was true, and so was the last. The crowning excellence of Scripture is its truth. Dodiati [paraphrases and interprets]: “All thy word, put together, without exception, is nothing but pure truth.”5
Against claims to the contrary, the modern, conservative evangelical’s insistence upon biblical infallibility and inerrancy is not a novel overreach in response to theological liberalism, but the church’s historic faith based upon the Scripture’s own doctrine of itself. David prayed in the spirit of Jesus in his high-priestly prayer to his heavenly Father: “Sanctify them [my disciples] through thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17.17).
THE BIBLICAL PARTICULARS ARE ENDURING RIGHTEOUSNESS
“And every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.” David descends from the general to the particulars. “Thy word” encompasses the whole of written divine revelation; “every one of thy righteous judgments” draws our attention to the smallest parts of the sacred text. We must not lose sight of the forest for the trees, nor lose the wonder of each tree’s excellence, but admire the whole Bible along with each and every word.
Some people are ready to praise the Scriptures as a whole but express reservations about statements here or there that offend them. Is not this an exposure of their unbelief? A real Christian does not receive his Bible in whole and in part because it commends itself to his native sense of right and wrong, but rather because it actually is God’s Word, and our trust is in the God who gave it. The true believer therefore accepts every part implicitly, and knows by the Spirit that God’s glory is reflected in the minutest details, as the text is from God himself.
The ascription of eternal durability to God’s word is intended to convey its divine nature. Jesus said, “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matt 5.18). The Almighty, even the Sovereign Lord, stands behind his word; how then could it ever fail? “God has been ever faithful, and the principles of his government will ever continue worthy of confidence.”6
The Rock of Gibraltar, the wide plateaus of the Grand Canyon, and the whole earth itself are trembling, faltering places compared with the Bible. We Christians rest our daily lives and eternal happiness upon this spiritual bedrock of enduring truth, and that is no gamble at all. In fact, it is the only sure thing there is. Amen.
Notes:
1 Understanding Christian Theology, ed. Swindoll and Zuck, p. 147.
2 Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) was a German philosopher who attacked the roots and motives of traditional Western religion, moral thinking, and philosophy (The Encyclopedia of Christianity, in loc.). “Nihilism” is “the rejection of all religious and moral principles, often in the belief that life is meaningless,” and in philosophy, “the belief that nothing has a real existence” (COED).
3 William Evans, in The Great Doctrines of the Bible, cites the number of occurrences to be 3,808 (p. 203).
4 Plumer, Psalms (The Geneva Series), in loc.
5 Ibid.
6 JFB commentary.