For ever, O LORD,
Thy word is settled in heaven (Psa 119.89).

Foundational to living as Christian believers is a true knowledge of God and his Word. In this verse the psalmist tersely lays that foundation, the unshakeable basis for everything else. Whatever we think, feel, and choose ought to build upon this. If we are in our right mind, all our plans will count on it, both for time and eternity. As one expressed poetically the utter stability of Scripture,

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in his excellent Word!
What more can he say than to you he hath said,
You who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?¹

OUR SOVEREIGN LORD

The true nature of God himself determines the actual character of his Word, because it is a revelation of himself. Jesus said, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh” (Luke 6.45). The “treasure” is figurative for what is concealed within the man himself, and his character is revealed by his speech. No one can bring forth what is not there, and it is inevitable that what actually is there will come out. The same connection exists between God’s being and his Word. He, too, speaks from the abundance of his heart.

Therefore to assess the nature of God’s Word, we must know him as he really is. With good reason in this particular place the psalmist calls him, “LORD.” The Hebrew original is God’s unique name, the “tetragrammaton” (of four letters, YHWH or JHVH) and stresses his eternal self-existence (Exod 3.14), immutability (he is unchangeable; Mal 3.6), and absolute sovereignty (kingly rights and power) over all his creatures and all their actions. “The LORD most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth” (Psa 47.2). God does not stand in need of help or approval from his creatures in any way. He is utterly transcendent, infinitely high above all the persons and things he has made. No one can restrain his hand or say to him, “What doest thou?” (Eccl 8.4; cf. Dan 4.34-35). He is accountable to no one except himself. Even his enemies unwittingly depend on his sustaining power for their continued existence, not to mention their unwarranted hostilities.

Further, God’s great name has connotations of his covenant faithfulness to his people, as in Deut 7.9, “Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations.” It is no more possible for God to violate the terms of his own freely made covenant than it would be for him to cease to exist. Both are impossible, and this is a great comfort to God’s people.

So many of the faulty notions people generally have in theology may be traced back to defective ideas about the nature of God himself, or a failure to appreciate the organic unity of his nature and his works. All Christendom claims to have a high view of God, but perhaps the greatest distinctive of so-called Reformed theology is its consistency in relating every other doctrine back to the doctrine of God himself. God’s holiness, wisdom, love, sovereignty, etc., are evident in all he says and does. Here the psalmist explicitly links his great name with that Word which proceeds from him.

HIS ESTABLISHED WORD

It would be a crude conception and heresy to imagine from this verse that there has always been a physical Bible up in heaven which contained the exact same words as the Bible’s autographs (original manuscripts) when God moved men to write them in human history. This is exactly what the radical KJV-only advocate G. A. Riplinger seems to suggest by citing this verse after this comment, “The word of God was not only preserved after those pieces of fragile paper [the autographs] were destroyed, it precedes them.”² Of course God always knew what he would move the holy men of old to write in human history, but before creation absolutely nothing existed except God himself—not even a King James Bible!

The Hebrew of Psa 119.89 has been variously rendered, and the NET is helpful for grasping its nuances: “O LORD, your instructions endure; they stand secure in heaven.” The context of this psalm strongly suggests that “word” or “instructions” is a general reference to holy Scripture. Thus there is a twofold characterization of Scripture as enduring (AV-“for ever,” the Hebrew means pertaining to an unlimited duration of time, usually with a focus on the future³) and secure (AV-“settled,” the Hebrew means to stand firm⁴). The mention of heaven reinforces the same point because it is beyond the reach of earthly factors—rebellious mortals, change, decay, etc. No matter what happens here, and what man does or does not do, God’s Word will always remain eternally secure, the indestructible bedrock for faith in the sovereign Lord who has spoken.

John Gill, the great Baptist scholar of Hebrew and theology, explains and elaborates.

The decrees and purposes of God, what he has said in his heart that he will do, these are firm and sure; these counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. They are mountains of brass settled for ever, and more unalterable than the decrees of the Medes and Persians. The revealed will of God, his word of command, made known to angels in heaven, is regarded, hearkened to, and done by them. The word of the Gospel, published in the church . . . is the everlasting gospel, the Word of God, which lives and abides for ever; what remains and will remain, in spite of all the opposition of men and devils. The word of promise in the covenant made in heaven is sure to all the seed. Every one of the promises is yea and amen in Christ, and as stable as the heavens, and more so; “heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matt 24.35). The firmness of God’s Word is seen in the upholding and continuing the heavens by the word of his power, by which they were first made; and the certainty of the divine promises is illustrated by the perpetuity of the ordinances of heaven; see Jer 31.35-36.

Most helpful also is the commentary of Keil and Delitzsch on this verse:

Eternal and imperishable in the constant verifying of itself is the vigorous and consolatory word of God, to which the poet will ever cling. It has heaven as its standing-place, and therefore it also has the qualities of heaven, and before all others, heaven-like stability.

Such a declaration of Scripture is surely intended to strengthen the confidence of tried believers in God’s Word. Remember whose word it is! “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” (Num 23.19). Whoever opposes you, whatever trials you suffer, however your circumstances change, and no matter how many times or how greatly you have fallen into sin, God’s Word is still intrinsically trustworthy, and to it you may—indeed you must—resort again and again, because God’s Word is as reliable as God himself. He who is the truth cannot lie. The Almighty cannot be thwarted in his purposes. The changeless One will not renege on anything he has promised.

Calvin aptly summarizes his interpretation of this verse in these words:

Our salvation, as if it had been said, being shut up in God’s Word, is not subject to change, as all earthly things are, but is anchored in a safe and peaceful haven. . . . the steadfastness of God’s Word far transcends the stability of the world.

Therefore, my dearly beloved brethren, repose yourselves and all your concerns, both temporal and eternal, on the solid rock of Scripture. Whatever God says in it, accept as fact. Whatever he promises in it, seize by faith. Whatever he commands you in it, do with earnestness. Whatever future blessings he guarantees in it, resolutely keep hoping for. In the Bible you have the trustworthy Word of our Sovereign!

May the Lord grant that we will apprehend better his revelation of himself, and that our faith in his Word will correspondingly increase. Amen.

Notes:

1. Trinity Hymnal #80
2. New Age Bible Versions, p. 509.
3. DBLSD #6409.
4. Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon #5324.