I’d like to give you a simple Bible quiz. I’m going to give you a list of adjectives (descriptive words), and you tell me who I’m describing, OK?
Here’s the list: righteous, wonderful, true, good, trustworthy, precious, eternal, enduring, boundless, omnipresent, and sweet.
Who am I describing? If you said, “God”, or more specifically, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, then you and I are on the same page.
But here’s something amazing. I’ve been reading Psalm 119 lately. It’s the longest chapter in the Bible (176 verses), and most of the verses are about the Bible. And in Psalm 119, every one of the adjectives listed above is used to describe the Word of God.
Go ahead and take out your Bible and see for yourself. Here’s the list again, along with the verses in which you’ll find these adjectives used in reference to God’s Word: righteous (7), wonderful (18), true (30), good (39), trustworthy (42), precious (72), eternal (89), enduring (91), boundless (96), omnipresent (98), and sweet (103). (I’m using the New International Version.)
Now, here’s another simple Bible quiz. Who is the source of the following things: life, strength, grace, freedom, delight, wisdom, insight, understanding, light, joy, hope and peace?
Again, Jesus Christ is the answer to that question. But again, in Psalm 119, the Word of God is described as the source of life (25), strength (28), grace (29), freedom (45), delight (92), wisdom (98), insight (99), understanding (100), light (105), joy (111), hope (147) and peace (165).
I find this relationship between God and His Word quite eye opening. God and His Word are so closely related, they are described with identical terminology.
Consider this example. Moses wrote, “from everlasting to everlasting you are God” (Psalm 90:2). God is eternal. He has no beginning and no end. He has always existed and always will exist. He is eternally self-existent. That is a truth guaranteed to blow your mind and fill your heart with praise, worship and adoration of the One who told Moses at the burning bush, “I am who I am” (Exodus 3:14).
So the eternality of God is one of the foundational teachings of Scripture. And so is the eternality of the Word of God, as the writer of Psalm 119 states: “Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens” (Psalm 119:89).
This inseparable relationship between God and His Word is not just an exercise in semantics. This is reason to be greatly encouraged, for when faced with the struggles and challenges of life, it is easy to become discouraged and distraught, and to wonder whether God is still in control and will, in the end, work all things “for the good of those who love him” (Romans 8:28).
When you are faced with the loss of a job or a loved one, or when an terrible accident or a terminal illness strikes your family, what do you do to remind yourself that God remains the Rock and Refuge of your life? We open His Word and let Him speak words of comfort and hope, words of strength and even joy in the midst of our sorrow.
From Genesis to Revelation, our God provides hope through “the encouragement of the Scriptures” (Romans 15:4). May this be how each of us responds to the trials of life — by going to Jesus, the living Word, and to the Bible, the written Word, to find grace in our time of need.
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