Tuesday, January 7

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The Way of Truth: January 7

All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.

—Psalm 119:160

When my now-husband, Daniel, and I got engaged, a friend suggested that we count down the final 150 days before our wedding by reading a psalm each day, starting with Psalm 150 and going backward. “Not only will it help you keep track of how many days are left,” she said, “but it will also help you focus on what’s really important during a season that can get pretty chaotic.” We took her advice, and for a month or so, everything was going well.

Until, that is, we hit Psalm 119.

The day we were slotted to read that psalm, Daniel had to work two jobs and we weren’t able to see each other at all. We’d decided in advance that when that happened, we’d read the verses to each other over the phone. But when I opened my Bible to Psalm 119, I was shocked to discover that unlike the psalms we’d read thus far, which ran just a few stanzas, this one went on for pages—176 verses, to be exact.

I was feeling a little miffed that this psalm had landed on a day when it was my turn, and I have to admit that my attitude wasn’t exactly “spiritual” as I rattled off the verses in voice mail after voice mail. But somewhere along the way, the words began to soak in despite my grumblings, and it struck me how much this psalm echoed with themes of delight and truth. By the time I heard a friendly electronic voice telling me that Daniel’s mailbox was full, my angst over the length of the psalm had evaporated. Instead, I was intrigued by what had motivated the author who had penned it.

What would it look like, I wondered, to be so captured by God’s Word—so delighted in it—that I couldn’t help but go on and on about it? To be so full of joy over Scripture that it overflowed from my pen, my mouth, my life?

For the psalmist, it seems that delighting in God’s Word is inextricably linked to the fact that it is true—solid, unchanging words that can be relied on. This is especially important since, as we talked about yesterday, the psalmist always talks about Scripture in relation to the Author—to God himself.

The words true and truth are sprinkled frequently throughout Psalm 119:

“Never take your word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your laws” (verse 43).

“Your righteousness is everlasting and your law is true” (verse 142).

“Yet you are near, Lord, and all your commands are true” (verse 151).

“All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal” (verse 160).

What would a love letter communicate about the writer if the words rang false? Such a letter would deliver a dual betrayal: first that the words themselves are a sham, and worse, that the one who wrote the words is untrue. But when we experience the opposite—when the words are true and the writer is true—there we discover true delight.

And so it is with God’s love letter to us. His Word is true, and he is true. And in some kind of divine mystery, his Word helps us uncover truths about him, and he helps us uncover truths about His Word.

How do you view God’s Word: as a duty or as a delight? In what ways would you like to view Scripture more like the psalmist?

—Stephanie Rische