UTTERLY DEPENDABLE

Time with Jesus - Monday, 19 March 2012

Hi all,

Psalm 119 is awesome. It’s a wisdom psalm. It’s an acrostic of praise about God’s Word. An acrostic is very difficult to write. In English we would have 26 lines. Each successive line begins with the next letter of our alphabet. It’s a daunting task. Now Psalm 119 has 176 lines. It is divided up into 22 parts. Each part begins with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Thus we have eight lines beginning with the letter “Aleph”. This is followed by eight lines beginning with the letter “Beth”. Thus they use the entire Hebrew alphabet. The NIV indicates this by using the phonetic for each successive Hebrew letter. We have to bear in mind that Hebrew poetry is unlike traditional English poetry. We talk about rhyme and metre. Hebrew poetry is different. There is insufficient space to elaborate on this. Even so, this psalm is a masterpiece.

What is important here is Psalm 119’s focus on God’s Word. Reading it gives the impression that the accuracy and reliability of God’s Word is paramount. As Christians we need to have the same attitude toward the Bible. Liberal Scholars tend to approach the Bible with a pair of scissors. They cut out everything that doesn’t appeal to their reason. It seems that they regard the rational mind is greater than God’s Word!

One of the questions we are often asked is how do we know that the Bible is God’s Word? It’s a fair question. How do we answer it? We can’t call God to the bar of human logic. It has been written and we are not compelled to accept it as God’s Word. What we can do is test it for veracity. This has been done by many scholars. It hasn’t failed the test.

I’m reminded of a story told by Dr Ken Stewart when I was in Bible School 30 years ago. He stated that he went to seminary to prove God’s Word was true. To his amazement he shared a room with a man who had gone to seminary to prove that God’s Word was not true. He added that neither of them succeeded. Then Dr Ken decided he would accept it as true. That’s when it started working for him.

In my early days as I Christian I was faced with the same problem. Was the Bible really God’s Word? Like Dr Ken, I was unable to prove it. Then, when I started to believe it, everything fell into place. That’s when I realised that God isn’t impressed with unbelief. He has no need to prove Himself. The epistle to the Hebrews makes the very clear. ⁶ It's impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him. Heb 11:6 MSG When I started to believe that the Bible is God’s Word, veracity was no longer an issue.

Now, when I’m being challenged on this issue or and other faith issue, I have a standard reply. “I believe”. No man or woman can gainsay it. No matter what they say, my reply is “I believe”. “But you’re an arrogant, dogmatic, fundamentalist, idiot!” “I believe!” No apology is necessary. “I believe”, is all we need!”

Today’s meditation is on God’s Word. What it means to me and what this belief has done for me.

Blessings

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Utterly Dependable

Veracity; veracity is what we truly need! Without it, can we ever tell if on it we can feed? It has to be dependable! The Word of God - No less! For everything that comes from man, will curse and never bless! So how can we be certain the Bible is God’s Word? It has to be consistent and all of it occurred, At some time in our history that we can verify. If it’s a “fairy story”, it’s no more than a lie. It has to be consistent and it’s inerrancy, Confirmed in every aspect, throughout all history. In cannot be just guesswork; it must be guaranteed! It has to be reliable in each and every deed. It must include a future that only God could know. It must describe each incident correctly, blow by blow. It must contain correction; so we need not go wrong. It has to bring encouragement, to help us to be strong. It must speak of the places we can identify. It has to bring us laughter. It aught to make us cry. We have to know for certain that all who wrote it down, Were not some raving lunatics or some celestial clown! It has to bring us comfort; it has to bring us hope! It has to show it’s possible that somehow we can cope. It has to touch our spirit, our body and our mind. It has to give us guidance and never leave us blind. We have to know that others have found these qualities; And that we can be like them. We can’t complain at these! It has to show relationships within this world of men, Can also be repeated. Not only now and then, But with a certain confidence that if in Him we trust, We will not be discarded or thrown outside to rust. It must have all these qualities and many, many more. It must reveal a Saviour Whom people can adore. It has to give us confidence that right up to the end, We have a God on whom we can forevermore depend. My brothers and my sisters, for over fifty years, God’s Holy Word, the Bible, has brought me joy and tears! I’ve found that it’s dependable far more than I can say. Not once, but through the many years, right up until today! It’s been the central bastion of all I’ve sought to do. And every single word of it’s proved absolutely true. No longer can I doubt it. For Christ has done for me, Far more than I can think about, or estimate, or see. Jim Strickland  Written Monday 19th March 2012