“Therefore I esteem all thy precepts
concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way.” Psalms 119:128
This is the attitude of a Christian – of a believer in
Jesus Christ. All that God’s Word says, the believer regards to be right; and
what is contrary to God’s Word he hates.
Such an attitude toward God’s Word comes only when the
Holy Spirit opens heart and mind to the truthfulness of God’s Word. Of
ourselves, we would, at best, pick and choose – accepting some parts of the
Scriptures which are to our liking and rejecting others which do not agree with
our opinions or lifestyles. But when God’s Spirit convinces us of the
truthfulness of His every word, we can pick and choose no longer.
God’s Word is true in all it says regardless of
whether we like it or not. When God’s commandments say, “Thou shalt not…,” and we have, all we can do is admit our wrong
and acknowledge our sin. When we have not done as God commands, there are no
excuses to offer. God is right and we are wrong. When God says, “The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9), that doesn’t just apply to someone
else’s heart; it applies to yours and mine. When God says, “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans
Of course, the comfort of God’s Word is also true.
When He says, “Christ died for our sins
according to the Scriptures … and … rose again the third day according to the
Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3, 4), that means that Messiah Jesus died for
your sins and mine and paid in full – His resurrection is living proof that we
are justified! When God says that we are “accepted
in the Beloved,” and “have redemption
through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His
grace” (Ephesians 1:6, 7), that means that God forgives and accepts you and
me for Jesus’ sake! We are redeemed and acceptable in His eyes.
When Jesus tells us, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told
you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may
be also” (John 14:1-3), you and I can be assured that Jesus is preparing a
place for us in His Father’s house and He will come again to take us to be with
Him forever in heaven!
Yes, it’s true that believers believe every word of
God, whether it condemns them, comforts them and gives them hope, or guides
them in living for their Lord and Savior. Believers may not understand every
word, but they still trust that God is right and true in what He has said.
Rather than seeking ways to circumvent God’s Word or excuse their disobedience,
believers – by the gracious and life-giving work of God – accept and believe
what the Word of God says, repent of their sin and disobedience, take comfort
in the promise of God’s mercy and forgiveness in the shed blood of Christ
Jesus, and seek to live in accord with all that God’s Word teaches.
Since believers accept the truthfulness of God’s Word
in all things, they also hate every false way. Believers reject false teachers
and the false hope they offer and they call disobedience to any portion of
God’s Word what God calls it – sin! And they, according to Christ’s commission
and commandment, call upon sinners to repent and receive the comfort and
forgiveness which Jesus won for all when He suffered and died upon the cross.
Yes, with the psalmist, believers say: “Therefore I esteem all thy precepts
concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way.”
O God of
truth and righteousness. Your Word is true in all things. Forgive me where I
have transgressed, for the sake the Son, Christ Jesus, and His innocent
sufferings and death in my stead. Grant me faith to accept and believe Your
Word, in all things. Amen.
[By Randy Moll, The Still Small Voice, Gentry,