The Trustworthy Word of God
7 The instruction of the Lord is perfect, renewing one’s life; the testimony of the Lord is trustworthy, making the inexperienced wise. 8 The precepts of the Lord are right, making the heart glad; the command of the Lord is radiant, making the eyes light up. 9 The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the Lord are reliable and altogether righteous. 10 They are more desirable than gold— than an abundance of pure gold; and sweeter than honey dripping from a honeycomb.
Psalm 19:7-10(CSB)
Since the Word of God is inspired, infallible, and inerrant, we must understand that it is trustworthy. Trustworthiness means that something is worthy of trust and reliable. Reliability and trust occur when an object is viewed as steady, true, and dependable. Thus, the Word of God is trustworthy because it is truthful, dependable, steady, reliable, and worthy of trust.
The Word of God is trustworthy because it is the “testimony of the Lord.” Combined with the understanding of divine inspiration and divine authorship, Scripture is trustworthy because it comes from the Lord and is the revelation and declaration of the Lord. We can trust the truth of God’s Word because it comes from the Lord who is Truth.
Scripture is trustworthy because “the precepts of the Lord are right.” The general rules that regulate activity must come from the Lord. When the Lord sets the guidelines for life, we acknowledge our reliance upon Him and demonstrate our trust in Him. The Bible is trustworthy because it is from God, who is trustworthy. His expectations and ways can be trusted because they are based on His righteous character and nature.
The Bible is trustworthy because it is reliable and steady. The Psalmist reminded us that “The ordinances of the Lord are reliable and altogether righteous.” We can trust the Word of God because we trust the Lord to lean upon Him and allow Him to be the foundation on which to construct our lives. We trust the Word because it is the God-breathed Word to use that is unchanging and eternal.
We must learn to respond trustworthyly to God’s Word. Scripture declares the truth on which we can build our lives. We can depend on Scripture because it is unchanging and steady no matter what we face. We must strive to see Scripture as trustworthy.
QUESTIONS
How does the unchanging, steady component of Scripture’s trustworthiness encourage us to seek counsel from God’s Word for all of life’s adventures?
How does the inspiration of God’s Word create a trustworthiness of Scripture that does not exists elsewhere?
