Christ the Word in Psalm 119

On almost a daily basis, I see comments posted on various "Christian" websites in which some high-sounding spiritual know-it-all makes a bleeding case for antinomianism, saying in that "holier-than-thou" tone which hypocrites know best that we insult Christ by trying to abandon our sin. This type of gaslighting shouts that the original poster has never even read God's Word, for no such doctrine exists, unless it is the doctrine of devils. But statements like this all too often go unchallenged because most Christians do not read their Bibles.

This fact remains a mystery, given a glut of Bible study helps which has reached a point of absurdity. If we do a search on the Bibles available for every walk of life, we will find the women's Bible, the teenager's Bible, the police worker's Bible, the single man's Bible, the shut-in's Bible--and the list goes on, until we reach the nearly inevitable conclusion that something so changeable and customized holds virtually no ultimate authority over its target audience, let alone over anyone else. By catering to our preferences, this merchandized view of God's Word has also created the impression that we don't need the Holy Spirit to understand the Bible; we just need an expensive study Bible.

But God's unchanging Word is crystal clear without our interference. This fact alone exposes those who would rewrite the gospel into an entitlement to sin. If we look at the immediate context preceding Jesus' parable of the wise man and the foolish man in His Sermon on the Mount, we see that He links false prophets with those who call Him "Lord, Lord," but who do not do the things that He says. "And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity" (Matthew 7:23). Whom did Jesus never know? The ones who paid lip service to His Lordship while exempting themselves from obedience. After delivering this blistering pronouncement against apostasy, Jesus' very next word "therefore" opens the parable of the wise man and the foolish man. Many a foolish man is not heeding Jesus' direct instruction today but is insisting on an easier way.

I just read yesterday someone who wrote in to a post saying he did not want to give up his sin; that he loved sin and decided finally to admit it. Another commenter wrote back and told him to go ahead and love his sin--but not to expect anything from the Lord. I can't help thinking of what John writes in Revelation 22:11, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still." The old adage is true: "Sow a thought and reap an action; sow an action, and reap a habit; sow a habit and reap a character; and sow a character and reap a destiny."

Psalm 119 teaches that if we hide God's Word in our heart, we will not sin against Him. This Word isn't merely a warning against sin; it is the antidote to sin as the replacement of all our natural and unsanctified affections. See Psalm 119:1-2, 14, 16, 35, 47, 70, and 174, to name a few. How fitting that Psalm 119, as the longest chapter in the entire Bible, is buried deep near the center of the English Bible, giving a literal centrality to the importance of God's Word! The appropriateness of this structure is compounded in the fact that no other chapter in the Bible is as intricately designed as Psalm 119.

A deep study of Psalm 119 shows the authority of God's Word, the efficacy of God's Word, and the finality of God's Word. We also could study this Psalm as a symphony in three movements. But meanwhile, we know this much: from A to Z, Psalm 119 proves that God's Word is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end of all reality. Our Lord Jesus Christ identifies Himself with this title in Revelation 1:8 and 11, in Revelation 21:6, and in Revelation 22:13. Paul captures the truth of Christ's completeness when he writes in 2 Corinthians 1:19-20, "For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us . . . was not yea and nay, but in him was yea. For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us."