Honoring the Tribute to God's Word in the Psalms, Book I

Only a boy named David; only a rippling brook; only a boy named David, but five little stones he took!

In his best-selling book, David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, Malcolm Gladwell supports the intriguing thesis that misfits and underdogs turn the course of history. The viewpoint that has been rejected is, after all, frequently the right one, and the misfit who leans into his impending failure often reaps the reward of staking his all. David is such a hero. And he is heroic precisely because no one but himself expected success against Goliath, the uncircumcised Philistine and archenemy of the Lord. David knew not only that his strength was not his own; he knew that his sole armor in battling this giant was the Name of the Lord of Hosts. In honor of this Name, David also knew that his sole weapon would be a stone. The Old Testament punishment for blasphemy, of which Goliath was clearly guilty, was stoning (Leviticus 24:16). And stoned Goliath was for mocking the God of Israel (I Samuel 17). If we trace David's stone as a metaphor of God's Word, we will find this imagery all throughout Scripture. We will also find that the Psalms provide arguably Scripture's greatest tribute to the Word of God, the foundation of which--the Decalogue--was quite literally written in stone.

Jesus Christ, the Son of David and the Word made flesh, who quotes from the Psalms more than from any other book of the Old Testament, is Himself the Stone the builders rejected (Psalm 118:22; Matthew 21:42). But not by the wise man will Christ be set aside. The wise man will stake his entire life upon this Cornerstone, even when he builds alone or seems out of place (Matthew 7:24-27). With Edward Everett Hale, he can say, "I am only one. But still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do." He knows that he must not only hear "these sayings of mine"; he must do them. And when his nation once framed by Judaic law rules Bible reading--his life's foundation--unconstitutional in the nation's system of public education (1963, Abington v. Schempp), he considers himself born for such a time as this. He stands against the seat of the scornful, as Justice Potter Stewart did in this 8-1 ruling, when he equated this outcome with the "establishment of a religion of secularism."

Beyond mere dissent, the wise man insists upon a return to Scripture, knowing his beloved nation errs, "not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God" (Matthew 22:29). Amazingly, 62 years later, wise men of high caliber have just ruled in the Tennessee House of Representatives to allow the public display of the Ten Commandments in our state's schools. The hope that seeing laws against murder, adultery, stealing, lying, and coveting will spark curiosity in our students meets with the tragic reality that not only our schools but also our churches have sidelined the Word of God. Even those churches that still pay lip service to God's Word in a vague and formal way often do little to obey it in daily life. But the boy-king David loved God's Word, and not merely as his weapon in a crisis. It was the strum of his lyre, the oxygen in his lungs, the light of his eyes, the thoughts of his heart, and became, ultimately, the rule of his law.

In Gladwellian eyes, David's place in Scripture proves the poetic justice to his boyhood misfit status. Although many of the Psalms that celebrate the power of God's Word are not necessarily written by David, many that remain anonymous are nevertheless attributed to him. And others are juxtaposed with David's Psalms because they show his passion for God's Word. In the first Book of the Psalms, Psalms 1-41, the Word of God is referenced in one way or another by conservative estimate over 35 times. Known by all of the synonyms which we find later in Psalm 119--law, truth, way or ways, path, judgments, statutes, testimonies, or simply word--God's Word is the common thread weaving Book I of the Psalms together. This is true even when it is not overtly mentioned because the Psalms show the laws of God embedded in life itself. This fact not only makes Psalm 1 all the more appropriate; it proves that the way of the righteous is found indeed within God's Word.

God's Word must first be our delight if it would ever be useful in our lives. Psalm 1:2 introduces this delight, and this theme continues in David's Psalm 19:8, in which he mentions the statutes of the Lord as rejoicing the heart. He continues to say that the judgments of the Lord are more to be desired than gold. But how many shaky deals are cut with a love of gold in mind rather than a love of God's judgments! Yet Psalm 37:30-31 and 34 show us that when the law of God is in our heart as the seat of our affections, "none of [our] steps shall slide." Psalm 40:8 and 11 show us again that delighting to do God's will is possible when His law is "within [our] heart." The theme of delight in God's law may seem odd in an age that has rejected not only God's law but even the supposedly superior laws of the land. But we might reiterate here that the laws of our nation are presently being mocked because we officially rejected God's law long ago. The crumbling has only been a matter of time, as has the inevitable anarchy that accompanies abandoning truth itself.

We know that God's Word must be our delight because it is indeed truth itself, and the Psalms feature this fact without apology in superlative degree. Psalm 12:6 says, "The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times." God's Word needs no refinement such as Job encountered who became as gold when tried (Job 23:10), for truth is indeed as pure going into the furnace as it is coming out. The hottest "trials" of God's Word invariably prove this. I heard a little story of a woman whose Bible was penciled all throughout with the initials T.P. When someone curiously asked her to explain her quaint notes, she said she had "tried and proven" every promise so signed. God's beloved and proven Word, unlike our Constitution, can never be amended by any Supreme Court. Neither can it be set aside or marginalized. It is true ever and always and shall stand throughout all ages, world without end.

Psalm 18:30 reiterates the purity of God's Word, saying, "As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him." Psalm 19:7 likewise proclaims that the law of the Lord is perfect. Psalm 33:4 rules that the "word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth." With good reason, then, does the Psalmist further declare, "Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast" (Psalm 33:8-9). The Lord not only needs no majority vote or future amendment, He overrules all dissent: "The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations" (Psalm 33:10-11). If the godly man of Psalm 1 is "blessed" by following the less traveled road which rejects the counsel of the ungodly, how much more "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD" (Psalm 33:12)?

Because God's Word is true as our soul's delight, we can follow it along life's way. Many are the Scriptures which reference the Lord teaching us His way. Psalm 17:5; Psalm 18:21-22, 30; Psalm 25:4-5, 8-9, 12, 14; Psalm 26:1,3; Psalm 27:11; Psalm 32:8; Psalm 37:31--we could go on and on without time to record them all, but this is why we love the Psalms and turn to them again and again to remind ourselves of the Lord's guidance. When we follow Him, our steps will not slide. His Word is sure, and because the Lord Himself has promised to teach us, we may detect and reject those blind guides who would veer us off into the ditch by injecting their own opinions into God's Word. As made in our Lord's image and as remade in Christ's likeness, we know His Voice and we know when we hear Truth. Those Psalms that remind us that the Lord created the world by the breath of His mouth (Psalm 33:6-9) should remind us also that He made His world to function perfectly. Only when we reject His laws and taunt His ways as godless Goliath did do we stumble and fall. Let us be a David who picks up God's Word as our one true stone to fell blasphemy and unbelief.

May our humble prayer throughout this year--so tragically begun in world chaos and national conflict--be always that we will honor the Word of our God as our delight, our truth, and our way.