Psalm 19:7:11
The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
The precepts of the LORD are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever.
The ordinances of the LORD are sure
and altogether righteous.
They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
They are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the comb.
By them is your servant warned;
In keeping them there is great reward. (NIV)

             If nature is the first witness to testify to the glory of God, then the Scriptures, the written word of God, constitute the second great witness to speak of God’s existence. Both these great witnesses have gathered here to testify within the context of this Psalm. The voice of the speaking stars is now joined by the voice of the written Holy Word.

Nowhere else in Scriptures are these two witnesses so clearly juxtaposed. They have joined forces—linked arms—to deliver a message to David. And through David they deliver their message to us.

And what is that message? It is a message about the character of God. While nature speaks to us of the existence of God the Creator, it is largely silent regarding the nature or character of this all-powerful supernatural being. Is He good? Is He evil? Is He indifferent to us? Is He angry with us? What is this great, overarching, omnipresent God really like? May we approach Him?

The Scriptures provide us with the answers to these questions. The apostle Peter tells us something of how the Scriptures came into being. He says that, “Men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21).

Furthermore, Paul the apostle informed Timothy, his son in the faith that, “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Now listen to what this second witness, the witness of the Word, testifies to David concerning himself, and the God of the heavens?

The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul.

The law is perfect, flawless, inerrant and infallible. Only a perfect, flawless, inerrant and infallible God can be the source of such a document. The law of the LORD that is referred to here is in fact the Bible, the Word of God. Jack Hayford in his commentary on this verse from the Psalms states, “That the ‘law of the LORD is perfect,’ is direct reference to the absolute, complete, and entire trustworthiness of the Holy Scriptures, which constitute the Bible.”[1]

And this perfect, true and infallible law, or Word of God, has an effect. The Word of God is active. It revives the soul. God’s word literally brings souls back to life.

If as Paul told Timothy, the scriptures are God-breathed, then it is legitimate to ask, “When did the breath of life leave them?”

The answer is, “It never has. The Bible is still alive and breathing.”

Please forgive me as I indulge in a brief fantasy. Can you visualize this scene? Some unsuspecting soul, let’s call him Bob, casually walks into a living room and plunks himself down in a big easy chair. Bob glances over at the side table and notices a Bible lying there. At first he shows no interest. But then suddenly he detects movement. Bob’s jaw drops open and his eyes become big as saucers. The Bible is moving. Its pages slowly rise and fall in a rhythmic breathing fashion. In fact Bob detects the audible sound of escaping of breath from the open pages. Our hapless friend catapults from his chair. He bolts from the room screaming, “It’s alive! It’s alive!”

If only the living nature of God’s word—the aliveness of the Bible—would become that obvious to us all!

When the apostle Paul writes of the God-breathed scriptures, he is really drawing us into the genesis imagery regarding the origin of human life.

The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being (Genesis 2:7)

This same LORD God used the same method to bring life to his written word. The God-breathed scriptures have a life of their own. Hence the writer of the book of Hebrews declares, “The word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

Now David states in this Psalm that the law, and please remember that here the Hebraic understanding of the term law refers to the whole of God’s written word, this law brings revival to the soul. Life begets life. The living Word of God generates spiritual life. As surely as our father Adam became the father of human life, so too the written word of God has been busy fathering life since it began its God-breathed, God-initiated existence.

God’s word revives the soul. Adam’s seed can initiate biological life. But it takes the word of God to initiate spirit life inside the human soul. Since Adam’s fall we all enter this world physically alive but spiritually dead.

In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he wrote:

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to   live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of   the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient” (Ephesians 2:1-2).

It is God’s holy written word that revives that part of us that died when our first parents disobeyed. Spiritual death occurred the moment Adam and Eve disobeyed. Their obedience to Satan’s temptation empowered this ruler of the kingdom of the air. His rulership in the world had its genesis with this first sin. The prince of death established his reign.

Now here in this Psalm, by God-breathed revelation, this witness speaks of the reviving work of God’s word. When God’s word is brought into contact with the human soul, spirit life springs forth. Our souls are reconnected with our Creator. The harmony between God and man that was lost in the Garden is suddenly restored.

I am a gardener, and every spring I take dry, dead-looking seeds out of a package and drop them into the soil of my garden. And every spring a certain kind of magic takes place. Those dead-looking seeds come to life, and a barren patch of ground becomes an oasis of life and abundance.

Now that’s a picture of God’s written word coming to life in the warm soil of the human heart; a spiritually dead clod of earth suddenly comes alive with the vibrant, pulsating fullness of spirit life—life that comes directly from the Father of lights. There’s no experience like it. This is rebirth. This is revival. God’s word is the true source of this life that has been reborn. The living word has been busy begetting new life.

Now let’s return to the premise we began with at the start of this chapter. That premise is that the written word of God reveals the character of God. Thus far, the second witness has testified to the truth of God’s word. We have learned that God’s word is perfect, hence God is perfect. But that perfect word or law does not leave us dead, it brings revival.

Next the great witness which is God’s word declares, “The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.” Only a trustworthy God would give us trustworthy statutes. So, God is trustworthy.

Furthermore, through his statutes God imparts wisdom to us. James, the brother of our LORD, invites us to ask for God’s wisdom: If any of you need wisdom, you should ask God, and it will be given to you. God is generous and won’t correct you for asking (James 1:5 CEV).

Again, the second witness speaks, “The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart.” Only a righteous God would give us right precepts, so we must logically conclude that God is righteous, or right in all he does. Furthermore, when the right precepts of this righteous God are applied to the human heart, in the context of human relationships and experiences, joy is the result.

In fact, the apostle Paul asserts that, “the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17).

Real joy—soul-filling and overflowing joy—is rooted in being in right standing with others and with God.

Again, the witness of God’s word testifies, “The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.”

If the LORD’s commands are radiant, then God the source of these commands must be full of light. Here is another characteristic of God that we can add to our growing list. God is light. There is nothing dark or shadowy about him.

Even as Jesus stooped to impart the gift of sight to a man born blind, he declared, “I am the light of the world” (John 9:5).

Are you looking for direction or guidance in this sin-clouded world? Come to Christ the incarnate word. Observe God’s commands and look to God’s word. The Psalmist proclaims, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Psalm 119:105).

Now our second great witness within this Psalm asserts, “The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever.”    

Throughout the Bible we are repeatedly admonished to fear the LORD. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). Yet we live in a world that ignores the LORD, and even among church attending believers the fear of the LORD is a teaching that has fallen much out of fashion. Simultaneously, in far too many of these same churches, sin runs rampant, unchecked and unbridled. Because there is no fear of the LORD, our sanctuaries become polluted.

The fear of the LORD produces purity. James reminds us that “God is our judge, and he can save or destroy us” (James 4:12 CEV). If we truly know God as our judge, a holy respect and reverent fear will inform all our thoughts, words and actions. The fear of the LORD acts as a filter screening out the impurities that world drops into our lives.

From this statement we can conclude that the eternal God is holy and pure. Because he has designed us to have fellowship with him, he desires these same qualities in us.

Finally concerning God’s word, our witness states, “The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous.”

If God’s ordinances are sure and certain, then God must be dependable. We can rely on him. God’s laws are unchanging. God is not evolving; hence his laws are not evolving. Perfection cannot be improved upon.

The writer of Hebrews tells us, “Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

Jesus Christ is as merciful today as he was two thousand years ago. He remains approachable. He is still a healer, a miracle worker, a friend of sinners.

There are no mood swings with God. He is not fickle. He does not change with the times. The changing god, the evolving god, who suddenly gets with it, is no god at all since he is a god fashioned at our own impulse, made to suit and bless our ever-changing whims.

The true God is a rock—the rock of truth upon which we can build our lives.

The second witness has spoken. His testimony is a litany of praise for God’s word. Within in that litany of praise we discover the character of God. Here is a God who is perfect, trustworthy, righteous, and full of light, pure, eternal and unchanging. But what should excite us most is that this totally wondrous God wants to commune with us, longs to revive us, desires his very best for us. His laws and by extension all his written word is precious beyond compare. Here is the food of heaven for the hungry soul. Jesus said, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God'” (Matthew 4:4).

[1] From the Spirit Filled Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers, page 768.

Bringing Life to the Psalms

1. Do you allow time for the witness of God’s word to personally speak into your life? Establish a daily Bible reading routine. You feed your body daily. Feed your spirit too, with a daily dose of Bible reading.
2. Too busy to read God’s word? Buy or download a set of Bible tapes or CDs and listen to the Word during your daily commute.
3. Post key Bible passages about your home or on your personal computer. Discover ways to embed God’s word into your mind. His word is life changing as we feed upon it.
4. Can you recall a time when God’s Word leapt off the page as you read it? What was that like? What did He say?

Today’s post is the second chapter from the book Psalms Alive! Connecting Heaven & Earth by David Kitz. To view or purchase click here.