Psalm 119:90

For today’s meditation we take up the second verse of the octave of Psalm 119 entitled Lamed. 

Psalms 119:90  Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.

In the introduction to this work we noted the ten different words in this psalm that are used to refer to the Scriptures:  law, commandment(s), word(s), way(s), judgment(s), precepts, statutes, testimony or testimonies, righteousness, and truth.  One or more of these words occur in every verse of this psalm with the exception of today’s verse, the verse that follows, verse 122, and verse 132.  Although these four verses do not use any of the ten words the rest of the verses use to refer to the Scriptures, nevertheless they agree with the theme of the psalm extolling the written word of God, as I purpose to demonstrate. 

In today’s verse the psalmist acknowledges to God His faithfulness.  Now faithfulness is the quality of being faithful, which we will define.

Faithful -  1. Of persons, their actions, etc.: Full of or characterized by faith; believing.  2. Firm in fidelity or allegiance to a person to whom one is bound by any tie; constant, loyal, true.  3. True to one’s word or professed belief; abiding by a covenant or promise, stedfast. 

All three of these definitions come together in the faithfulness of God.  God is full of faith in Himself.  When He promises, He knows He can deliver on that promise.  God is true to His promises and abides by any covenant He makes without any possibility of failure on His part.  Man may promise and have every intention of standing by his promise, but man has limited power.  Therefore, circumstances, infirmity, or death can interfere with his being able to fulfill his promise.  Such is never the case with Almighty God.  And it is this attribute of faithfulness that undergirds God’s word.  We may trust anything God says because God is ever faithful to His word.  Hence, the Scripture itself and its sayings are described as being faithful. 

Psalms 119:138  Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful.

Titus 1:9  Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.

1 Timothy 1:15  This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

Revelation 21:5  And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

The psalmist then fetches an example of God’s faithfulness from the creation:  thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.  When God created this earth, He established it.  That is, He rendered it stable and firm.  He built permanence into this earth.  Therefore, it abideth, which means it remains, it continues.  God created this earth by His word and He maintains it by His word so that it abideth.

2 Peter 3:5  For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:

6  Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:

7  But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

Hebrews 1:3  Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high….

 

The faithfulness of God in preserving the earth extends to all generations.  Generations come and go, but the earth abides.  Every generation of men that shall ever be will have had this earth under their feet while they live.

Ecclesiastes 1:4  One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.

Now the verse just cited states that “the earth abideth for ever.”   Yet the apostle Peter teaches us that this present earth will be dissolved by fire, as we saw above.  But Peter adds to this fact that there will be a new heavens and a new earth.

2 Peter 3:13  Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

So there will still be an earth.  It will be a renewed earth, but an earth nonetheless.  So God’s purpose in establishing this earth will not be undone.  The earth abideth and will ever abide.

The earth abides because God has said it will abide and God is faithful to His word.  Now the fact that the earth abideth is recorded in God’s written word which is forever settled in heaven, endures forever, and cannot fail.  Therefore, today’s verse most definitely aligns with the rest of the verses in this psalm in extolling the written word of God.  God’s word stands throughout all generations because God’s faithfulness is unto all generations.

In conclusion, consider the fact that you stand on the same earth God created in the beginning.  This is a testimony to God’s faithfulness.  And know that just as God is faithful to preserve this earth so that it abideth, so God is faithful to every promise He has made to you in His word.  May this thought impart assurance and calm to your soul amidst the changing scenes of life.

Lamentations 3:22  It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

23  They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

Psalm 119:89

I wish to thank each of you that took the time to encourage me to continue making my way through this lengthy Psalm 119.  When I began this task, I wrote:  “I am setting out on what looms before me as a gargantuan task.”  Reflecting on all the time and work that has gone into this project and realizing I am only halfway, it still “looms before me as a gargantuan task.”  But with the help of Almighty God supported by the prayers of the righteous, I am resolved to forge ahead

We now come to the octave entitled by the Hebrew letter Lamed.  The pronunciation of lamed is divided into two syllables, lä – mĕd.  Were it one syllable, I could make a lamed attempt at a joke, but it would be forced.  Hence, I forbear.  The verse we consider today brings us to the heart and height of this psalm being situated as it is in the very center of the psalm.

Psalms 119:89  ¶LAMED. For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.

In my introduction to this series of meditations I wrote: 

“The author of this psalm records a variety of experiences, emotions, and frames of mind in which he found himself….In this psalm we find the author experiencing the full range of human emotions….And yet the psalmist processes all of these experiences through the word of God.  It is obvious from the psalm that the author’s relationship with God was grounded in and experienced through the word of God.” 

The psalmist related everything to his Bible, the very word of the living God.  And from today’s verse, lying at the heart of Psalm 119, we find that he related his life to something that is constant, stable, unchanging, and, therefore, forever reliable. 

Relating this verse to the previous octave Charles Spurgeon wrote:

“After tossing about on a sea of trouble the Psalmist here leaps to shore and stands upon a rock.  Jehovah’s word is not fickle nor uncertain; it is settled, determined, fixed, sure, immoveable….settled in heaven, where nothing can reach it.  In the former section David’s soul fainted, but here the good man looks out of self and perceives that the Lord fainteth not, neither is weary, neither is there any failure in his word.”

Much in our lives may be unsettled, but God’s word is for ever settled.  Our thoughts about the word of God may be unsettled, but the word itself is not.  It is for ever…settled.  God’s word is unshaken by anything that transpires in this world or in our hearts.  Nothing we think or wish or do ever alters one thing God has said.  Once God says it, it is settled for ever.  And being settled in heaven God’s word is beyond the reach of being overturned by anything on this earth.  In the days of Jeremiah Jehudi thought to destroy the word of God spoken by Jeremiah by burning its pages in the hearth.  But being forever settled in heaven, God simply delivered it again to Jeremiah and it was rewritten (Jeremiah 36:23, 27-28).  To mount an attack on the Scriptures is to mount an attack on heaven itself.  But futile is the attempt to overthrow something that is for ever…settled in heaven.

Men like to think of their decrees and laws as unalterable.  Consider the boast of the Medes and the Persians:

Daniel 6:8  Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.   

Yet those decrees are long since passed away.  Governments are ever changing and their policies are ever changing no matter how fixed they think them to be.  But the decrees of God’s word are settled forever.

Psalms 119:160  Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.

Isaiah 40:8  The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

So you have a firm, unshakeable foundation upon which to build your faith and hope.  May God Whose word is forever settled in heaven settle the hearts of you who trust in that word.