The Eternal Word of God
How can you face terrible disappointments, unfulfilled desires, soul wrenching rejection by friends and family, and even persecution for your faith and maintain a joyful attitude? The reason that we endure is because our hope is in God. Hope is not wishful thinking, but a surety of mind that what God has said will come to pass. We hope because we know the nature of our faithful God.
The psalmist in this stanza has hope in the Lord because of the eternal nature of the Scriptures. He has been revived by them and greatly encouraged by them in his great trial. In his great trials he has been revived by the Scriptures (119:93), and would not have been able to endure without the constant reminders of God’s nature in His word (119:92-93).
The psalmist focuses in this stanza on the eternal nature of the word of God. In the Hebrew he begins both verse 89 and verse 93 with the word “forever.” This twofold declaration of the eternal nature of God’s word forms a clear twofold divide in this stanza (119:89-92 & 119:93-96). The first section expounds the idea that God’s word is settled in the heaven and the earth (119:89-90). It was by the word of God that all things were created (Gen 1-2). The heavens and the earth are still standing today, demonstrating that God’s word is faithful (119:90). The second section speaks of the permanent settling of God’s word in the heart of the psalmist. He declares that God is His Saviour and Lord and has ownership over His life (119:94). Though the wicked desire his downfall, he is loyal to God (119:94-95). He knows that only God is perfect and His word is boundless in its application to His life (119:96).