“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. For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock save our God. The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.” (Psalm 18:30-31,46)
Have you ever gone to the store with your parents and seen little tables where the store workers are giving away free samples? If a store is just beginning to sell a special new dipping sauce, for example, they might have a big bowl of chips out, and they might invite anyone to grab a chip and dip it in the sauce. Or maybe a bakery has a new cookie recipe, so they want everyone to know how good their new cookie is going to taste! Everyone is welcome to stop by the table and try a cookie (or at least a bite). If you go to an ice cream shop, and you cannot decide what flavor of ice cream you want, a worker might dip a little spoon into a flavor you aren’t sure about, pull out the spoon with a bite of ice cream on it, and hand it to you. Then you can see (taste!) for yourself whether you really like that flavor enough to get a whole scoop of it.
What did the psalmist mean when he wrote that God’s Word is “tried”? Does that mean some people have tried it out and decided they liked it? Well, in a way that’s true. The Word has been tried, or tested, and proven to be true. It truly is the Word of God. God Himself says so, the Word itself says so, and many people have come to believe by faith that God’s Word is what He says it is.
But God’s Word does not need the approval of human beings. Even if everyone read the whole Bible through – and even if every human being alive were to decide that the Bible was just another storybook – the Bible would not be any less true, and it would not stop being God’s Word. Truth is always true, no matter what people think of it.
“All those that trust in” God do find that He is a buckler (a strong shield) for them. They do “taste and see that the LORD is good.” They do come to realize that the Word of the LORD is tried, and that it stands up to any tests. The Word of the LORD is faithful, and that cannot change. Human beings are not always faithful and not always good judges. But God’s way is perfect, and His Word is tried and true. Why? Because God Himself is faithful and true. He never changes, and His Word is the same.
God’s Word is as faithful as He is.
My Response:
» Do I study the Bible so that I can know truths He wants me to know about Himself?
» Do I take the LORD’s Word over what others say?
» How can I show in my daily actions that I believe in the power and trustworthiness of God’s Word?