“For ever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven.” (Psalm 119:89)
This is the central verse in the longest chapter in the longest book in the Bible, and it is surely one of the greatest verses in the Bible. It conveys the amazing news that the Word of God (which is the theme of the entire 119th Psalm) has existed from eternity past and will continue to exist forever in the future. It was eternally settled in the mind of God before the world was created, then gradually inscripturated “at various times and in various way as God| spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets” (Hebrews 1:1).
Other verses in this psalm likewise stress the eternal validity of God’s words: “The righteousness of your testimonies is everlasting. . . . Concerning your testimonies, I have known of old that you have founded them forever. . . . The entirety of Your word s truth: and every one of thy righteous judgments endures forever” (Psalm 119:144, 152, 160).
In the Book of Isaiah appears a magnificent claim: “The grass withers, the flower fades but the word of our God stands for ever” (Isaiah 40:8). This contrast is expanded by the apostle Peter: “having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through word of God, which lives and abides forever” (1 Peter 1:23).
To guarantee this great truth beyond any further question, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself made the following tremendous claim: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:35). “Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall by no means pass from the law, till all is fulfilled” (Matthew 5:18).
The entire physical universe is (literally) “passing away,” heading inexorably downhill toward ultimate death–with one exception! The words of our Bible and its glorious promises are eternal and immutable.
In A Very Uncertain World We Have Something Certain To Hold On To,
Pastor Bob