Perfection of Word

A few feet from my bed is a narrow waste basket around which, on any given night, you will see crumpled paper projectiles like a game of horseshoe solitaire, all capsized attempts at correspondence that have been discarded for various reasons---too strong, too wimpy, too whiny, manipulative, exaggerated.

The person who will receive the final version of the letter will read it as if it were an objective reflection of my mind. If he is so inclined, he may weigh every word, parse every expression. He will freeze my thoughts in aspic as if he really has something solid, little knowing how tenuous and contingent it is, little knowing that it is draft No. 9. It is the gauge of temperature at one moment in a stream.

God's Word is not like that. "This God---his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all who take refuge in him" (Psalm 18:30). God says exactly what he means to say, and says it how he means to say it, and does not change his mind. It is not too strong, not manipulative, not fickle, not exaggerated, not proceeding from evil motives, nor bitterness, nor selfish ambition, nor out of anything but love.

Because "the testimony of the Lord is sure" (Psalm 19:7), there are implications. As my NKJV Bible says in its introduction to Genesis: "The Word of God must always stand above the word of man; we are not to judge His Word, but rather, it judges us." This is easier said than done. I am in the habit of running God's words by the bar of reason and through the net of personal experience and anecdotal reports and denominational affiliation. I need to quit that and let God speak to me directly.

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