WE CAN TRUST THE BIBLE
Psalm 22 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent. Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel. In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed. But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people, they hurl insults, shaking their heads: “He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.” Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even at my mother’s breast. From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God. Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.
Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my has encircled me, they have pierced my hand and my feet. I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing. But you, O Lord, be not far off; O my Strength, come quickly to help me. Deliver my life from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs. Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen. I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you. You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel! For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help. From you comes my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows. The poor will eat and be satisfied; they who seek the Lord will praise him - may your hearts live forever!
All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations. All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him - those who cannot keep themselves alive. Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn - for he has done it. This was written by King David about a 1,000 years before Jesus went to the cross, and yet we see not only events that parallel the crucifixion but even words said. This can come only because it was inspired by God. God could say this because God could make it happen, and these verses of prophecy are only a few that point to the verification that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah that would bless the world. Jesus would be the one that would fulfill God’s promise to Abraham that we see in Genesis 12:3. Here God would promise Abraham that through him all the peoples of the earth would be blessed. Jesus has certainly done this by his atonement he made for all people on Calvary's cross.
Like most people I wondered why I should put my complete trust in the Bible. Granted there are many people that see the Bible as simply a book that contain stories that may or may not be factual, and over the years have lost its integrity. I do not believe this at all. When the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, many were astounded to see how that word for word it matched with today's Bible. With each passing year new archaeological finds have only verified the accuracy of the Bible. But for me one of the greatest evidences of the inspiration and believability of the Bible is fulfilled prophecy. If I can go back in time and see how prophecy was fulfilled, then I believe that I can also look to future prophecy that is yet to be fulfilled and expect it to be done. I believe the Bible is the inspired word of God and for me it is the final authority in what defines what I believe. I realize that there are other areas of confirmation such as reason, tradition and experience, but for me the defining mark that all other areas must align with is scripture. This is why I personally believe that it is so important to know what the Bible says as a whole as well as in part. I believe that are temporal truths in the Bible, but they will always agree with the universal truths or the Bible as a whole.
If we do not rely on the Bible as our source for our belief, then we will find ourselves tossed by every new doctrine or belief that may come our way. Our belief or doctrine is extremely important! II Timothy 4:3 says, “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around the a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. Our faith will only be as strong as what we believe in. A lie no matter how much we want to believe it, is still a lie. God has given us his word in the Bible to help us to know the truth. It is up to us to not only know what it says, but to live by what it says.
Prayer: Holy Spirit, thank you for giving us the Bible. Please help us to understand it correctly and not to interpret it by what we want it to say. Then please help us to have the courage and faith to let it guide our life.
