I believe that the Bible is one cohesive book despite being comprised of 66 disparate books and written by 40 different authors over a span of 1500 years.
I also know that it is God’s love story to us, a story about failure and restoration; separation and reunion.
But I really hadn’t connected the dots in other ways . . . until last week.
I was reading Psalm 19:7-9 the other day. Listen to the words.
The Law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul;
the testimony of the LORD is trustworthy, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the LORD are right, bringing joy to the heart;
the commandments of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever;
the judgments of the LORD are true, being altogether righteous.
Do those bolded words sound familiar? They did to me, too. Philippians 4:8:
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
I have often debated what things Paul meant when he said “true, noble, right, and pure,” and have always assigned them a human counterpart. And commentaries would support this, as there was some discord in the Philippian church, and Paul was encouraging them to focus on these uplifting and God-pleasing attributes instead of their differences.
However, what hit home to me was that the source of these attributes is God’s Word itself as David writes in Psalm 19. God’s Word is all these things. If we read and instill His Word, then we cannot but help focus on and live a life defined by these qualities.
Likewise, later in the chapter in verse 14 David writes:
May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
And just like that, Matthew 15:18 comes to mind:
But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart.
The Bible is indeed unified in purpose(s): to reveal a loving God; to proclaim salvation through Christ; and to encourage and enable us to bring glory to God by becoming more Christlike every day.
Dot to dot to dot.
I also know that it is God’s love story to us, a story about failure and restoration; separation and reunion.
But I really hadn’t connected the dots in other ways . . . until last week.
I was reading Psalm 19:7-9 the other day. Listen to the words.
The Law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul;
the testimony of the LORD is trustworthy, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the LORD are right, bringing joy to the heart;
the commandments of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever;
the judgments of the LORD are true, being altogether righteous.
Do those bolded words sound familiar? They did to me, too. Philippians 4:8:
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
I have often debated what things Paul meant when he said “true, noble, right, and pure,” and have always assigned them a human counterpart. And commentaries would support this, as there was some discord in the Philippian church, and Paul was encouraging them to focus on these uplifting and God-pleasing attributes instead of their differences.
However, what hit home to me was that the source of these attributes is God’s Word itself as David writes in Psalm 19. God’s Word is all these things. If we read and instill His Word, then we cannot but help focus on and live a life defined by these qualities.
Likewise, later in the chapter in verse 14 David writes:
May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
And just like that, Matthew 15:18 comes to mind:
But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart.
The Bible is indeed unified in purpose(s): to reveal a loving God; to proclaim salvation through Christ; and to encourage and enable us to bring glory to God by becoming more Christlike every day.
Dot to dot to dot.
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