Psalm 119:160 True, Eternal

Psalm 119:160 All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.

Thinking now of the final octaves of Psalm 119 we focus on verse 160, which says two things about the words or laws of God. Firstly, that those words are true or certain and, secondly, that these righteous laws are eternal, they endure forever. This applies to God's words as a whole, to all his righteous laws. None are exempt. When we come to the words of God we are coming then to words that are reliable and true, words we can depend on. When we come to the righteous laws of God we are coming to laws that are eternal and that will never come to an end, which is a further reason for depending wholly on them. These points have been made already in the psalm. In verse 86a he says All your commands are trustworthy and in verse 138 The statutes you have laid down are righteous; they are fully trustworthy. In verse 142 it is Your righteousness is everlasting and your law is true. Verse 144a says Your statutes are forever right and verse 152 says Long ago I learned from your statutes that you established them to last forever. Jesus himself, of course, makes similar claims regarding his own words. He says, in John 8:31, 32, If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. In Matthew 24:35 and the parallel verses he says Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. The words I am studying today and that I meditate on from day to day, therefore, are both true and everlasting and so are worthy of my complete attention and devotion. They can be relied upon always. This, of course, is because they are breathed out by God himself.