From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

Part one of a series.

God is sovereign over His Word, because it is the written embodiment of His Sovereign Decree.

Forever, O Lord, Your Word is settled in heaven.
Your faithfulness endures to all generations; You established the earth, and it abides.
They continue this day according to Your ordinances, for all are Your servants.
Unless Your law had been my delight, I would then have perished in my affliction.
I will never forget Your precepts, for by them You have given me life.
I am Yours, save me; for I have sought Your precepts.
The wicked wait for me to destroy me, but I will consider Your testimonies.
I have seen the consummation of all perfection, but Your commandment is exceedingly broad.
- Psalm 119:89-96

If we examine the original language of this passage, we find that the psalmist is speaking of the Word of God in a way that is much more comprehensive than we might think at first.

He is not merely speaking of the five books of the Mosaic Law. He is not merely speaking of the books of the Old Testament that had been given in written form by the time this psalm was written. He is, in fact, speaking of the Word of God as the written embodiment and declaration of God's eternal decree.

A number of things in the language of this passage demonstrate this.

First of all, in verse one, we find the Hebrew word that is here translated "forever." This word in the Hebrew language does not merely indicate a forward look, or a future view. The word indicates three things: antiquity, futurity, and perpetuity. In other words, it speaks of eternality. The psalmist is not speaking merely of a word given to Moses and others in written form as the Holy Spirit moved them. Yes, that is certainly in view. But what is much more broadly in view here is the fact that the Word of God is just as eternal as the God who gave the Word. Such a fact is far beyond the comprehension of our finite minds - but here it is, plainly stated.

The second indication we have of a far greater scope of meaning here comes as the psalmist addresses God as "O Lord". He uses the covenant name of God, Jehovah.

A third indication of the greater scope of meaning here comes in the juxtaposition of heaven and earth in verses 89 through 91. The word that is translated "in heaven" in verse 89 can indicate the abode of God - that is, the place, outside of the created universe, where His throne abides. But this word can also be used to denote the heavens of the created universe, God's created order. That is the way the word is most often used in the Old Testament.

Two other things in this passage tell us that the word "heaven" is being used in the latter sense here. "Forever, O Lord, Your Word is settled in heaven. Your faithfulness endures to all generations; You established the earth, and it abides. They" - heaven and earth, the two elements of the created order - "continue this day according to Your ordinances, for all are Your servants."

We have a further indication in verse 91: "they continue this day according to Your ordinances." This word is only used in this particular form in this passage in the entire Old Testament, and it indicates a plan enacted by a decree. The Westminster Confession of Faith, a historic summary of key Biblical truths written in 1647 during the Protestant Reformation, says this in chapter 3:

God from all eternity did by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass... Although God knows whatsoever may or can come to pass, upon all supposed conditions; yet hath He not decreed any thing because He foresaw it as future, as that which would come to pass, upon such conditions.

We find virtually identical wording in the London Baptist Confession published in 1689, and similar words in other historic summaries of orthodox Christian doctrine.

We have one further indication of the scope of the words in this section of the psalm in verse 96: "I have seen the consummation [that is, the limit] of all perfection, but Your commandment is exceedingly broad." The actual word order in the original is, "exceedingly Your commandment is broad." The emphasis is on the word exceedingly.

The word translated "broad" in our Bible indicates vastness, extensiveness, and comprehensiveness. The historic confessions echo this: "God from all eternity did by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass." In his Commentary on the Psalms published in 1556, John Calvin wrote this concerning Psalm 119:96:

The prophet...here asserts, that there is nothing under heaven [that is, nothing in this created order] so perfect and stable, or so complete, in all respects, as not to have an end; and that the Divine Word alone possesses such amplitude as to surpass all bounds and limits. . . It is termed broad, to denote that, though a man may mount above the heavens, or descend into the lowest depths, or traverse the whole of space from the right to the left hand, yet he will not reach farther than the truth of God conducts us.

The inescapable conclusion we must draw as we look at the language of this passage is this: God's written Word is a written declaration of His eternal decree, it is an integral part of His eternal decree. It is a declaration of the "whatsoever" that God has decreed, and it is the central element of the "whatsoever". God is sovereign over His Word, because it is the written embodiment of His Sovereign Decree.

This leads us to a further vital conclusion: If the written Word is the embodiment of God's eternal decree, forever settled, forever standing, then it is inevitable that we will find that God has preserved His Word as He originally gave it by the Spirit through holy men of God - not one bit of it lost or adulterated. God would not be God, God would not be sovereign, if He did not maintain absolute control of the text of His written decree, in all generations. We shall consider this great fact as we continue.

Next: Since God Is Sovereign Over His Word, He Has Preserved It Exactly As He Gave It

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