1. “Pure words, / Silver... / Purified seven times” (Psa. 12:6; see also 18:30; 119:140; Prov. 30:5).
There are sixty-six books in the Bible, yet every sentence is pure like silver that has been purified seven times. The word of the Bible is refined and pure; there are no unnecessary words.
2. “Perfect...faithful...right...clear...pure...truth” (Psa. 19:7-9).
Every person who has earnestly read the Bible confesses that no other book in the world is as perfect and faithful as the Bible. No other book in the world is as right, pure, and true as the Bible. Whether it is speaking concerning God or man, the origin of the heavens and earth or the end of all things, the meaning of human life or the way of man, the things in this life or in the coming age, the Bible clearly explains every matter related to man. It is perfect and faithful. Furthermore, the word of the Bible is not twisted. Its nature is not filthy, and its teachings are not false. The Bible is right, clear, and truthful.
3. “More to be desired are they than gold... / Sweeter also than honey”; “How sweet” (Psa. 19:10; 119:103).
Those who have truly tasted the word of the Bible know its preciousness and sweetness. The Bible is more to be desired than gold and sweeter than honey from the honeycomb. If we do not have a sense that the Bible is precious and desirable, sweet and lovely, and if the word of the Bible is not more precious than gold in our heart and sweeter than honey in our mouth, we have not tasted the Bible. If we do not have an appreciation of the value of the Bible, I hope that we will ask God for the grace to know the preciousness and sweetness of His Word, the Bible.
4. “Better to me / Than thousands of pieces of gold and silver” (Psa.119:72, see also v. 127).
Many people throughout history have confessed and testified that the value of the Bible is greater than thousands of pieces of gold and silver. Many have valued the Bible even more than their lives, including those who were martyred during the time of the Reformation because they realized the priceless value of the Bible, the word of God.
5. “My heritage forever” (Psa. 119:111).
All the spiritual blessings that we receive in the Lord today are heavenly; they cannot be seen with our physical eyes. However, we can see these blessings in the Bible. Everything on this earth will pass away; nothing of ours will remain. However, the Bible, our only true heritage, will last forever. Those who truly know God treasure the Bible and regard it as a priceless, eternal heritage.
6. “No word will be impossible” (Luke 1:37).
No word in the Bible is impossible. This is a characteristic of the Bible. Worldly books do not emphasize power and do not have power. The Bible, however, emphasizes power and truly has power. One sentence of the Bible can cause a person deep in sin to repent and be saved. One sentence of the Bible often changes a person completely. If anyone genuinely touches the word of the Bible, he touches the power in the Bible because the Bible is the Word of God. The Word of God is as powerful as God. God accomplished His creation and rules everything through His word (Heb. 11:3; 1:3). The word of God is the power of God. Since the Bible is the word of God, it has the power of God and even is the power of God. This power is limitless.
7. “One iota or one serif shall by no means pass away” (Matt. 5:18; see also 24:35).
The word of the Bible is not only powerful but also sure. Heaven and earth will pass away, but not one iota or serif of the Word of God will pass away. Hebrews 1:11-12 speaks of God remaining forever, even after the heavens and earth have passed away. This shows that the word of the Bible is as sure as God Himself; it is surer than the heavens and the earth. The word of the Bible cannot pass away, and no one can destroy it. Oh, the Bible is so sure and reliable!
1. “I love Your law!... / it is my musing” (Psa. 119:97, see also v. 20; 1:2).
We should love the Bible like the psalmists who desired it until their heart was crushed with longing. We should muse on the word of the Bible like the psalmists, who thought about it all day long. They mused upon the word day and night. If we want to know and understand the Bible, we must love the word and muse upon it.
2. “I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my apportioned food” (Job 23:12; see also Psa. 119:6, 117).
We should treasure and regard the word of the Bible more than our apportioned food. Some brothers and sisters say that they are too busy to read the Bible. But no matter how busy we are, we still have time to eat three meals every day. If we treasured the Bible more than food, we would not say that we do not have time to read the Bible. If we have time to eat, we have time to read the Bible. We even should have more time to read the Bible because the Bible is more important to us than food. Someone once said, “No breakfast before reading the Bible.” We should not eat if we have not read the Bible. We should treasure the Bible more than food.
3. “Incline my heart” (Psa. 119:36, see also v. 112).
We must incline our hearts toward the Bible. If we only use our eyes to read the Bible, but our heart is not inclined to it in our reading, it will be difficult to understand the Bible. Many brothers and sisters read the Bible without an inclined heart; rather, their hearts are inclined toward their schoolbooks, toward the activities of their day, toward their business or finances, or toward their housework and family. Therefore, we should pray that the Lord would empty our heart so that it would be inclined toward His word in the Bible.
4. “Learn” (Psa. 119:73, 71).
Merely inclining our hearts toward the Bible is not enough; we must also learn. If we only incline, we cannot understand; we must learn in order to comprehend. Learning requires diligence. We should not merely have “book learning”; we also need to learn from events and from our living. We should not use our thoughts merely; we must use events and our living. Sometimes we must also suffer before we can learn a portion of the Bible. Therefore, the psalmist says, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted, / That I might learn Your statutes [the Word of God]” (v. 71). If we want to learn to know the Bible, we also need understanding, or the ability to understand. This is something that only God who created us can give. Thus, we must ask Him to give us understanding so that we would have the adequate ability to comprehend in order to learn to know His mysterious Word, this marvelous Bible.
5. “From a babe you have known the sacred writings” (2 Tim. 3:15).
We need the Bible for our whole life. Therefore, we should know the Bible from a babe. The earlier we know the Bible, the better. From the time we are a babe, we should receive enlightenment, teaching, and salvation from the Bible. Furthermore, the teachings and truths of the Bible are numerous, deep, and mysterious. We need an entire lifetime to learn to know them. Children and young people especially need to spend time learning to know the Bible when their intellect and memory are adequate and strong. Many passages in the Bible should be memorized, and many truths should be learned and remembered. In contrast to most elderly people, this is something that can easily be done by children and young people. If we want to understand the Bible, we must begin to learn from the time we are a babe.
6. “Seek from the book of Jehovah and read” (Isa. 34:16; see also John 5:39; Acts 17:11).
There are many teachings in the Bible that are deep and mysterious. We need to seek them out and read them. To seek is to search and prove the teachings and truths in the Bible. To read is to read the Bible out loud, touching the flavor of the teachings and truths in the Bible. Seeking emphasizes quiet consideration; reading emphasizes a vocal tasting. We should seek and read the Bible. We should quietly seek and prove, and then we should audibly read to taste.
7. “Reads...hear...keep” (Rev. 1:3; see also Acts 8:28, 32).
We must read, hear, and keep the word of the Bible. To read is to read by ourselves. To hear is to listen to others read or speak. Whether we read the word by ourselves or hear it indirectly from others, we need to keep it. If we do not keep the word, the Bible will not benefit us.
8. “Then He opened their mind to understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45).
We need a mind that has been opened in order to be able to understand the truths contained in the Bible. The truths in the Bible are mysterious and deep. Our natural intellect cannot understand them. The Lord must open our heart so that we can understand. Thus, we should ask the Lord to open our mind and give us an understanding that transcends our natural intellect in order to understand the Bible.
9. “Believed” (John 2:22; 5:46).
We must believe the Bible. To believe is to confess and receive in our heart after our mind has understood. If we only understand the word of the Bible in our mind, it will be of no benefit to us. We must believe in our heart and use our believing to receive the word into our heart in order for the word to benefit us. Then it will give us the supply and help of life.
10. “Hear” (Luke 16:29, 31).
We must hear and follow the Bible. We must understand and comprehend the Bible, believe and receive the Bible, and hear and obey the Bible. We should hear and obey all that the Bible says, no matter what or how it is said. In order to do this, we must reject our self, eliminate our prejudices, and submit to the Lord. Only those who submit to the Lord can hear and obey the word of the Bible. May the Lord have mercy on us and give us a submissive heart!
11. “Trust” (Psa. 119:42).
We must trust in the word of the Bible. If we believe, receive, hear, and obey the word of the Bible, we also should trust in it. To trust in the Bible means that we commit ourselves to the Bible, which we have believed and heard. Many bear burdens, experience difficulties, overcome temptations, and deal with problems by trusting in the word of the Bible. They rely on the word of the Bible their entire life. The word of the Bible is able to bear our responsibilities. It has the capacity to lead us throughout our entire life. May we trust in the word of the Bible!
12. “Hope” (Psa. 119:114, see also v. 147).
If we want to gain the words of the Bible, we must not only seek, prove, and study but also hope. Seeking, proving, and studying are related to the mind, and they require time and energy to search the Word of God. Hoping is related to the heart, and it involves waiting for God to give us His word. This requires that we live before God and fellowship with Him.
13. “Ate” (Jer. 15:16).
Once we gain the word of the Bible, we should eat it, receive it into us, so that we can digest it inwardly in order to supply our spiritual life. This refers to our using our spirit to receive the word of the Bible into our spirit instead of using our mind to receive the word into our mind.
14. “In my heart I have treasured up Your word” (Psa. 119:11, see also v. 98).
We should treasure up the word of the Bible in our hearts so that we can apply it at any time or place. Our hearts should store up the word of the Bible to prepare us for unexpected needs. We should diligently store up the word of the Bible in our hearts instead of looking for an applicable word in the Bible only when we encounter problems or difficulties. Going to the Bible at such times is only a second-rate solution. The best solution is to treasure up the word of the Bible in our hearts so that when we encounter a specific need, we will be able to apply the word immediately. The Bible should be not only in our hands but in our hearts. When we have the word of the Bible in our hearts, we can apply it to any situation, even if we do not have the Bible in our hands. This is proper.
15. “Dwell in you richly in all wisdom” (Col. 3:16).
We should not only treasure up the word of the Bible in our hearts but also let it dwell in us richly. To do this, we need all wisdom and all ways to store the word of the Bible in our hearts richly. Our hearts should be rich storehouses of the Bible. Regrettably, many believers are too poor in this matter. Their hearts are storehouses of worldly knowledge and many things, but they have not stored up the word of God. Therefore, they are spiritually poor and have difficulty knowing the will of God when they encounter problems. In order for them to have a turn in spiritual matters, they must learn to let the word of the Bible dwell in them richly.
16. “I will take delight... / I will not forget Your word” (Psa. 119:16).
We must take delight in the word of the Bible and not forget it. We must use the word of the Bible to make ourselves happy, and we should remember the word of the Bible forever. The word of the Bible can make us happy, but we must be in it and touch its sweetness in order to be happy. If we take delight in the word of the Bible, we will always remember and never forget it.
17. “Not forsaken” (Psa. 119:87, see also vv. 102, 157).
We should never forsake the word of the Bible. We should not forsake the Bible no matter what problems we encounter, even persecution or death. It would be even worse if we forsook the Bible because of evil temptations. We should always bear responsibility for not forsaking the word of the Bible.
18. “Trembles at” (Isa. 66:2; see also Ezra 9:4).
We should tremble at the word of the Bible. Our hearts should not be so hard that we would have no feeling when we touch the Bible. We should humble our hearts and repent. When we touch the word of the Bible, we should be in fear and trembling. This requires us to humble ourselves before God.
19. “Keep” (Psa. 119:9; Luke 11:28; see also James 1:25).
We must keep the word of the Bible in order to obtain blessing and benefit. The blessing that we obtain from keeping the word of the Bible is truly great! It is even greater than the blessing that Mary obtained in bearing the Lord Jesus. Therefore, we should respond to the word in the Bible by keeping it.
20. “Speak” (Psa. 119:46).
We should not only keep the word of the Bible ourselves but also speak it to others. Keeping the word benefits ourselves; speaking the word graces others. Regardless of whom we stand before, we should speak the word of the Bible to them. Even if they are kings or people in a high position, we should speak and not be ashamed.
21. “Declared” (Psa. 119:13).
We should declare the word of the Bible as well as speak it. To speak is to preach on a small scale. To declare is to proclaim on a large scale. Both speaking and declaring tell others about the word of the Bible, and we should bear responsibility for both.
22. “Sing” (Psa. 119:172, see also v. 54).
We should sing the word of the Bible. This means to take the word of the Bible as the content of our hymns or to write hymns that use the words of the Bible. This is very sweet and beneficial. This kind of singing refreshes and supplies our spirits. May we practice this.
23. “Explained” (Luke 24:27, see also v. 32; Acts 18:24, 26).
We should also explain the Bible. To explain and to speak are almost the same thing. Both explaining and speaking clearly tell people about the word of the Bible so that the truths and teachings of the Bible can be understood.
24. “Cutting straight the word of the truth” (2 Tim. 2:15).
We must not explain the truth of the Bible in a loose way. We must cut straight the word of the truth. The different truths in the Bible have boundaries. Although they are connected and interrelated, they cannot be confused and combined. We must cut straight these truths according to their boundaries, differentiating them clearly. We must not twist or explain them improperly. For example, the law in the Old Testament was given by God to the children of Israel. If New Testament believers, who are under grace, are taught to keep the law of the Old Testament, the boundary of the age has been crossed. Those who teach this do not cut straight the truth in the Bible that the age of the law and the age of grace are separate, even though they are related. Without a clear separation, the truth is confused and twisted, and the word of the truth is not cut straight. The Catholic Church brought many Old Testament rituals into the New Testament, and the Seventh-day Adventists brought the Sabbath into the New Testament. Both practices are not according to the boundaries of the truth. They twist and confuse the truth. We must never do this. We must cut straight the word of the truth according to the boundaries of the truth. We must clearly differentiate which truths are of the Old Testament and which are of the New Testament. We must discern which words were spoken to the children of Israel under the law, which were spoken to the believers under grace, and which were spoken to the Gentiles. We must know the word that refers to salvation, to reward, to the grace we have received, and to our responsibilities. We must cut straight these truths in the Bible according to their boundaries in order to know the Bible properly and to avoid error.
25. Not “twist” (2 Pet. 3:16).
We must not twist the truths in the Bible. Twisting usually occurs in relation to portions that are hard to understand. When we come to a difficult portion in the Bible, we should not twist; we should not force ourselves to explain if we do not understand. We should wait until we understand; then spontaneously, we will be able to explain in a clear way. To twist is to explain in an unnatural way or to force an explanation. We should not force ourselves to explain any portion of the Bible or try to explain it in an unnatural way. Twisting will harm others and cause us to suffer loss. Those who twist the Scriptures do so to their own destruction.
26. “Nor adulterating” (2 Cor. 4:2).
We should not adulterate the word of the Bible. To adulterate the word is not merely to explain it foolishly, wrongly, incorrectly, or improperly but to explain the word untruthfully or falsely in order to cheat people. We should never do this. If we explain any portion of the Bible, we should explain it accurately and truthfully. To explain the word of the Bible accurately and truthfully, we must not take a portion out of context. We must look at what comes before and after. We must consider the whole book. Sometimes we must consider what the entire Bible says in order to understand one verse or one portion. A brother once said that we need the whole Bible to explain one verse. This statement really is true. May we never forget it.
27. “Not add...nor...take away” (Deut. 4:2; 12:32; see also Prov. 30:6; Rev. 22:18-19).
We do not have the authority to add to or to take away from the word of the Bible because of its completeness and divine authority. Whatever the Bible says, it says. Whatever it does not say, it does not say. We should never add to or take away from it. We must confess that the Bible is absolutely authoritative. We must not make up stories that are according to our own will. Our only standard should be the word of the Bible, the word of God. Neither adding nor taking away is related to receiving blessing, whereas adding and taking away are related to receiving cursing. We must be fearful before the word of the Bible.