Psalm 119:41-42 May your unfailing love come to me, Lord,
    your salvation, according to your promise;
then I can answer anyone who taunts me,
    for I trust in your word.

When we think about it, the Psalmist didn’t have nearly as much of the Bible, or even of the Old Testament, as we do, yet he considered it sufficient, and totally admirable. This Psalm is a reminder that people have always made fun of faithful believers, even while they might secretly admire them, or even be afraid of them. However, the answer is always what James said: “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) When we are genuinely in love with God and trust His Word, as this passage says, we have absolutely nothing to be afraid of. Powerful people may make remarks about “people who cling to their guns and religion,” but they are no match for the wisdom and power of God, and He will manifest that wisdom and power through us if we are yielded to Him. This passage specifically talks about replying to those who say bad things about us. Such bad remarks don’t always need a reply, other than an upright life, but sometimes they do, and if our hearts and minds are full of God’s Word, the Holy Spirit will have plenty to draw on in formulating our response. Part of the problem for many Christians is that they don’t really trust the Bible as they read it. The devil has done much to sow doubt, not just in things like the veracity of the translation, but in the very concept of absolute truth. You can’t trust God’s truth if you believe there is “my truth” and “your truth.” We need to get it absolutely straight in our minds that God is true, period, and that He has watched over His Word, as recorded in the Bible, so that it is sufficiently accurate to speak His truth to us.

I grew up in the ideal home to drive this truth into me. My father and maternal grandfather were both noted Biblical scholars, and my father taught Biblical Greek in Japanese. Translation issues were deeply understood! Being bilingual myself, I knew on the deepest level that some things are easier to say in one language than another, and that translators sometimes struggled to get the Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek into English – or Japanese – that made sense. That didn’t shake my assurance that the Bible is God’s Word, to be taken in, digested, and acted on. I haven’t done that 100% myself, but I know that is the standard. Oral Roberts was known for saying, “God said it. I believe it. That settles it.” However, I have long felt that if God said it, that settles it, period, whether I believe it or not. I try to live my life in obedience to His Word by the power of His Spirit, and to lead others to do the same. My track record isn’t perfect for either half of that, but that’s what I’m training to do.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for Your grace to me as I was taken to the hospital by ambulance in the early hours of this morning, with severe dizziness and nausea. Thank You that that has settled down now and I’m home. Thank You for the training in trusting you, when my schedule is packed for the next two weeks, and I had to release every one of those things to You. Thank You that You can indeed take care of them whether I’m involved or not. I do ask for wisdom in walking in the health You have for me, quite literally, so that all of Your purposes for me may be fulfilled, on Your schedule and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!