The Enduring Word
Let’s start with a little pop quiz—don’t worry, no one’s grading you, yet. What is this? [Show picture of a Bible.] How many of the four Gospels can you name? Go ahead, whisper them to yourself. If you got Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, congrats—you’re already beating half the adults in America, according to researchers.[1] That’s right, fewer than half can name all four Gospels. I mean, some of us can’t even name all four Ninja Turtles, but the Gospels? That’s a new low, yall.
We have a biblical illiteracy epidemic plaguing us. George Gallup and Jim Castelli, who did the research, said,: “Americans revere the Bible, but by and large, they don’t read it.” And the proof’s in the pudding—or the lack of it. Some of their stats show this: Sixty percent of us can’t name five of the Ten Commandments. Plenty of Christians—churchgoing people—can’t cough up more than two or three of Jesus’ disciples. Peter, James, John… uh, Larry? Good try.
Now, brace yourself, because this is where it gets wild—and then hits hard. Twelve percent of adults swear Joan of Arc was Noah’s wife. Just imagine Noah loading the ark, two by two, and Joan’s over there swinging a sword, yelling, “Which one of you giraffes is ready for battle?” Over half of graduating high school seniors thought Sodom and Gomorrah were a married couple—probably planning a weekend getaway until the fire and brimstone crashed the party.
We can laugh at that, but the reality should hit us hard: this isn’t just a bad game of Bible drill. God’s people are wandering around clueless, holding a treasure map they’ve never unfolded. In this ever-changing world, we don’t cling to the one thing that doesn’t change. Psalm 119 says it’s “firmly fixed in the heavens,” but if we don’t even know what it says, how do we lean on it? We’re not just flunking pop quizzes. We’re missing the rock that holds us steady when life falls apart. So today, let’s dig into the Word that doesn’t falter—because we’ve got some serious ground to make up.
The Word of God and the faithfulness of God never change. (89–90)
The psalmist doesn’t beat around the bush. He simply declares, in verse 89, “Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.” He’s not wondering if God’s Word will stand tomorrow. He’s not hoping it holds up under pressure. He knows. It’s fixed. It’s secure. It’s settled.
God’s Word isn’t swayed by culture. It doesn’t evolve with trends. It doesn’t shift with politics or buckle under pressure. The truth of Scripture is not floating around waiting for us to vote on it. It is firmly fixed in the heavens.
HB Charles helpfully puts it this way:
“When pillars are set during a construction project, they are put there to stay. If the pillars are moved, the building will collapse. The Word of God is the pillar that upholds the world. It is firmly fixed. It stands firm. It is settled. We say, ‘God said it. I believe it. And that settles it.’ But when God says it, that settles it—whether you believe it or not.”[2]
What keeps God’s Word solid? The One who spoke it. In verse 90, he says, “Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you have established the earth, and it stands fast.” God’s Word lasts because God doesn’t waver. He doesn’t change His mind or drop His promises. His faithfulness doesn’t run out. God’s Word is anchored in His faithfulness, and His faithfulness doesn’t expire.
Have you ever accidentally eaten something that has expired? Did it taste good? Unless you’re eating kimchi, you probably gagged and spit it out. To take it scientifically, everything tends toward entropy. Everything rots. Everything breaks down. Well, everything except Twinkies.
Isaiah 40:8 says it best: “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” Everything in life has a shelf life. Feelings fade. Opinions shift. But God’s Word will still be true long after everything else has passed away.
That’s why when you see a Christian, a church, or a denomination start to veer from God’s Word, they end up collapsing. Every time. No exceptions. When you remove the foundation, you have nothing left to stand on. Our faith isn’t reinterpreted by the culture of our times. It stands firm in the heavens and is established on the earth.
The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy[3] rightly says that the Scriptures are “wholly and verbally God-given” and “without error or fault in all their teaching.” That’s not theological pandering. That’s your anchor when the storms come. That’s your foundation when the earthquake hits. You don’t need something new when life falls apart. You need something that can’t fall apart. That’s the Word of God.
Spurgeon said, “The Scriptures are not only inspired at the start, but are so now. They are not merely inspired in parts, but every jot and tittle is inspired.” Every word matters. Every line holds weight. You don’t edit it. You submit to it. It’s not there to make you feel better. It’s there to bring you to God.
And it’s not just a solid foundation. The Word of God is alive. Martin Luther once said, “The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold of me. The Bible is not antique or modern. It is eternal” (Boice, Living by the Book, 80). That’s what we hold when we hold this book. It’s not a museum artifact. It’s a living voice. So when everything’s shaking, you don’t have to. Stand on what can’t be moved. God’s Word is fixed. His faithfulness holds. It’s not going anywhere.
The Word of God transforms our afflictions. (91–93)
There are moments when affliction feels like it’s going to crush you. The psalmist doesn’t sugarcoat anything. He doesn’t pretend the valley wasn’t deep or that the suffering wasn’t real. He says plainly, “By your appointment they stand this day, for all things are your servants. If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.” (91-92)
God’s Word is eternal. God’s faithfulness is endures forever. And because of that, whatever has happened in your life is a servant of God. The psalmist says, “All things are your servants.” Then he follows it up by talking about affliction that almost made him perish. But it didn’t. God’s character and God’s Word was his strength through his affliction.
Notice what he doesn’t say, though. He doesn’t say, “Your Word took away my affliction.” He says, “Your Word kept me from being destroyed by it.” God’s Word doesn’t provide escapism. It provides endurance. The Bible isn’t a parachute that lets you float over your pain. It’s oxygen that keeps you breathing when you’re deep underwater.
That’s why he says in verse 93, “I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life.” This isn’t about intellectual memory. He’s not just saying, “I’ll memorize certain Bible verses.” He’s saying, “I’ll never stop clinging to what saved me.” The Word of God didn’t just educate him. It resurrected him. It didn’t just shape his mind. It revived his soul.
We cannot be saved apart from the Word of God. General revelation can only damn us. Special revelation is the only way we know our means of salvation. We cannot know Jesus lived a perfect life, died a sacrificial death in our place, and rose from the dead apart from the Word of God. That’s why Romans 1:16 can say, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.”
The Hebrew word for “life” here, when it says, “for by them you have given me life,” means more than existence. It means wholeness. Energy. Breath in your lungs. And you know what’s amazing? That life came in the middle of the affliction. Not after it. Not instead of it. Right in the middle of it. The same Word that speaks stars into existence can speak life into your brokenness.
So don’t wait for the storm to pass to open your Bible. Don’t wait until the suffering is over to return to His Word. If your heart is dry, don’t sit around hoping for rain. Go to the fountain that never runs dry. Feed on the Word that gives life in the desert, because when everything else around you is dying, God’s Word is still alive.
The Word of God protects us. (94–95)
“I am yours; Save me, for I have sought your precepts” (94). HB Charles captures this so well: “Verse 94 begins with a statement of devotion: ‘I am yours.’ The Word of God is a means to an end. True devotion does not say, ‘I know the Bible.’ It says, ‘I belong to God.’” That’s what gives this prayer of the psalmist its weight. It’s not about head knowledge. It’s about covenant love. He’s crying out to the God who made a promise and keeps it.
Then comes verse 95: “The wicked lie in wait to destroy me, but I consider your testimonies.” This isn’t imaginary drama. He’s being targeted—slandered, hunted, surrounded. The enemy is plotting destruction. But he doesn’t panic. He doesn’t retreat. What does he do? He remembers. “I consider your testimonies.”
It reminds me of Joshua entering the Promised Land. God told him three times to be strong and courageous, and he could be because God told him that He would be with him. But there was one condition.
Joshua 1:6-9 – 6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
And guess what? God was true to His Word. They won every battle except the one that they didn’t follow what He had said. It reminds me not just of them entering the promised Land, but the laws God gave to them to adhere to once they were in the Promised Land. And here’s what He said, which is part of the most quoted passage of all the Bible, the Shema.
Read Deuteronomy 6:4-25.
Do you see the focus on the Word of God? It is the provision of life for all who follow it. It’s not just for them in the Promised Land. It’s the same for you right now.
Everything else has limits. God’s Word does not. (96)
Everything else runs out. The Word of God runs deep. That’s the contrast the psalmist lays out in verse 96. He says, “I have seen a limit to all perfection, but your commandment is exceedingly broad.” What a statement! This one verse is a summary of the whole book of Ecclesiastes! He looks out at everything the world calls perfect—strength, beauty, wealth, achievement, wisdom—and says, “There’s a ceiling on all of it.” It’s all temporary. It all fades. Even the best things we cling to have an expiration date. But God’s Word doesn’t have a ceiling. It has no cap, no expiration, no limitation. It’s exceedingly broad. It’s endlessly rich.
That phrase “exceedingly broad” means the Word of God stretches beyond the boundaries of what we can see. It reaches further than our understanding. You never come to the end of it. You never wake up one day and go, “Yeah, I’ve exhausted everything the Bible has to offer.” That’s not how this works. Every time you open God’s Word, you don’t just read it—it reads you. It searches your heart. It exposes sin. It breathes hope. It tells the truth and never changes its story. You can dig into it for decades and still find something new and life-giving.
That’s one of the things that separates God’s Word from every other voice. Everything else that claims to offer truth will eventually run out of answers. Your favorite authors will contradict themselves. Human wisdom will shift. Philosophies will age. Trends will die. But the Word keeps speaking. And it doesn’t just inform your mind. It shapes your soul. When you’re tired, it revives. When you’re confused, it clarifies. When you’re guilty, it convicts. And when you feel hopeless, it brings hope.
We live in the same world the psalmist did. The best this life can offer still leaves you wanting. You can chase the dream job, the perfect family, the secure future. But even if you catch them all, you’ll still feel it—something is missing. And it’s not more success. It’s the living Word. It’s God.
The Word the psalmist clung to wasn’t finished yet. He wasn’t just looking back at promises already given. He was looking forward to a greater fulfillment still to come. If what he wrote was true—and it was—then it meant something even more glorious was ahead.
Jesus is the unchanging and faithful Word made flesh.
That’s the beauty of the Bible. It’s not just ancient wisdom. It’s unfolding redemption. The psalmist didn’t yet know His name, but he was writing about Jesus. The very Word he treasured would one day take on flesh. The same Word that was firmly fixed in the heavens would step down and walk the dust of the earth (John 1:1, 14). The same Word that brought life amidst affliction would conquer death itself (Romans 6:9). The same Word that upheld the world would hang on a cross to save it (Colossians 1:17–20).
When the psalmist said, “Your faithfulness endures to all generations,” he was unknowingly pointing to the One who would prove it with nail-scarred hands. Jesus is the faithful One. He’s the fulfillment of every promise. He’s the unchanging Word in a constantly changing world (Hebrews 13:8).
He didn’t come just to teach us truth. He came as the truth. He didn’t just point the way. He is the way (John 14:6). And because He lives, the promises of God are not just theories to study. They are present realities for you to take hold of.
So come to Him. Not when you have it all figured out. Right now. Bring your mess. Bring your doubts. Bring your sin. And lay it all at the feet of the Word who became flesh and gave Himself for you.
The psalmist trusted what was written. We’ve seen the One it was written about. Cling to Christ. He is the unchanging and faithful Word.
[1] https://albertmohler.com/2016/01/20/the-scandal-of-biblical-illiteracy-its-our-problem-4/
[2] https://hbcharlesjr.com/resource-library/sermon-outlines/standing-on-the-rock-psalm-11989-96
