Psalm 85, God’s Communicable Attributes (11, Truth)

g)    Truth: He is perfectly reliable & sees things as they really are.  [In today’s post we consider “truth;” in the next post, “faithfulness.”  In English we differentiate between these.  But in the Bible these ideas are tied together.  In Hebrew there is a word, emeth (often used alongside chesed; I often refer to the marriage of “Emmet and Chesed;” see it in Ps. 8:10a: mercy and truth have met together).  Strong’s basic definition of emeth is firmness, faithfulness, truth.  If a man knows and speaks the truth but does not live by the truth, he is a hypocrite.  That kind of man is of little use.  A really “true” man is one whose heart is also true, meaning he is faithful.  Likewise, God’s faithfulness is seen in the fact that He keeps His word.

Perhaps you have heard the phrase, “all truth is God’s truth.”  This is a “true” statement if you understand it correctly.  It is not that every person who discovers something that is truth is, thereby, a godly person.  Rather, it is that something is true because it relates fully to God.  Prov. 8:22-31 explains this.  The wisdom/truth of God was built into creation.  Thus, any scientific discovery glorifies God, the Creator, the “Master Craftsman” (8:30).  If it does not, then either the discovery or its explanation are not true.  Thus we acknowledge: all truth is God’s truth.]

Psalm 12:6 The words of the LORD are pure words, Like silver tried in a furnace of earth, Purified seven times.

Psalm 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.  Psalms 19 and 119 emphasize the truth of God’s word.  Since it is truth, it does it’s work in the human soul when the human commits himself or herself to that word.

Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”  And remember: these words are spoken by the prophet Balaam, who was an evil prophet (Jude 11; 2 Pt. 2:15).  To the extent that he said only what God told him to say, to that extent he was true.  And he proclaimed some important prophecies about Israel and the end times. 

Romans 3:4 Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written: “That You may be justified in Your words, And may overcome when You are judged.”  Paul is answering a question (cf. 3:3) from those who did not understand how God could be good to the sinner and true to Himself at the same time.  They claimed that such a doctrine would encourage people to sin more, and thus God’s saving plan would not be effective.  The quote is from David’s great Psalm of confession (51:4).  If you struggle with God forgiving what David did, then you will also struggle with His willingness to forgive you.  Again, Ps. 85:10: Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed.  This all happened in Christ!  In Christ, God’s truth was clearly displayed.