Trusting God's Words about the Past

So at certain places in the Scriptures God tells us what happened in the past. It is God’s personal attestation of what He was an eyewitness to and what He affirms to be so. So David’s statement in Psalm 19:7 is that what God says happened in the past is exactly what happened because His testimony is always “sure.”

We have talked about this “sure” before in this study. It is the Hebrew word אמן; it means faithful, dependable, reliable, trustworthy.

Psalm 138:2 ESV

2 I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.

The study on the indivisibility of God and His word.

The testimonies of the Lord are SURE.

There are many human theories and assertions of what could or could not have happened in the past. These theories often compete with God’s testimonies of past events. What is the problem of people today theorizing about things that happened in the past? We weren’t there. In that sense we are INEXPERIENCED. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. Inexperienced is exactly what the word ‘simple’ means in this verse.

Psalm 19:7 (HCSB)

7 The testimony of the Lord is trustworthy, making the inexperienced wise.

When the testimonies of man and God conflict with each other which testimony do you believe?

Proverbs 21:30 ESV

30 No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel can avail against the Lord.

Here is our test: “Are you willing to stake your reputation on the trustworthiness of a testimony from God, even when it pits you against the opinions of the wise of this world?”

I am not arguing for fideism. What is fideism?

Fideism- the view that objects of religious belief should be accepted simply by faith regardless of reason or evidence. We would call this blind faith. Does God ever ask us for blind faith?

No God wants us to have a well thought out faith.

John 1:6–7 ESV

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.

But what about all the scholars and historians and scientists that point to evidence?

“Evidence inevitably involves interpretation, and interpretation assumes presuppositions. Pure, objective, presuppositionless investigation or interpretation of evidence does not exist. Presuppositions are ‘invisible until disturbed.’ We should probe and peer under every presupposition, and look askance on any interpretation of the evidence that contradicts or casts doubt on God’s testimonies to the facts of the case.”

What about my own presuppositions? What about my own assumptions when I come to the evidence?

Psalm 19:7 (ESV)

7 The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;

I trust in the testimony of the Lord.

Let’s consider the testimony of the Lord about creation.

The Creation: God’s First Testimony to the Trustworthiness of His Words

Psalm 33:6 ESV

6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.

Psalm 33:9 ESV

9 For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.

The Fall: The First Challenge to the Trustworthiness of God’s Words

Temptation Tactics

Satan created doubt by questioning the content of God’s words

Satan incited distrust by contradicting the content of God’s words

Satan engendered mistrust by maligning the motives of God

So did They Die, or Not?

The Fall’s Bottom Line

Genesis on Trial: The Modern Challenge to the Trustworthiness of God’s Words

1 John 5:9–10 (ESV)

9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, … 10 Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne …

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