The Bible Is Our Gift of Companionship

THE BIBLE IS OUR GIFT OF COMPANIONSHIP

Psalm 119:1-8

What if the Bible had never been written? This is the searching title of a book. We hear about the decline in biblical values in our civilization today. We read of people who are trying to stop the Bible from continuing to be an influence on our community. The book entitled What if the Bible had never been written? shows how deeply the Bible is actually woven into the very fabric of our society. Our legal system has incorporated biblical principles like trial by jury, the protection of foreign visitors, the prohibition of revenge, and the enactment of a day of rest from work, into its rules of justice.

Without the Bible, there’d be no knowledge of salvation, no Salvation Army, no Red Cross, virtually no charity, and most likely no hospitals;
Without the Bible, millions more people would die of sexually transmitted diseases;
Without the Bible, education and literacy might well be the exclusive possession of the elite;
Without the Bible, many languages would never have been written down, let alone with the need to translatethe Bible into them;
Without the Bible, the abandoning of babies might still be widespread;
Without the Bible, we would never have heard of William Wilberforce, Albert Schweitzer, Mother Teresa or David Livingstone.

But God has written and preserved the Bible for our blessing and benefit today. America’s leaders sometimes lament that only half of its people read the Bible some time each month. Still, that’s at least 120 million Bible readers! The most recent comprehensive survey of attitudes to God’s Word found that 86% of those surveyed believe that the Bible is relevant in today’s world. We see and hear praise for the sacred Scriptures in the most unexpected places. The characters in the TV comedy The Simpsons turn to the Bible for support, sustenance and inspiration. Ned Flanders, who reads different translations of the Bible, like many other people, trusts the Bible to get facts correct, more than he does his newspaper. Homer Simpson believes the Bible is “as true today as when it was first written.”

Another young person, the student who wrote Psalm 119, also trusts the life-giving truth of God’s Word. Lovers constantly speak of how much they love each other. They know that one can never say “I love you” too often. Our psalm writer has already suffered considerably. He has experienced hardships and attacks on his commitment to God. But these negative events have only increased his love for God and God’s Word. This God-intoxicated youth cannot too highly praise the help and blessings he’s received from God’s Word. God’s Word gives him eyes to see God at work for good in his life wherever he turns. Best of all, the Scriptures assure him of God’s nearness, when he’s persecuted for his religious enthusiasm.

The Scriptures are his constant companion every day of his life. He studies them to know that he is not alone. He bubbles over with joy over the way God’s Word has filled his troubled existence with purpose and meaning, comfort and hope. Ever since Psalm 119 was written, countless Christians and Jews have found his testimony to be true. During his imprisonment by the Nazis, Dietrich Bonhoeffer found Psalm 119 to be the richest psalm of all, and relished long meditations on it.

Pastor Berggrav of Norway spent most of World War II in a concentration camp. After the war, he wrote an article called “What the Bible means to me”. It was during the war years when all else had failed him and he turned to the Bible in desperation, that he found Christ on its pages. He used the words of Jesus to comfort his invaded nation. Travelling in a police car after his arrest, he opened his pocket New Testament and read these encouraging words: “Be not afraid of the terror; neither be troubled, but sanctify Christ, the Lord of your heart.” When he was in court, he had a calm mind and he felt safe. During his next three years in prison, the Bible was his constant companion. In a black mood one day, he decided to read his Bible aloud. At first, there was no effect, but an hour later, he noticed how his mood had changed; confidence had returned. He reports, “I think the sound of the voice was like the incarnation of the printed Word, and that I had physically acted in faith.” Bishop Berggrav concludes, “To me, the Bible is a shrine, the shrine of my life.” For him, the gold, the treasure, of God can be found nowhere else but in the Bible.

The youthful composer of Psalm 119 is grateful to God for fellow believers, for all who love and cherish God’s Word with him. He’s grateful for the superb example of godly living other believers, other students of the Scriptures, give. The Bible gets us to think of others. The call to love our neighbour rings out throughout its pages. God has placed us here to live for others, to serve them, to encourage and support them. “Each of us must please our neighbour for the good purpose of building up the neighbour. For Christ did not please Himself (Romans 15:2-3a).” The Bible is at times an uncomfortable book because it challenges our prejudices and any unhealthy preoccupation with ourselves. It attacks our pet sins, our favourite vices, so that we cannot sin with an easy conscience. Our sins keep us from the Bible; the Bible keeps us from sin.

But when we sin and are sorry that we have sinned, God’s welcome declaration of forgiveness is ours to embrace and rejoice over. God’s Word then sends us to others who have hurt us and whom we have hurt, to make peace with them and to ask God to bless them. Our own experience of God needs to be strengthened by other Christians’ experiences of God’s guidance, protection, love and helping hand. The experiences of the men and women in the Bible can enrich our own faith. A Christian who has David in one’s bones, Jeremiah in one’s bloodstream, Paul at one’s fingertips, and Christ in one’s heart, will know how little reliance to put on one’s own momentary feelings and the experiences of the past week. The Bible takes us into a bigger realm where God is central. There we see that the only course of action open to us is to “honour, love and trust God above all things.”

The Bible opens up its inexhaustible treasury of comfort and hope to those who love God and His Word. The Bible is God’s love letter to us. It is understood and appreciated most by those who love its sender. Amy Grant’s song, Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, a song based on Psalm 119:105, has, no doubt, led many people back to God’s Word to receive its eternal blessings. Amy sings of how God’s Word reminds her of His love for us. God’s Word banishes all her fears by reminding her that God is near. Where God is near, we have nothing to fear.

Jesus promises us, “If you make My Word your home, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free (John 8:31)”, that is, free from fear and guilt, discouragement and despair, doubt and discontent. Don’t deprive yourself of Heaven-sent comfort and encouragement. Let your Bible be your daily companion through life and death. Through His Word, God seeks to assure you that you are not alone. You don’t have to battle through life on your own. In His Word, your Creator promises you, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” We become what we read. Through all eternity, we will be grateful for every minute we have spent hearing, reading or studying God’s Word. Jesus reminds us that “Heaven and earth will pass away, but not My words.”

St. Peter was faithful to our Lord at the hour of his own crucifixion. Before he died, he wrote, “The grass withers and the flower falls, but the Word of the Lord remains forever. That Word is the good news which was preached to you.”

“And now I entrust you to God and the Word of His grace – His message that is able to build you up and give you an inheritance with all those He has set apart for Himself (Acts 20:32).’

Amen.

Vernon P Kleinig

Epiphany 6 – Year A