True Truth
Psalm 19
"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork" (Psalm 19:1).
I hear the stars singing about their maker:
In Reason’s Ear they all rejoice,
and utter forth a glorious voice;
Forever singing, as they shine,
"The Hand that made us is Divine." —Joseph Addison
Creation reveals the beauty and deity of God and his artistry, but, being fallen, sends mixed messages: Nature can be beautiful and benevolent, but it’s also "red in tooth and claw.” Thus the environment is incomplete and incongruent. To know God fully I must listen to what he has to say.
Thus the psalmist leads us to consider God’s actual words: They are perfect, pure, right, clean and true, or, as we would say, true truth—an objective, eternal standard. The Hebrew word for truth is emeth, a noun formed from a verb that means “to be firm” and emphasizes reliability and permanence.
Emeth is that which does not change. It is found in the writings of the apostles and prophets of the Old and New Testament and fully in Jesus who said of himself, “I am truth” (John ).
In our day the idea of absolute, eternal truth is anathema to the politically correct, who, like Pontius Pilot keep asking the same, cynical question: “What is truth?—while he stands right in front of them.
Where should the unknown treasures of the truth
Lie, but there whence the truth comes out the most—In the Son of man, folded in love and ruth (compassion) —George MacDonald
David Roper
11.26.19
