Read
5Everything God says is true—
and it's a shield for all
who come to him for safety.
6Don't change what God has said!
He will correct you and show
that you are a liar.
Reflect
In our postmodern society, we have a tendency to believe that truth is relative. So then, believing, “what is true for me may not be true for another” actually becomes quite easy to adhere to. This way of thinking affirms that no truth is absolute and that all truth is relative. Truth is to be defined by the culture and the circumstances in which one lives. Everyone determines what is good or evil, based on their own personal understanding of truth.
This being the situation, many people today have never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ given correctly. What they have heard has been biased by wrong interpretation and a false belief system.
Contrary to this mindset, the author of this proverb asserts that every word of God is worthy of confidence and he warns us against adding anything to it. Moses gave a similar caution in Deuteronomy 4:2 concerning any addition or subtraction from the Word of God.
Whenever we look upon certain Bible passages as insignificant or irrelevant, we are, in effect, mutilating or truncating the Word. In addition, we are adding to the Word when we seek to influence believer’s behaviour simply based on our own personal convictions. Suffice it to say, the value of God’s Word must never be subjugated to man’s discretion. The Word is forever true and merits our complete trust.
The author’s comparison of God’s Word as a shield brings to memory the Apostle Paul’s reference to the Word as being the shield of faith (Eph. 6:16). This proverb brings together the notion of the Word as a spiritual protectiveb shield as well as the faith and confident attitude that safeguards and shields those who trust in the absolute truth of the Bible. But to appropriate these benefits to one’s own personal life, he or she, in faith, must read, meditate, pray over and obey God’s Word.
Respond
Lord, I want to receive Your Word for what it is – the Truth. It is there that You reveal Your plan for my salvation and the plan for my life. Help me to be diligent in reading Your Word, to reflect on it and to obey it in faith.
Donald Tardif
Donald has worked as a custom broker and international freight forwarder. His Biblical training was with L’Institut Biblique du Québec. In 2006, he took an early retirement and assumed the leadership of La Ligue pour la lecture de la Bible in Quebec, after having been on the board of directors for a few years. He retired from Laligue pour la lecture de la Bible in 2017. Donald is married to Jeannine and they have 3 adult children and 8 grandchildren.