Tested and Trustworthy

Passage: Proverbs 30:5-6

Focus: “Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.”—Proverbs 30:5

God has crafted us as emotional beings. We tend to understand and judge things by our emotional experiences. While this is natural, it also has the potential to be dangerous. A person, who lives his life only by his or her feelings and experiences, without looking through the lens of God’s Word, is in danger of a fall.

The psalmist said that God’s Word is a lamp and light that provides direction to our paths (Psalm 119:105). The Bible is the light by which we see God’s will. God can and will use our emotions and experiences to speak to us, but they must always be measured by the objective standard of Scripture.

A man was going to do something that clearly conflicted with biblical truth. When his pastor confronted him, he said, “I know what the Bible says, but God told me to do this. I must listen to God’s voice.” A pastor near where I served in Missouri divorced his wife and ran off with a woman in the church because, God “told” him to do it. How can God’s written Word conflict with the direction of the Holy Spirit?

Others do the same thing, only they attach a scholarly ring to it. A seminary professor claimed, “Jesus is the standard for testing the Bible.” Since Jesus would not tell a father to sacrifice his son, he concluded that the story of God telling Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice (Gen. 22) is either untrue or proves Abraham was insane. Driving a wedge between God’s written Word (the Bible) and His living Word (Jesus) is no different than those who claim to get a word from God that contradicts the Bible.

Solomon said, “Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him” (Prov. 30:5). Scripture has already been tested. It has been found pure and can, therefore, be trusted to test our feelings. Solomon then issued a warning in the next verse about adding to God’s Word. “Do not add to His words lest He reprove you” (v. 6). 

Those who say God told them to act contrary to the Bible or who claim the wisdom to discern what is true in the Bible and what is not are on thin ice. They unwittingly accuse God of deceit and are in danger of receiving His correction and being exposed as the liar.

“God has crafted us as emotional beings. We tend to understand and judge things by our emotional experiences. While this is natural, it also has the potential to be dangerous. A person, who lives his life only by his or her feelings and experiences, without looking through the lens of God’s Word, is in danger of a fall.”