“For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.” (Psalm 119:89)

This is the central verse in the longest chapter in the longest book in the Bible, and it is surely one of the greatest verses in the Bible. It conveys the amazing news that the Word of God (which is the theme of the entire 119th Psalm) has existed from eternity past and will continue to exist forever in the future. It was eternally settled in the mind of God before the world was created, then gradually inscripturated “at sundry times and in divers manners [as God] spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets” (Hebrews 1:1).

Other verses in this psalm likewise stress the eternal validity of God’s words: “The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting. . . . Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old that thou hast founded them for ever. . . . Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever” (Psalm 119:144, 152, 160).

In the book of Isaiah appears a magnificent claim: “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever” (Isaiah 40:8). This contrast is expanded by the apostle Peter: “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever” (1 Peter 1:23).

To guarantee this great truth beyond any further question, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself made the following tremendous claim: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:35). “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matthew 5:18).

The entire physical universe is (literally) “passing away,” heading inexorably downhill toward ultimate death—with one exception! The words of our Bible and its glorious promises are eternal and immutable. HMM