The Shelter of the Word – Ninth Commandment

The Shelter of the Word

The ninth commandment

Exodus 20.16; Deuteronomy 5.20

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

Psalm 12.6, 7

“The words of the, LORD are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times. You, O LORD, will keep them; you will guard us from this generation forever.”

How do we protect ourselves against lies?

In a day like ours, when it is fashionable to insist that there is no truth, what rarely goes acknowledged is that, where there is no truth there can be no lies. Thus, whatever someone wants to say to further his purpose or gain some advantage is “true for him,” even it if doesn’t comport with reality in the slightest. How can we protect ourselves against the storm of lies, half-truths, and outright deceit that blows around us all day long? We need to shelter in the Word of God. God’s Word is true and He keeps His Word. What He commands, He means; what He promises, He will provide. What He condemns we also should condemn. What He teaches we should embrace as eternal and unchanging truth. As long as we cling to the Word of God we will not easily be deceived or led astray by the lies of the age. God’s Word serves as a touchstone for truth. Whenever we have questions about something we hear, let us go to the Word of God and study it carefully in order to understand how God views the situation before us. His Word is the light within which we can see and discern all other light. Without His Word, we are susceptible to every form of the Lie.

Here’s a test: See if you can name five things the Bible teaches that go against the “accepted wisdom” of the day. Which of these divergent views is true? Which do you practice?
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“In the Gates” is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001,2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.