2003-09-15 - Tropologies Concerning God's Word

Part 1

Psalm 119:24 Thy testimonies also are my delight; they are my counselors.

There are many metaphorical uses seen in Scripture. Such usage, when used in a Biblical manner, is called a tropology. There are almost endless tropologies contained in Scripture. The first set I hope to go through are those that regard the Word of God. However, there are many concerning Christ, the church, teachers, false teachers, and, I'm sure you can understand, there are many, many more.

Today I would like to look at Scripture as it reveals the mind of God toward us. It is in this manner that Scripture is our counselor. In 2 Timothy 3:15 we see that the Bible is called the Word of truth. Scripture is His revelation to us of those things He wishes us to know about Him and about ourselves. It is in this way our counselor. It is as we abide in Christ and in His words that we are promised blessings. His words are to abide with us in all things. There is even a promise attached to this. "If you abide in Me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it shall be done for you," John 15:7. Abiding in Christ and in His words are a great way to experience the counseling nature of God's Holy Word.

We seek for the Lord to guide us and speak to us through His Word. We must be ready to receive what it teaches us. When we lie down and when we rise up we must be ready to listen to the counseling nature and the instruction given us in God's Word. "For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope," Romans 15:4.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon talked many times about the instruction that the Word of God gives us. One time he said, "O young man! Build thy studio on Calvary; there raise thine observatory, and scan by faith the lofty things of Nature. Take thee a hermit's cell in the garden of Gethsemane, and lave thy brow with the waters of Siloa. Let the Bible be thy standard classic, thy last appeal in matters of contention; let its light be thine illumination: and thou shalt become more wise than Plato, more truly learned than the seven sages of antiquity."

I would like to give another tropology very quickly here. The Word of God is called right and is said to rejoice the heart in Psalm 19:2. This verse also tells us that the commandment of the Lord is pure and enlightens our eyes. To put it simply we see clearly here that God's Word tells us of His statutes and because we have His Word we are obliged to follow them. It is, of course, easier to talk about following God's commandments than to do them, but that no less obliges us to still follow His rules. In following the Lord we must believe as this verse says, "The precepts of the Lord are right," Psalm 19:2.

Soli Deo Gloria,
T-

tim@cfdevotionals.org
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