The psalmist was calling out to God, asking him to send out his light and his truth. It’s so important to remember that if God has led the way, opened a door, or spoken a word, we can know that it's truth. God cannot act apart from his holiness. 

If something is only partially true, it’s not fully God. When something compromises our character, it’s not God. When something must be accomplished “in the darkness,” then God’s light is not present. Sometimes a decision is as clear as this: if it isn't pure, complete truth, it isn’t of God. 

God sends out his light and his truth so that he can direct our path. That path, according to the psalmist, leads to his holy hill, his dwelling. Those words are a reference to the highest, holiest place on earth.

The Jerusalem temple was built on the highest point, and the Holy of Holies, the place that held the Ark of the Covenant, God’s holy seat, was there. The psalmist taught that God would send the light and the truth to draw us to his presence. 

When we feel distanced from God, we can pray the psalmist’s prayer. God’s word leads us into his presence. Scripture is the voice of God, and we need to hear the words as we read them. We can ask for God to reveal his light, his direction, through Scripture. We can ask God to lead us with his truth as we make our decisions and plans. 

God provided his word to us so that we could be drawn to his holy hill—his very presence. 

The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. Ask him for his light and his truth. The Creator of the universe wants to bring you into his holy dwelling and spend time with you.

Jesus taught his followers the key to living a faithful life. He said, “abide in my word” and you will be my disciples. To abide in the word means “to accept or act in accordance with” all that Jesus taught. We are truly a disciple of Christ when we live in line with our Lord’s teaching. 

The word disciple describes a person who was a student of a specific rabbi or teacher. We have many teachers in our lives who influence our choices and decisions. We show ourselves to be a disciple of Christ when his teaching governs our thoughts, opinions, words, and choices.

We become a child of God when we accept the gift of our salvation by making Jesus our Savior. We become a disciple when we accept the teaching of Jesus and choose him as our Lord. When we abide with Christ’s teaching, we serve him as our King. 

We know and love Scripture when we adapt our lives to its truth. For centuries God’s word has been proven truth. Jesus taught us how to live a life God would be able to bless now and eternally. Jesus taught us how to live in such a way that other people could see the reality of God and want him to be their Father as well. 

We are surrounded by words of influence in our culture today. Jesus told his disciples to abide in his influence, his word. 

The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. His word is the source of our influence when we choose to live as a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Paul wrote the letter we know as 2 Timothy while confined to a prison he knew would likely lead to his death. These last words to Timothy, his protégé, have always been especially poignant. Paul was writing to Timothy about what he should expect in the “last days” from people who were godless. Paul described them as “always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth” (3:7). He then taught Timothy how to live differently from those who didn’t know God. 

Paul’s lesson to Timothy can be summed up in this way: “Remember what you have learned from me, from your family, and from others. We have taught you God’s truth.” That’s when Paul reminded Timothy that “all Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable” to every area of our lives. Scripture is how God equips his children to accomplish the good work he has called us to do. 

If a financial investment came with a guaranteed return, we would do our best to be included. Scripture offers our lives a promise. If we invest our lives in God’s word, there will be a profit. If we want to fill our lives with “good work,” then we should fill our lives first with God’s word. 

Paul wanted Timothy to understand that the foundation of his ministry needed to be the word of God. When Paul wrote his letter he had no idea that he would continue to teach countless generations the important truth he taught his first-century protégé. The same Scripture that grounded Timothy’s ministry serves the Lord’s disciples today. 

The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. The words of your Bible were “breathed out” by God himself, and he has promised to use them to profit your life and ministry when you invest in his truth.

G. K. Chesterton was a gifted author known for his depth of thinking. He wrote about the difference between our perception of progress and true growth in an article titled “The Romance of Rhyme,” saying, “The fatal metaphor of progress, which means leaving things behind us, has utterly obscured the real idea of growth, which means leaving things inside us.” 

Chesterton’s words speak to our culture today and to our culture of faith. There is a difference between progress and growth. We shouldn’t assume that because we are advancing in knowledge, we are growing in wisdom. Could it be that our abundance of information has progressed our cumulative knowledge but stunted our spiritual growth? 

Paul helped to establish the Christian church in Ephesus, a leading first-century city famous for its advanced and educated culture. His words to that group of people speak directly to our culture today. 

Paul taught them it was necessary to speak the truth but to speak it with the love of Christ as their motivation. The truth was necessary for people to “grow up in every way” into an accurate and obedient relationship with Christ as their Lord. Without the truth, people cannot know God because God is truth. Without love, they won't choose God because God is love. 

Paul taught the church in Ephesus, and the church today, to teach God’s truth motivated by the love of Christ. G. K. Chesterton taught that progress meant leaving things behind us while growth is marked by what we keep inside. 

When we speak God’s truth with love, we “grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.” God’s truth is the source of our spiritual growth as we progress through our lives. 

The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. Keep growing in the Lord and you will speak his truth with his love.

I used to teach second grade, which was the year we introduced story or word problems into the math curriculum. Let’s just say those lessons were not a favorite for my students or their teacher! They had to learn to read a few sentences and pick out the math equation to solve. I taught my second graders to look for the word sum in those questions. When they saw the word sum, they would know they should add all the numbers rather than subtract. 

That’s an important thing to remember when studying the Bible as well. “The sum” of God’s word equals “truth.” If we subtract anything from God’s word, we get the wrong answer. Like a simple math equation, every word of Scripture “adds up” to an answer that endures forever. One plus one will always equal two. The words of the Bible will always add up to God’s truth. 

Psalm 119 is a unique passage of Scripture. In the original Hebrew language, the various stanzas represented and repeated a particular letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It’s believed that this psalm was used with young children to teach them their alphabet, as well as the importance of knowing and using God’s word to govern their lives. The first verse of the psalm provides the theme: “Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord!” 

Our single greatest need in life is the blessing of God. God has taught us how to live a life he is able to bless. His word, from the first word of Genesis to the final word of Revelation, adds up to truth and our direction for living a blessed life. We can learn a lot by applying basic math principles to our faith in Scripture. 

2 + 2 = 4

It always has, and it always will.

God’s rules + our obedience = God’s blessings.

That is eternal truth as well. 

The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. The sum total of God’s word is truth that will endure forever.

Paul told the church in Ephesus, “Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God” (Ephesians 6:10–11a). It’s always been a challenge and a choice for God’s people to live according to his truth rather than our own. 

God’s word is the wisdom and discernment we need to make our daily choices. Scripture is our armor, our personal protection against the ideas and opinions the world imposes that can weaken our faith. We are called to stand firm against the schemes of the devil (Ephesians 6:11). It’s so important to remember that we never stand alone or without God’s protection. 

We can stand firm, confident of our values and our calling, when we trust God’s word as our truth because it's the truth. 

The polls and predictions are interesting and often valuable information. The opinions of others are born from their God-given right to choose. The caution and protection of Scripture is understanding that our right to choose doesn’t guarantee our choices are right. We have to fasten on the belt of truth for it to serve as our protection. 

Do you truly believe something that is contrary to God’s truth? Has the culture become more convincing than Christ? Sometimes our right to choose truth becomes more important to us than choosing what is right. God’s word isn’t always popular, but it's always true. 

The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. The Lord gives us the ability to stand firmly each day when we choose to trust his word as our truth.

My dad worked for IBM, and, as a young girl, I would occasionally visit his office. He always let us peek into the enormous room filled with giant machines that generated a lot of noise and heat. Dad said those machines were called “computers.” Today, the cell phone I carry in my purse has far more capacity for information than the entire room my dad showed me as a child. 

We live in a culture flooded with information, but in a sea of information, wisdom matters. How do we process all we can learn into what we should believe? How do we discern fact from opinion? Scripture has answered those questions throughout history. “The Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding” (Proverbs 2:6). 

One of the most powerful proofs of the miraculous nature of God’s word is the fact that it has transcended the cultural trends of every generation. Today’s world is filled with information, yet popular movies and television are fascinated with fantasy. 

Is an idea or belief based on fact or fiction? God’s word is the wisdom we need so we can process what we learn into what we should know, trust, and believe. The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. When we search his word, we find the truth, wisdom, and discernment we need.

Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane waiting for the Roman soldiers to arrest him when he prayed that his disciples would be sanctified—made holy—by God’s word. That moment is all we need to understand the importance of God’s truth. 

Trusting the historical, unchanging power and perfection of God’s word is what sets his children apart from the rest of the world. God’s word has the power to sanctify our lives and make us holy. 

Our thoughts, words, opinions, and character are transformed by the truth of God. His word has the power and wisdom we need to purify our lives. When Jesus knew his life was ending, he prayed his disciples would understand what they needed most for their lives and ministry. We need to be made holy by God’s truth. 

The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. He also gave us the power to choose his truth to be our truth and our path of sanctification.

Christians are children of the great “I Am.” Sometimes we need to step away from all the other titles, roles, and identities the world uses to define us. We are only those things for a time or a season.

When God became your Father, you received your eternal identity. You were adopted into God’s family and you are his child, an heir to his kingdom. The New International Version translation of 1 John 3:1 says, “See what great love the Father has lavished upon us, that we should be called children of God.”

We are profoundly loved by the great “I Am.” Our sins can separate us from that love, but we are never refused that love. God said, “I am who I am,” and God is love. God’s love changes people. When we became God’s children, we were changed. Why is it that we so often try to become who we no longer can be? We don’t belong to this world any longer because we have been born again.

John said, “The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” The only way for someone to understand our faith is to become part of our family. If they don’t know Jesus, they won’t fully know and understand us. A color-blind person cannot truly understand the difference between yellow and purple. It isn’t their fault; they simply can’t see the full spectrum of color.

Christians are God’s children. We were “blind, but now we see.” We understand the value and the need for God’s amazing grace. The great “I Am” has lavished his love on us and adopted us as his own. We are called to help others become part of his family. They deserve to live eternally as God’s children too.

To know God is the beginning of wisdom. To know God is to know him as our Abba, the dad who loves us with a great and infinite love.

We spend our lives learning, evolving, and aging. Each decade brings change. History is fascinating because it reveals how people have adapted their lives and their thinking throughout centuries of changing times and technologies.

God told Moses, “I am who I am.” The completeness of our eternal God is difficult for us to comprehend. We worship the same God Moses knew. God’s words to Moses are still truth today. We live in an ever-changing world that our unchanging Creator holds in the palm of his hand.

God told Moses to describe him as “I am.” God is Father and Mother. God is love yet hates what is evil. God forgives and brings judgment. God is peace and passion. God is in the calm and the storm. Everything was created by God and exists for his purpose. There is nothing that God is not.

God said, “I am who I am.” God has no past and has no future. God isn’t bound by time because he is eternal. Yet that God cares about our daily moments throughout the entirety of our lives.

God is today who he has always been: the God of the ages. He is everlasting, ever-present, and always powerfully at work bringing about his purpose and plan for time itself.

In this moment, we can speak to the God of Moses and hear him say, “I am who I am.” He is all things, always. He is with you right now.

To know God is the beginning of wisdom. Know God by the name, the description, he gave himself. He is the high and holy “I am who I am.” He is everything.

It's normal to assign God human attributes, but people are made in his image; God isn’t made in ours. “God is not man.” We misunderstand or limit God when we think of him with human standards. We don’t own the vocabulary needed to define the fullness of God. Human words and understanding will always fall short. We don’t compare ourselves with God because he is incomparable.

God is not human, but we are. God cannot lie, but people lie to God and others. God doesn’t change his mind, but he can change ours. God is who he says he is and does what he says he will do. God doesn’t just give his word; he keeps it. There are no words to describe the pure perfection of God. If we spent days working on our perfect description, our words would fall short.

The infinite abilities of God cannot be understood or described, and they cannot exist in finite human beings. Scripture reveals God, but we cannot fully perceive him—yet. The day is coming when we will fully meet the infinite God of the universe.

Until then, we know enough about God to know that he is God. We know enough of his laws and covenants to know his plan for our salvation. We know God is not a man but that he loves mankind with an everlasting love. We know that if God has spoken a word or promise, it will be fulfilled.

To know God on earth is to know God in part. It's also to know that, one day, we will meet him face-to-face. He told us that, and if he spoke it, it will be fulfilled.

To know God is the beginning of wisdom. To know God on earth is to know only a glimpse of all that he is, but that glimpse is enough until we know him fully in heaven.