Limited and Limitless
Scripture Reading: Psalm 119:96
I have seen a limit to all perfection, but your commandment is exceedingly broad.
This verse can be taken in a couple of different ways, neither of which would be bad. I lean toward the idea that what David is saying is that he had seen the best and most beautiful man could create and it all has its limitations. Then, he contrasts that with God’s Word. The Scriptures are limitless.
Matthew Henry nicely describes this interpretation this way:
David, in his time, had seen Goliath, the strongest, overcome; Asahel, the swiftest, overtaken; Ahithophel, the wisest, befooled; and Absalom, the fairest, deformed.
This is not meant to be a criticism of recognizing and even praising the works of man. One can appreciate and love the music of Bach, the writing of Dostoyevsky, or the painting of Bob Ross and recognize the limits of what they have produced.
David’s point is made by way of contrast. The Word of God is like a gold mine of truth that can never be exhausted. It is a mountain that one will never summit. It is a vast ocean whose depths can never be plumbed.
Everything else to which we can give our attention has its limits, but we can read and study God’s Word forever and still need more time to grasp and understand what is there.
AMEN!!