THE MAN OF THE BOOK

Hebrews 10. 5-9 establishes clearly that we have the Lord Jesus brought before us in this psalm, and in verse 8 of the psalm we see Him revelling in the Word of God, “I delight to do thy will … thy law is within my heart”. According to Hebrews 10. 5, He uttered these words as He left the glory and stepped into humanity. It would be right to say that the Word of God was His consuming passion. When He said, “in the volume of the book it is written of me”, it may be that He had in mind the O.T. Scriptures, but there is the possibility that He also had in mind the volume of God’s eternal counsel.

This Man of the Book was always obedient to the Word of God. Was it obedience to the Word of God that kept Him waiting patiently for the moment of resurrection?, v. 1. He knew that a period of three days and three nights was involved, and He would not forestall that by one moment. He also proclaimed the Word of God to others: “I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation”, v. 10.

In the “blessed man” of Psalm 1, it is likely that we have the Lord Jesus, and in verse 2 we see that “his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night”. The result of this constant meditation is seen in His earthly ministry. When tempted by Satan in the wilderness, He replied to each temptation with the words, “It is written”, and He quoted from the book of Deuteronomy. Satan also quoted from Psalm 91. 11,-12, but took the words out of context. The Lord said, “It is written again”, Matt. 4. 7. He did not use human argument; the Word was enough.

In Matthew 5. 17, when speaking of God’s law, He said, “I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil”. Later, He charged the Jewish leaders, “Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures”, Matt. 22. 29. We can infer from this that He did not err because He did know the Scriptures. Even as sinless Man, He hid God’s Word in His heart. Again, in John 17. 14, He said to His Father, “I have given them thy word”. We leave Him with the two disciples on the Emmaus road, when “he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself’, Luke 24. 27. He knew the Scriptures—He was the Man of the Book.