I think it was Oreos that said the best was in the middle (or maybe it was a middle school …).
Not long ago I heard the perfect story about the middle, at the perfect time.
The story goes like this …
- the middle of the Bible is the Psalms
- the middle of the book of the Psalms is chapter 118
- Psalms 117 has the smallest number of verses (2)
- Psalms 119 has the largest number of verses (176)
- There are 594 chapters before Psalm 118, and 594 after it
- 594X2=1188
- Psalm 118:8 is the middle of the Bible
- Psalm 118:8 tells us”
“It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in man.”
So cool, right? What a beautiful story of God ensuring that the the very middle of his Word be such a significant verse.
Except that it may not actually be the center of the Bible, as there is the Catholic canon and the Protestant canon, some versions end up with a different middle and, well … the numbering of verses is not necessarily original.
So, it’s a cool story, but maybe not one to put too much stock into … except …
Except that I was introduced to this story when I was was struggling with the issue of trust.
So, Psalm 118:8 may not be the center of the Bible, but it is definitely the central message that God had waiting for me.
We (when I say ‘we’ I really mean ‘I’) often and so easily put our trust in all the wrong things … all the temporary things. We put our trust in our wealth, our health, our friendships, our family, our spouses, our jobs, our abilities our (name it … it’s right there on the tip of your tongue).
The thing is that there is only one solid, unwavering, always loving us, trustable one, and that is God.
After being reminded of this verse, I found myself asking of myself:
“can I trust in God alone?
can I trust in God if the ‘ifs’ of life happen?
can I trust in God if he is all I have?”
He is my middle, my center … I might need to say this on repeat for the rest of my days, but the best really is in the middle.
itsawonderfilledlife 