The psalmist makes a sweeping declaration about the nature of God’s word. The Hebrew term translated “sum” is rosh, meaning head or beginning. It refers to what governs and defines the whole. The point is clear. From the beginning and in its entirety, God’s word is truth. Calvin notes, “God has been true to his word from the beginning, and that he will continue to be so everlastingly and immutably.” God does not have the capacity to speak anything other than truth because he himself is truth. Everything he says is true. Everything he commands is righteous. Spurgeon presses this confidence even further: “There is not one single mistake either in the word of God or in the providential dealings of God. Neither in the book of revelation nor of providence will there be any need to put a single note of errata. The Lord has nothing to regret or to retract, nothing to amend or to reverse. All God’s judgments, decrees, commands, and purposes are righteous, and as righteous things are lasting things, every one of them will outlive the stars.”
