Psalm 119:1-3 “Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord! 2 Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, 3 who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways!”
Have you ever thought of how easy it is for us to take the Scriptures for granted? Here we are in possession of the very words of God Almighty! Out of His goodness, He has preserved His word for us. Not only are we blessed to be in possession of Scripture, we are blessed through knowing Scripture. Psalm 119 is the longest Psalm in the Bible and at its heart, is a love for God’s Word. As the Psalmist wrote these words, he (possibly King David) had a desire to know the Word beyond just an introductory level. He was not content with just knowing the basics of Scripture, He wanted to know the God who inspired Scripture. He knew that he was not only blessed with having the Word of God, he was blessed by knowing the Word of God. If we follow what the Psalmist says in these first 3 verses, we see that those who practice and know the Scriptures are blessed. In order for us to be blameless, we need to walk in the law of the Lord. If we seek Him with our whole heart and keep His testimonies, we will be blessed. Who are the ones that do no wrong? The ones that walk in His ways. There is a double blessedness that we see in these verses. To know and to practice what God reveals to us in Scripture blesses our lives beyond understanding. It is one thing to just read the Scriptures, it is another thing entirely to know them and to practice them. In verse 2, we are told that we are blessed if we seek him with our whole heart. This means that if we truly want to feel the blessings of knowing God’s Word, our devotion to His Word needs to extend beyond just skin level. It is all too easy to read the Bible like a Pharisee. To read the word and know the word but not apply it to our heart and to our lives is a soul killer. When you read the Bible and have your time alone with God, do you read it to know it? Or do you read it to live it out and to better love the One who inspired it? So, what is your quiet time like? If you had to tell us what it meant to truly love the Word of God, what would you tell us? Would you be able to say like the Psalmist that you seek Him with your whole heart? Do you walk in His ways and not just talk in His ways? How can we make sure that we are walking and seeking with our whole hearts? I’ll give you 3 ways, although, there are many more that could be listed.
1. Read the Bible supernaturally.
In your hands are a book that is unlike anything ever written. There is no other book in all of history that is like the Word of God. You are holding perfection in your hands, the very words of God. I believe it was Steven Lawson who once said, “if you want to hear the audible voice of God, read your Bible out loud.” Have you ever thought of it that way? The Sovereign King over ALL is speaking to you through this book! Go to the Bible expecting to hear God speak and you will never be disappointed. John Piper has an excellent book called Reading the Bible Supernaturally that does a much better job detailing this if you were interested in learning more about what it means to read the Bible differently.
2. Put into Action what You Read
All too often we can pick up a book, read it, learn from it, and then carry on with our lives as if we never picked it up to begin with. This cannot be the case with the Bible. Notice that the Psalmist uses the verbs walk and seek when it comes to those that are blessed. If we want to experience the full blessings of knowing God through His word, we need to put some action behind that desire. John Wesley once wrote, “it cannot be that people should grow in grace unless they give themselves to reading. A reading people will always be a knowing people.” The more you read and act on the Word, the more you will know the One who inspired it all. As you read your Bible, write down some things that stick out to you and try to implement those things into your daily life. Maybe it’s something as simple as finding a quiet place to pray alone or memorizing Scripture. Maybe it’s something more like explaining the Gospel to a friend or a coworker. We can never grow spiritually if we aren’t acting towards growth. It might look like baby steps but we serve a God that is faithful and will help us to grow. The only thing we can’t do is nothing.
3. Pray the Word
When you read the Bible, pray that God would reveal Himself to you. Don’t go to the Bible and expect to understand it on your own power. Pray some of the promises of Scripture such as Jeremiah 29:13, where the Lord says that those who seek Him will find Him or pray James 4:8 which says that when we draw near to God, He will draw near to us. Pray for understanding before, during, and after reading Scripture. Meditate on those Words as you go throughout your day. If you are struggling with a passage, don’t be afraid to ask God to reveal information to you. Finally, remember to thank the Lord that He has revealed Himself to you through His Word, through His divine nature, and through the world around us.
Brady
If you would like more help on reading your Bible, I would recommend John Piper’s A.P.T.A.T (Admit, Pray, Trust, Act, Thank) approach. It is something that I (Brady) have been practicing over the last year or so and I can definitely feel a difference in the way that I read the Bible and prepare things for my ministry. Attached is a link that better explains A.P.T.A.T
https://www.desiringgod.org/a-p-t-a-t
Brady; what a great study!! I love reading the Bible out loud I think it’s because you not only see the words you hear them also! I love the understanding God gives you of the scriptures, Brady, may God keep blessing you!!! nana
Thank you for the study and the APT AT link.