01/25/2022
We decide to read the book of Psalms, but are we so anxious to complete it in the time we have allotted that we read right past the opening two verses without pausing to drill into all they contain? Modern education is partially at fault for this by assigning students more work and reading than they can actually absorb. So we learn to scan, or speed read. As we blast through each night’s assignment we only pause when something catches our attention. Is it any wonder that we read scripture in much the same way? However, the Bible isn’t just a story, a text book, or a simple rhyming poem, it is the voice of God, and requires our full attention, and dedication, if we are to absorb it.
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.”
Psalm 1:1-2 ESV
Which part of these two verses caught your attention? Was it one of the examples of what we shouldn’t do? Was it that we should meditate? Was it that we should go even further and meditate day and night? Was it the larger overarching idea of delighting in the law? Or, were you driven to move quickly on to the next verses thinking that the meaning here was obvious… but was it really that superficial?
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:8-9 ESV
Now we have read four verses, but did we treat the second two any different than the first? Did we read them literally, relate them to the first two, or maybe we used them to validate the thought I was conveying about understanding the opening verses from Psalm one? How did we read them?
“ “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.”
Jeremiah 33:3 ESV
Once again we can spend hours meditating on this one verse from Jeremiah, and the longer we do, the deeper we will find it goes. You see, although this is God’s Word, it is also His voice, and it is His instruction to us, but is much more than that too… in the verses from Psalms we are promised blessings for delighting in the Lord, in Jeremiah we are promised that we will see hidden things, and in Isaiah God reveals something regarding the mystery of Himself to us. Is it any wonder that every time we read God’s Word that we come to understand something fresh, and new, that we didn’t see before?
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
Colossians 3:16 ESV
Rub the dry skin of an onion, and it will come off easily in your hand, and leave its smell on our hands, and in the air, but the next layer is a bit harder to peel off, and contains more moisture. This is the way it is with scripture, but although an onion typically has 8 to 13 layers, there doesn’t seem to be a limit to the layers of understanding in scripture. So the longer we meditate, and the more we rub, peel, and relate the layers one to another, the more we will understand.
In this same way, reading the Bible isn’t meant to be something we do quickly, but should be a slow deliberate process that will provide us with the greatest understanding. Then, when we think we have understood it fully… read it one more time… slower yet, and find one more gem.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your Holy Word, and the treasure it contains. Thank you for allowing us to hear your voice as we lose ourselves in it; not in its pages, but in every individual word written there. Thank you for the chants, the songs, the poems, and even the silence we find in the pauses when we rest between its thoughts. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who feeds us your word like a mother feeds her child, first on milk, and then building towards meat as we grow teeth, and develop our ability to appreciate the stronger tastes. Praised be your name for every revelation that shows us something new about life, and you. Merciful are you for teaching us about love, goodness, contrition, forgiveness, grace, and all the many characteristics you exhibit, and which will lead us to be righteous. Wash us in the blood of your Son Jesus, teach us what it means to abide in Him, and to be transformed into His image… to be your child. Then, when the fullness of time comes once more, and we have been perfected sufficiently by your Word, by our conversation with you in it, and by your blessed grace through Jesus Christ, we pray that you will find us worthy, and seat us before you to worship you, and hear your voice as you continue to reveal yourself forevermore.
Rich Forbes