Waiting for the Weight

“Oh, how I love your instructions!

I think about them all day long.

Psalm 119:97 (NLT)

Do you feel as David did about God’s instruction (torah -Law)? Do you want that sentiment to be more regular…more normative from day-to-day?

We can have great hope that God will build and mold such love in us…we truly have more hope than even David did for such affection and longing for we have the indwelling Spirit. From the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2) the people of God have been much more closely acquainted with the work of God than those of the Old Testament due to the gift of the Spirit.

Yet this love for the word comes to us with patience; but isn’t it worth it. David also says just a few verses later:

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Psalm 119:103

Question

Do we just aimlessly wait? Do we just go from day-to-day half-heartedly hoping that God will eventually craft such love in us…maybe even now and again breathing a prayer for God to work in your heart?? Are we just to sit on our hands? No.

The Patient Pursuit

Here I summarize what is found below in the rest of the post:

• Love for the Word….leads to
• Love for reading the Word…leads to
• Meditating on the Word…leads to being
• Taught by the Spirit through meditation unto wisdom from the word (and other Christian virtues)…and Wisdom (a proper use of knowledge) leading to
• Obedience (the weight of the word pressing into our lives).
• Finally we discuss what we have learned and lived out.

How to Wait for the Weight…of the Word

I recently began a podcast with two amazing men of God. We had the opportunity to interview a member a local seminary. We discussed what seminary was for and how it functions, namely as a help to assist people in study of the Bible. The conversation went well and I truly believe listeners will benefit from it. However, it got me thinking…

Do we have an unbalanced view of the study of scripture? Do we believe that if you really want to be an informed regarding scripture that you must go to seminary? I do not think many would answer yes to that question, but I think many act as though it is true.

When we think about academic pursuits in the study of the Bible we must remember that the Bible is not so much a book of facts to be sought out and mentally conquered, but that it is a book for our faith by which we are conquered by Him who spoke those eternal words. We could look to men like John Bunyan or A.W. Tozer, men who had very minimal educations (grammar school kind of basic) yet had a wide and deep grasp of the holy text.

How? How can one search the depths of God’s word and come away mature in faith without attending a Bible school?

1. Read with prayer and thought (pen and paper)

Paul Washer has noted that in the Bible it is prayer and meditation that are most regularly referenced in connection to the study of God’s word. That is to say that the biblical way to search out the truth and substance of the Bible is by prayer to God for understanding and meditation (filling one’s mind) on the content of what he or she is reading.

So it is in pursuit of enlightenment by the Spirit and conformity to the image of Christ that we prayerfully read. Pray with the psalmist, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law” (Psa. 119:18).

As we read we take up paper and pen (not notes on your iPad or iPhone which will likely pop-up with 101 notifications). Disconnect from tech to meet with your God. Is he not wonderful enough to draw you away from your techy-treasures so that you might more pointedly see his riches and glory?

As you read write down your observations. What stands out to you? What questions arise from the text (What does a word mean? What is meant by this phrase?)? Does a verse bring to mind something to pray for? Write these down. When a verse jumps off the page at you take two minutes and write it down.

I would strongly encourage you to do this in a note book or journal so that you have a way to hang on to these…at least for a year for the purpose of reflecting on what God has shown you.

This is prayer and meditation.

2. Read in fellowship: share observations & ask questions

Remember that meditating on scripture is to fill your mind with it. This can be done privately with pen and paper, yet it should go further. The life of the Christian is designed to be lived in fellowship: time spent with other followers of Jesus.

“And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts…”

Acts 2:46

Ideally Christian fellowship should be a part of your life with your home church. Our faith and soul have a better chance at maturity if we are giving time to our brethren from our church family, namely in discussion over the word.

This becomes yet another avenue of experiencing the eternal word of God as you share what you have read with others. Our minds tend toward a more robust appreciation of the scriptures when we not only receive them in private reading but also share them with others. With that comes the blessed opportunity for brethren to share with us what they have learned in the past from the passage we are reading. Maybe one of your questions that you had about what you read can be answered by someone you meet with from church.

What if God’s plan for answering your question was by the lips of a fellow saint who also is indwelt by the Holy Spirit as you are? The saints are many things but we are not individual islands…no matter what modern western culture says. If everyone in the group you are meeting with had observations to share and questions to ask from their devotions, you can only imagine how full and rich that fellowship would be.

How often do you see people from church throughout the week? What does that time look like? Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying there should be no fun. Go fish. Go shop. Go eat…run…travel. Go to the fair…the park…the movie. However, if that is all that is happening you aren’t engaging in fellowship. If that is not paired with focus on the things of God, either in tandem with those activities or at least in a stand alone meeting, you are not experiencing Acts-like fellowship.

Make a point to begin devoting time in the week to God-focused time with brethren from your local church.

3. Read books: get out of your context

Amid these thoughts on how any and all Christians can thoroughly approach the scripture for a fuller appreciation of what God has to say to us, I cannot stress enough how VITALLY important being a committed member of a local church is. Fellowship with brothers and sisters from other churches is not a negative or bad, but it will not add to your connection to your home church like it will when you meet with brethren from your church.

As we consider this final observation it will continue to show the centrality of the local church in the life of the saint.

As you find yourself reading (hopefully one book of the Bible at a time, instead of bouncing from one chapter to the next, day by day) you should find devotional resources that help lead and enrich your time in the word.

Ask your pastor. Talk to your pastor about what book or devotional he recommends to supplement your Bible reading.

For such reads to enrich your devotional time I would recommend checking out the Welwyn series or the Crossway Classic series. Both are beneficial by lending insight to the text while also calling you unto godly living in response to what you have read.

You can also check out this episode of the podcast I mentioned above: Theologic.

Why read a book along with your bible study? It pulls you out of your context. A book puts you in a place to learn about those passages you are reading from the lens of someone of a different generation…culture…other coast…other church denomination (most of my books are by men and women who are not baptist)…and finally reading from the eyes of the other gender…men and women see life differently (brothers, if you are looking for a solid sister in Christ to read from look to Nancy Guthrie, Joni Eareckson Tada, Nancy Lee DeMoss, Rosaria Butterfield, Elizabeth Elliot and Gloria Furman. P.S. – men reading from women authors is not a violation of 1 Tim. 2:12).

Conclusion

God has spoken to us from the Psalms of the lovely honey of the word and how we are to long to taste it. We pray that the Holy Spirit would show us the goodness of God. We open the hands of our soul to receive such grace by reading, writing, meditating, discussing, and obeying as we patiently wait for the weight of the Word to press upon us with fullness of joy.