Delights And Disciplines Of Bible Studyናሙና

We Should Study the Bible Because Knowing the Bible Helps our General Education

This is not the most important benefit of Bible study, but it is still worth knowing. Familiarity with the Bible is like taking a college course on the art, music, literature, and laws of Western civilization. For example, the novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville opens with

“Call me Ishmael.” The reader who has never read Genesis 16 and 17 is not likely to know the significance of this sentence, but the alert Bible student will grasp its meaning immediately. One summer, I read Moby-Dick again and marked the biblical quotations and allusions in it, and I was amazed at how many there were. What is true of literature is also true of music. Not to know our Lord’s pains in Gethsemane is to miss much of the riches of the St. Matthew Passion by J. S. Bach. Biblical allusions and quotations saturate classical Christian worship music. I wonder how many worshippers are confused by the second verse of “Come Thou Fount,” which begins “Here I raise my Ebenezer”? It’s based on 1 Samuel 7:12, where the prophet Samuel set up a monument and called it “Ebenezer—stone of help.” If you are fortunate to worship at a church that sings the great hymns of the faith, your knowledge of Scripture will make your worship much more meaningful.

What I’m saying is simply this: a rich Bible knowledge not only enriches us spiritually (if we obey what it commands) but also enables us to appreciate and understand the classical productions of the Western world. I recall strolling through an art gallery in London and thanking God for blessing me with training in the Bible. Some of those paintings would have been puzzles to me were it not for what I had learned in confirmation class, seminary, and my own personal studies.

Next Steps

The secret to fulfilling any responsibility in life is simply turning work into joy because of our love for our Master. At least eight times in Psalm 119, the psalmist announces his delights in God’s Word (vv. 16, 24, 35, 47, 70, 77, 92, 174). To this list, you can add Psalms 1:2; 19:8; and 112:1. When we delight in the Word of God and rejoice at what the Spirit teaches us, our relationship with the Bible means blessings and not burdens. An increasing working knowledge of Scripture changes our lives and enables us to serve others to the glory of God. Not to study the Bible ourselves means going without spiritual food and having to be spoon fed by others. Shame on us! It also means we accumulate the defilement of the world and desperately need a good shower or bath! Not to study God’s Word means a static relationship with the Lord, and that grieves the Spirit of God who longs to instruct us and mature us in the Christian life. This book emphasizes studying the Bible, not just reading it devotionally, as important as that is.

Believers who depend only on others for their nourishment and enlightenment miss the joy of adventuring with their Bibles, and that even applies to you as you read this book. It’s my privilege to help you discover several Bible study principles, and it’s your privilege to put those principles into practice and experience adventures with your Bible. The Lord wants us to imitate the prophet Jeremiah, who wrote, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts” (15:16).

Did you enjoy this reading plan? You can learn more about Delights and Disciplines of Bible Study by Warren W. Wiersbe, and sign up to get more free resources from David C Cook here .