A Message From God - Reading Planنموونە

Start with prayer, asking God to meet you and speak to you. Then watch the film clip.

Read slowly through Psalm 119:1-24, stopping to think and pray about anything that strikes you.

This Psalmist loves the scriptures, and his joy and excitement bubbles over in how he talks about reading them – he ‘delights in your decrees” (v16), and “rejoices in following your statutes” (v14). He uses so many words for scripture (God’s ‘law’, ‘statutes’, ‘precepts’, ‘decrees’, ‘commands’, and ‘word’), and each seems to be accompanied by a declaration of blessing and joy.

He also explains some reasons why he delights in scripture.

Firstly, there’s something very proactive here. He doesn’t just read the Bible as great literature. He doesn’t just rejoice. He “rejoices in following your statutes” (v14), and declares what a blessing it is to “walk according to the law of the LORD” (v1). He delights in God’s word because it is the bedrock for a great life.

Secondly, this passage is deeply relational. The Psalmist begins by telling us how amazing living according to God’s ways is, but he quickly shifts from talking about ‘him’ to addressing God directly (v5). ‘You’ and ‘your’ are then used again and again. What makes the Bible so special is that it comes from God – it is “your word” (v9). At the heart of this whole Psalm is the declaration in v9 “I seek you with all my heart.” What makes the writer so excited about the scriptures is that he seeks God through them.

But how? How can we seek God through the Bible? On one level the answer is simply ‘read it’ – but our Psalmist models two other key things.

The first is to read with expectation. Don’t just read it because you think you should, or to discover information about God or life. Read it expecting and hoping to meet with God – actively “seeking” him.

The second is to pray. The Psalmist prays “open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law” (v18) – it doesn’t ‘just happen’, even for him! He knows he needs God’s help and presence as he reads – and so do we. Always start and finish your Bible reading with prayer – asking for God’s help and presence as you start and responding in prayer at the end. Why not do that now?