Feasting on God's Wordਨਮੂਨਾ

Day 2 - Posture 1: Feasting

The first posture for interacting with the Bible is pulling up a chair to the biblical table and feasting on the Word of God. Tradition says that the ancient Greeks loved study, but the Hebrews loved to feast. The Bible was given to us by the living God that we might feast on it. Upon reading the Scriptures, Jewish people go forth and embody them. Rather than merely knowing, they want to flesh out and carry the Scriptures in their very beings.

Psalm 19 richly illustrates the nourishing effects of the living Word in us. It says,

The law of the Lord is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
giving light to the eyes…
They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the honeycomb.
By them your servant is warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.

I love the language used in verse 7: “The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul.” We don’t often think of the law as something that refreshes our soul. Have you ever woken up on a Sunday morning and thought, I’m so excited to go to church this morning; I sure hope our pastor preaches from the book of Leviticus! I don’t know anyone with that much enthusiasm about Leviticus and the specific instructions it contains. So, what does it mean that the law of the Lord refreshes or revives our soul?

The rest of verse 7 says, “The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.” I like to use this as an example of how words in the Bible can have different meanings than those in our Western culture, where being “simple” may be used to describe a person who is basic or slow of learning. But for the Jewish people in the world of the Bible, being simple was desirable as it could carry the idea of being open. We are not orphans; we are not fatherless. We do not have to open our Bibles and dig out something to feed ourselves. We are not alone in the moment. When we approach the Word of God, we do so as sons and daughters postured to receive. Rather than having to feed ourselves, we are readying ourselves to inherit and take in whatever the living God is ready to say and do as we interact with the Text.

Later in verse 8 we read, “The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.” When the psalmist says the commands are like radiant light to us, I am reminded that none of the prophets of Israel ever went out and got the word of the Lord. Rather, the word of the Lord found them. Over and over throughout the Old Testament, we read this phrase: “The word of the Lord came to…” For example, “The word of the Lord came to Abram…”(Genesis 15:1) “The word of the Lord came to Jonah…”(Jonah 1:1) “The word of the Lord came to Elijah…”1 Kings 17:2) “The word of the Lord came to [Jeremiah]…”(Jeremiah 1:4) “The word of the Lord came to Samuel…”(1 Samuel 15:10)

Rather than feeling the pressure to open our Bibles as if we have to get or find the Word of the Lord to feed ourselves, we are being invited to approach the Bible as a feast that has been prepared for us. We don’t so much want to read it as we want to eat it. I don’t know about you, but I love food! If I have the option of feasting rather than studying, I’m choosing to feast! The best food is experienced with people you know and love. If you go to a great restaurant with great food, you want to experience it with great people. This is one of the gifts of the Bible. We are continuously invited to feast on these portions together.