Bits for Sunday, November 2, 2008

This morning in our Sunday School class we talked about ways to keep that “vine and branch” connection with God. We went over all of the seemingly obvious patterns that keep the relationship going…reading the Bible, praying, going to church. And then we went on to talk about the things that get in the way of those patterns.

You know that I love to read and study the Bible, but this year I’d found myself getting in a bit of a rut with some of the methods of study I’d determined to use. Because I’m pretty disciplined, I did a great job of showing up and going through the motions, but I became less and less impacted by what I read. And I began to miss that connection.

I read through a blog a few weeks ago in which the author mentioned that she’d recently studied Psalm 119. Having read through the Old Testament twice, I knew I had read the Psalm at least two times, but I had never really studied it in depth. But before I just jumped in and started reading, I asked one of my friends if she would be interested in reading it too. She agreed, and now we study a few verses each day and talk about them the next day. It has been one of the biggest blessings in my Bible study all year! I love hearing her thoughts on each verse, seeing things from her perspective, and picking up on nuggets of wisdom that would have probably remained hidden to me on my own. Plus, knowing that we’ll need to chat makes for great accountability to keep on track!

I love the big margins in Psalms, because it gives me a chance to scratch notes and word studies out to the side, mark up the cross reference column, and really “live” in the words of the Word.

Besides just studying the words themselves, I’ve also been reading from Matthew Henry’s commentary, and some of his insights on this Psalm have caused me to stop and ponder the words of the verses just a bit more carefully.

One of my favorite things about studying the Bible is the way the right verses seem to pop up at the right time. One evening last week, I had a lot going on in my mind, and I just happened to be ready for verses 49-56. I sat, pencil in hand, drawing arrows and making notes in the margin of the Bible, when I hit the last two verses of that section:

In the night I remember your name, O Lord, and I will keep your law. This has been my practice: I obey your precepts.

When I looked up the word “night” – the word study said it meant “gloom.” In the moments of sadness or even despair – my job is to remember my commitment to God and to be obedient to what He asks of me. That doesn’t come easily to me, but it was a very good and necessary reminder to me that this needs to be my focus when times are any version of tough.

And when I went on to read that second part…This has been my practice: I obey your precepts…what an awesome legacy to leave! What would it be like to live life in such a way that this verse could be said of me when I’m gone? I’ve been chewing on that one ever since I read it.

I could write for pages and pages (and believe me, I have) about the things I’ve been learning, but I just wanted to share that tiny bit with you in hopes that it might make you think. And who knows…maybe after a few more days of study, I’ll have more to share.