I absolutely love a good cup of coffee, especially with those foo-foo creamers!

I take delight in freshly brewed coffee; in fact I’m enjoying a cup of coffee with hazelnut creamer as I write this (hey, when you’re comfortable in your manhood you can enjoy the finer things in life!).

Do I love the Scriptures in the same manner; looking forward to my first sip in the morning? Do I anticipate the sheer joy that will result in diving into God’s Word as though diving into a cool pool on a hot summer’s day? The psalmist sure did:

“I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.” (Psalm 119:16)

The Hebrew for delight is sa’a and it means “to take joy in; to delight in.” The Random House Dictionary defines delight as “a high degree of pleasure or enjoyment; joy; rapture.”

Do you ever approach Bible study in that manner, or is it more of a chore or commitment to accomplish?

What would happen to my Bible reading habits if I approached it as something delightful? I imagine the first thing is that like the psalmist I would “not forget Your word” Lord. Wow. Perhaps we’ve stumbled onto something here.

I know many of you join me in having difficulty in memorizing Scripture and we rely on our ability to recall a passage to apply to a particular situation, with the help of the Holy Spirit of course. But what if, say, we memorized Scripture like we would memorize the lines of a play? We diligently study lines to play a part in a drama or a comedy; could we not take the same approach as Christians?

Not to play the part of a Christian but to approach the study with an eagerness that exceeds anything I’ve yet experienced when reading God’s Word. How is that possible? I need the help of the Holy Spirit:

“Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law.” (Psalm 119:18)

Go back and read that again.

Now try it like this:

“Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that through the power of the Holy Spirit you open my eyes that I may see wondrous things from Your law, in Jesus name, amen.”

Wow! We just prayed Scripture back to the Lord!! What do you think are the chances of God honoring that prayer?

Without God’s Word we won’t know how to live it and without His help we won’t be able to keep it:

“Deal bountifully with Your servant, that I may live and keep Your word.” (Psalm 119:17)

You know what’s next, right?

“Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that You deal bountifully with Your servant, that I may live and keep Your word, in Jesus name, amen.”

It is an amazingly exciting thing to pray back Scripture to our Heavenly Father, and it delights Him.

“The LORD takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in His mercy.” (Psalm 147:11)

Without God’s mercy there is no hope for any of us. But with a reverential fear and awe of the Creator of the Universe we find compassion, mercy, and love, all which through the sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ salvation is possible to all who believe in Him.

Is that you? I pray so. You can know so.

It is a wonderful thing to discover such treasures stored in God’s Word for our pleasure, a pleasure found in exploring the Bible.

I pray you are learning to love the Scriptures. It teaches us how to pray and live, about God’s people, and more importantly about God’s Son, Jesus Christ. Some unbelievers try to put limits on Almighty God and a great man of prayer once said this about God:

“The only limits to prayer are the promises of God and His ability to fulfill those promises” E.M. Bounds

Why not go delight yourself this weekend in discovering those promises? Go ahead and pick up your Bible just to read it instead of on your way to church.

If you’ll do so, you will indeed have a delightful weekend loving the Scriptures.

Oh yeah, and don’t forget to grab you Bible on the way to church Sunday morning!

In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4

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Copyright © 2009 David Jeffers

Tags

Bible, Christianity, Culture, Morality, Prayer