| “I will listen to what God the Lord says; he promises peace to his people, his faithful servants—but let them not turn to folly.” |
| —Psalm 85:8 |
As followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, we need to develop the discipline of listening to what God wishes to tell us. Sometimes, we actually do sense what the Holy Spirit may be affirming for us in the depth of our being. But, the vast majority of the time, we will “hear” what God says through reading, studying, and meditating on His written Word, the Bible.
That’s why our devotion to reading God’s written Word daily is such an important part of our on-going Christian spiritual formation. We need to intentionally set aside time to not only read a passage of Scripture, we need to study it and we need to meditate on it. In other words, we need to think seriously about what we’ve read and we need to think seriously about the implications that portion of Scripture has on our daily lives. The Sons of Korah described this truth in a special way when they wrote the hymn recorded in Psalm 85:8-9:
I will listen to what God the Lord says; he promises peace to his people, his faithful servants—but let them not turn to folly. Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land.
God’s glory will dwell wherever His people give attention to what He has to say. That’s why we place such a high regard on Scripture. That’s why the reading, studying, and meditating on Scripture plays such an important part during our personal quiet times and during our times of public worship.
One of the things that I wish we did more often in our churches would be to stand when Scripture is read. I know that it is inconvenient for some—and with my disability, I am one of those. But, there is something very helpful when we stand to honor the words of truth read to us from the Bible.
Of course, not all congregations would feel as warmly toward that idea as I do. And, I certainly respect their decision in this regard. Nevertheless, in whatever way we can, we need to honor the reading of God’s written Word, so that we will obtain the greatest benefit from what God says to us through Scripture.
So, whenever we hear the written Word read in church, let’s give careful attention. Listen to what God might be saying to us. If we do this simple discipline, we will find that what God says will become much more real to us.
