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Psalms: The Blessing of God’s Word and King

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While most book overviews are written with a view toward observation (summarizing or outlining what is said), I would like to present a series of overviews with a view toward interpretation (summarizing or outlining why it is said). I will walk through not simply the contents but the argument of each book. I will not cover every book, but only those I have spent enough time in to believe I have something to say.

This post brings us to the book of Psalms.

Literary Divisions

The Book of Psalms has a straightforward and obvious structure, which, until only the last few years, I had trained myself to completely ignore. But I have come to see how fundamental this structure is to the message of the book.

Many editions of the Bible identify the structure with the headings “Book One,” “Book Two,” and so forth, up to “Book Five.” These divisions are of ancient origin and ought to be taken seriously as we study the book.

  • Book 1 = Psalms 1-41
  • Book 2 = Psalms 42-72
  • Book 3 = Psalms 73-89
  • Book 4 = Psalms 90-106
  • Book 5 = Psalms 107-150
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Confirmation of the Five-Book Structure Within the Text

Some Jewish rabbis believed this five-book division was meant to be parallel to the five books of Moses. In this way, they held up the Psalms as being nearly as important as the law of Moses. They saw this collection of poems painting a picture of the lives and community of the people in covenant with Yahweh.

This five-book structure is reinforced within the book itself by means of doxologies at the end of each book. These statements of praise burst out and punctuate the end of the book. Sometimes, they don’t even fit directly with the poems they follow. Just look at the last verses of the last psalms in each book.

Book 1 (Ps 41:13):

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, 
from everlasting to everlasting! 
Amen and Amen. 

Book 2 (Ps 72:18-19):

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, 
who alone does wondrous things. 
Blessed be his glorious name forever; 
may the whole earth be filled with his glory! 
Amen and Amen! 

Book 3 (Ps 89:52):

Blessed be the Lord forever! 
Amen and Amen. 

Book 4 (Ps 106:48):

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, 
from everlasting to everlasting! 
And let all the people say, “Amen!” 
Praise the Lord! 

Book 5 draws out its ending beyond a brief doxology. Did you notice how the doxologies quoted above all focus on blessing Yahweh, the God of Israel? Psalm 145 appears to conclude the body of Book 5 by picking up on that idea of blessing the name of Yahweh as the theme of the entire poem. Notice how it begins (Ps 145:1-3) and ends (Ps 145:21) with this idea.

That poem therefore transitions into the five-poem conclusion (Psalms 146-150), where each of the psalms begin and end with a command to praise Yahweh: “Hallelujah!”—translated as “Praise the LORD!” (Ps 146:1, 10; 147:1, 20, etc.).

How the New Testament Uses the Psalms

The Book of Psalms is the Old Testament book most quoted in the New Testament. Psalms are directly quoted (with a formula such as “it is written”) 68 times.

Of those 68 citations, only 14 occurrences refer to the life experiences of God’s people, putting the words of the songs and prayers of the Psalms on the lips of the people themselves. And of those 14 citations, 6 are found in Romans 3:10-18, where Paul stitches together a selection of quotations involving sinful body parts into a composite picture of sinful humanity under the judgment of God’s law. So at most, we could say that there are only 8 times when the New Testament quotes the Psalms the way we usually quote the Psalms: as songs or prayers of the people of God.

So, besides those 8 times when people are singing or praying the psalms directly, and the 6 times when they describe the sinful estate of humanity, we’re left with 54 times when the Psalms are quoted and directly applied to the person or work of Jesus Christ, acting as a representative of his Father in heaven.

Sometimes, the words of the Psalms are put right on the lips of Jesus Christ. An obvious example is found when Jesus hung on the cross and cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Ps 22:1). But there are numerous less-memorable examples as well (Heb 2:11-12 quoting Ps 22:22, Rom 15:8-9 quoting Ps 18:49).

Jesus himself puts a psalm in his own mouth when he describes what he will say on the day of judgment to those who think they had done mighty works in his name: “Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matt 7:23 alluding to Ps 6:8).

So as we read the Psalms, we must first of all see the Lord Jesus in every poem. Some of the poems are about him. Others pave the way for him. And many of these poems anticipate his own experiences. When we read “I” and “me” in the Psalms, we ought not to think first of ourselves as the “I.” More often than not, we ought to think of the Lord Jesus as the “I.” Yes, we can sing and pray these poems. But above all, the New Testament tells us that Jesus sings and prays these poems as he goes about the work his Father has appointed for him to do.

In writing this, I’m not setting up a dichotomy, as though we can’t or shouldn’t sing or pray the Psalms ourselves. Of course we should! I’m only saying that the reason we sing and pray the Psalms is not because they resonate with our experience. We sing and pray the Psalms because they resonate with Jesus’ experience. And we have been so closely united to Christ through faith, and by the power of God’s Holy Spirit, that we can’t help but share his experience. We suffer with him so we may be glorified with him (Rom 8:17). God has called us to be conformed to the image of his Son (Rom 8:29).

So we sing and pray the Psalms because our Lord Jesus sings and prays the Psalms. We who believe are in him.

How All This Impacts Our Interpretation of the Psalms

Psalms 1 and 2 serve as an introduction to the book, pronouncing a blessing on all who delight in God’s word (Ps 1:1-2) and take refuge in God’s king (Ps 2:12). These twin themes—God’s word and God’s king—are the guiding principles of the rest of the poems in this book.

Book 1 takes place during the reign of David (almost every poem here is attributed to him). This collection shows the king facing tremendous opposition. This collection has proportionally more laments and requests for help than later books. And at the book’s center, we find twin reflections on—you guessed it—God’s word (Ps 19) and God’s king (Ps 20).

Book 2 begins to move past David, as the first set of poems are written by other poets (Psalms 42-50). These poems get us looking beyond David for a king who will unite all nations in worship of Yahweh. The collection concludes with a poem attributed to Solomon (Psalm 72), describing the earth-wide reign of a king to come who is greater than David.

Books 3 and 4 take place during the exile in Babylon. Many of these poems lament the desolation of the promised land and the sanctuary. In this collection, the people wrestle with the fact that their king is absent and appears to have been defeated. Book 3 ends with a direct appeal to God: Have you forgotten your promises to David (Psalm 89)?

Book 4 shows a renewed servant-king who leads the people to remember God’s perfect law, even while they’re still scattered abroad. This collection ends with lessons from Israel’s history (Psalm 106) and a desire to see God one day restore his people in their land (Ps 106:4-5).

Book 5 ends on a triumphant note. The once-rejected king has now risen up in victory to celebrate Yahweh’s enduring covenant love back in the land of promise (Ps 118, 136). This book was likely compiled after the people had returned from Babylon and had rejuvenated their festivals and sacrifices. As I mentioned earlier, this collection concludes the entire Book with commands to praise the Lord (“Hallelujah!”). The book’s last word is: “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!” (Ps 150:6).

Conclusion

So the Book of Psalms is really the memoirs (written in advance) of God’s Messiah, the Chosen King of the Jews. His memoirs tell the story of the entire people of Israel. He lives out their story in his own life. And from where we stand, looking back, we no longer live, but Christ lives in us. We live our lives united to his. This is why the apostles looked so often to the Psalms when they wanted to explain the work of Jesus Christ. And this is why the Psalms are rightfully beloved by each generation of believers in Christ down to the present time.

For expansion on the ideas in this post, I recommend Psalms 1-41: Rejoice the Lord is King by James Johnston, the overview article on Psalms by James Hely Hutchinson in the NIV Proclamation Bible, and the Bible Project video on the Psalms. I am indebted to all three works in the shaping of my thinking for this post.

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Mastering Book I of the Psalms

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After completing my annual speed-read of the Bible, I like to follow Joe Carter’s plan for how to change your mind. Carter’s plan is simply to select a book of the Bible, read it 20 times in a row, and then move on to another book and do the same. After following that plan for 3 years, I’ve covered 20 books of the Bible, alternating between shorter books and longer ones. This discipline has been the most effective practice I’ve ever followed to help me master these books.

And for most of 2020, I’ve decided to tackle the third-longest book of the Bible: Psalms. (I already covered the second-longest, Genesis, in 2017. The first-longest, Jeremiah, still glares at me threateningly from an undisclosed rendezvous in my future timeline.)

To help me grasp the book’s ebbs and flows, and to prevent too much sensation of swimming in molasses, I’ve decided to consume the book of Psalms according to its five subdivisions, called “books.” Most Bibles will put headings over those five books: Psalms 1-41, 42-73, 74-89, 90-106, and 107-150.

So for now, I’m reading only Psalms 1-41 repeatedly (about to finish my 11th repetition). After 20 times there, I’ll move on to Book II, and so on.

Image by Nathan Williams from Pixabay

The Data I’m Collecting

I’m creating a spreadsheet to help me analyze the psalms and the book’s larger structure. You can find the fruit of my labors here. (I’ll also post it on the blog’s Resources page, so you can easily find it in the future.)

On the spreadsheet, I’m tracking every ascription and description given for a psalm. I’m also tracking every psalm that uses the term “psalm,” “choirmaster,” or “selah.”

But besides such trivia, I’m also tracking which psalms are acrostics (where each verse or stanza begins with a subsequent letter of the Hebrew alphabet), what sort of poem each psalm is, which NT verses directly quote from each psalm.

And above all, I’m recording what I believe to be the main point of each psalm. My purpose in doing this is not to erase or ignore the nature of the poetry, which is typically intended to be felt and pondered and not merely reduced to a logical proposition. My purpose is simply to recognize that each psalm is profitable for teaching, correcting, reproving, and/or training in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16). And when I’m feeling especially discouraged about a particular sin that doesn’t seem to go away—to give a practical example—I would like the spreadsheet to help me remember the psalm whose primary purpose is to ask God not to discipline me in anger as my sin deserves. (In case you’re wondering, it’s Psalm 38.)

What I’m Gleaning

The biggest lesson for me so far is that the Psalms are clearly arranged with intention. This is no random assortment of devotional poems. The five books of Psalms have been set in their order to communicate a number of overarching themes designed to infect the prayer and worship of God’s people. To give only one example of the purposeful arrangement, notice how Book I has four psalms with an acrostic structure (marked in column H of the spreadsheet). No other Book has an acrostic, until Book V, which also has exactly four. This can’t be a coincidence.

For a brief, yet brilliant, take on the book of Psalms see the Bible Project video below. While I differ with them on a few details, I find their broad insight into the book quite stimulating. These guys are the ones who set me down the path of seeing the intentionality behind the book’s arrangement.

With respect to Book I, I was intrigued by the proposal that Psalms 15-24 make up an extended chiasm (a structure where the second half is a mirror image in parallel to the first half). As I have dug into these psalms myself, I can’t help but wonder whether the chiasm extends out all the way to Psalms 3-35. I’ve color-coded the parallel pairs in the spreadsheet.

Many commentators, not only those at The Bible Project, agree that Psalms 1-2 provide an introduction to the entire book. This introductions establishes a blessing on those who 1) hold fast to God’s Word and 2) submit to God’s King. I find it unsurprising that the center of the Book I chiasm consists of Psalms 19 & 20, which have the same pair of themes.

Not all proposed pairings are self-evident. But many are uncanny. For example, in Psalm 4, David asks God to answer him when he calls (Psalm 4:1), and in Psalm 34, David praises God for hearing him when he called (Psalm 34:6).

This leads to another insight I’ve gleaned, which is that there is clear movement over the course of the book. Each psalm, and even subsets of verses of a psalm, could be read or prayed in isolation as an act of worship (here are two examples). But at the same time, there is a broad movement over the course of the book that is worth following.

For example, consider only Book I. After introducing the main themes of the book in Psalms 1-2 (blessing on the one who trusts God’s Word and God’s King), the editor presents 39 psalms connected—with only one exception—to David. And in these psalms, we see a high percentage of laments and requests for help from persecution (19 psalms). Intertwined throughout are occasional psalms of praise or blessing (13 psalms). But most of the “praise” psalms even focus on praise for the opportunity to request help when life is tough (Psalms 9-10, 18, 21, 30, 33, 34, 40).

The first praise psalm (Psalm 8) is about how God set a human to reign as king over creation against God’s enemies. And the last praise psalm (Psalm 40) gives thanks for past deliverance in order to request further deliverance in the future (Ps 40:13-17). The rejoicing over past deliverance flows right out of the requests in Psalms 36-39. And the request for future deliverance sets up the Book’s final psalm (Psalm 41), which is as much a confession of faith as a lament over poor circumstances. “Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble Yahweh delivers him” (Ps 41:1).

Putting it together, we see the following flow of thought through Book I:

  • Blessed is the one who trusts God’s Word and God’s King – Pss 1-2
  • David was a king who trusted God’s Word through all sorts of turmoil – Pss 3-18
  • Center of chiasm: The king asks God to align his words with God’s words, and the people ask God to save the king – Pss 19-20
  • But David is not the end of the story. He has yet to be freed from oppression, sickness, and personal sin. He is not yet vindicated as the true Son of God. There must be something more – Pss 21-41

This leaves us wondering whether Book II might suggest what is that “something more.”

How to Understand the Context of the Psalms

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We’ve given a long list of examples to show how critical literary context is for interpreting Bible verses. Many of our favorite and most-quoted verses either find greater nuance or challenge our presumption when we read them in the context of the argument or story in which they reside.

But different kinds of literature work in different ways. And “context” does not always work in exactly the same way.

Take, for example, the Psalms. While each psalm is a self-contained poem that ought to be read in its own right—and not twisted to say whatever we want it to say—”context” in the psalms is more fluid than in other books of the Bible. The poetic/literary context may help us to avoid clear misinterpretation. But there is another equally important context for these poems: Israel’s life of worship and personal devotion. Similar to how we might quote a line of a favorite hymn without deep analysis of the statement’s context, we might find ourselves using Psalm verses in the same devotional manner.

For example, before I can quote or sing, “hither by Thy help I come,” must I first understand what an “Ebenezer” is (Come Thou Fount, verse 2)? For another example, I can find encouragement that “I once was lost but now am found” without having to explain in detail that this amazing grace is a sweet-sounding doctrine that saves wretches like me.

Why can I say this about the Psalms? Where does this idea come from?

From looking at how the Psalms were actually used in ancient Israel. If we look at Old Testament examples of people referencing the Psalms, they rarely quote an entire psalm. Instead, they mash together a pile of quotes from a variety of psalms. This mash of verses becomes a newly sung or prayed poem in its own right.

Scott Barkley (2008), Creative Commons

Example #1: Relocating the Ark

When King David moves the ark of the covenant back to Jerusalem and sets it inside his new tent, a celebration erupts, rife with harps, lyres, cymbals, trumpets, and singing (1 Chr 16:1-7). And the song they sing that day is recorded for us:

  • 1 Chr 16:8-22 largely matches Psalm 105:1-15 (only the first third of the psalm).
  • 1 Chr 16:23-33 has been modified from Psalm 96:1-13 (most of the psalm, but with a few lines omitted).
  • 1 Chr 16:34 concludes with a common introductory refrain from many psalms (Ps 106:1, 107:1, 118:1, 118:29, 136:1 ).
  • 1 Chr 16:35-36 presents a second, responsive song, consists of a modification of Ps 106:47-48.

So here, in a concrete example of Israel’s worship, we see selections from at least 3 psalms mashed together with a refrain found in four other psalms. They did not need to clarify, to take one example, the context of Psalm 105 or 106 (the ups and downs of Israel’s history) in order to sing the “praise verses” from those psalms as part of the medley.

Example #2: Praying in the Fish’s Belly

We have a more rapid-fire example of selecting an assortment of verses and mashing them together in Jonah 2. This example also shows us not the corporate worship of the assembled people, but the private worship of a man crying out to his God.

  • Jonah 2:2 = Ps 120:1, Lam 3:55-56
  • Jonah 2:3 = Ps 88:6-7, 42:7
  • Jonah 2:4 = Ps 31:22
  • Jonah 2:5 = Lam 3:54, Ps 69:1, 18:4-5
  • Jonah 2:6 = Ps 116:3, 9:13, 30:3
  • Jonah 2:7 = Ps 142:3, 143:5, 18:6, 88:2, 11:4
  • Jonah 2:8 = Ps 31:6
  • Jonah 2:9 = Ps 50:14, 26:7, 22:25, 116:14, 116:18, 3:8

Now you’ll notice that the lines from Jonah are not typically exact quotes of the related psalm verses. But it should be easy to see how those verses from many psalms have shaped Jonah’s prayer. He’s taken all the verses about watery judgment, earthen graves, and rising up to call upon the Lord, and he’s compiled them to make the prayers of many psalmists his own.

Conclusion

While we are never justified in using a psalm verse in a manner contrary to its meaning in the context and flow of the poem, it is clear that we can and should draw on verse selections, or compilations of verse selections, to inform both our corporate and personal worship. We do not violate the principle of “context” if we take a selection of verses with a common metaphor and combine them into a new poem.

Great Bible Study Models for Women

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I have the privilege of serving a terrific campus ministry organization, DiscipleMakers. This blog and my book arose from the training we offer college students in Bible study, which I wanted to make available to a wider audience. But I’m not the only one who can show you how to do this.

For one example, I am delighted by Ryan’s help with this blog. He’s an old friend who learned this stuff at the same time I did, and I’ve learned a lot from his insights into the OIA method.

And for another example, I am happy to commend to you the models found in the videos below. These videos were recorded at the recent DiscipleMakers Women’s Conference, which had the theme of worshiping together as pilgrims (the Psalms of Ascent). Each main session talk from one of my colleagues masterfully models a different aspect of the OIA method.

Now these talks did not have a stated purpose to teach the skills in bold type. They were just normal talks given to explain a psalm to the women who attended the conference. But I share these talks with you to show you how important OIA skills are for effective ministry of the word.

Heather Smartt (Psalm 121) excels at observing the text carefully and making specific and concrete application, directly connected to the text:

Faith Thomas (Psalm 124) models how to observe and interpret the themes of a passage and make satisfying connections to the gospel:

Beth Dripps (Psalm 126) demonstrates the importance of relevant historical context to illuminate interpretive answers that are assumed in the text:

Megan Royes (Psalm 131) is an expert in illustration both to make the text pop and to speak application compellingly to the heart:

It is my privilege to serve the Lord with these ladies, and with many more men and women like them. I am happy to commend them to you as model Bible students worth imitating. If one my descriptions covers a skill you could develop further yourself, I recommend you watch the corresponding video to see how it can be done well.

For more teaching like this, check out our recordings archive here.

Context Matters: This is the Day the Lord has Made

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Perhaps you’ve heard that this is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it (Ps 118:24)! But what makes today any more joyful than another day? And has God not made all the other days?

Context matters. When we learn to read the Bible properly—and not simply as fodder for tired slogans—we’ll find that some of our most familiar verses have a surprising power to change our lives.

State Library of South Australia, Creative Commons

Analysis of the Psalm

I’ve written before on Psalm 118, where I analyzed the poem’s structure and flow of thought. I won’t repeat that material here, but will assume it and move directly to the verse in question.

Processional

Psalm 118:19 begins the victory parade for the returning, victorious king. He starts at the gates of Jerusalem (Ps 118:19), gathers a crowd (Ps 119:20), moves up toward the temple (Ps 118:26), and ends up inside the temple complex at the altar for burnt offering (Ps 118:27b).

It is during this homecoming parade—right where the celebration moves from the lips of the king (the singular “I” and “my” in Ps 118:19-21) to the responsive cries of the people (the plural “us” and “our” in Ps 118:23-27)—that the people proclaim God’s great joke. Their king, who had been rejected by the warring nations surrounding him (Ps 118:10-13), now takes his rightful place as the cornerstone of God’s world-building project.

“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is Yahweh’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes” (Ps 118:22-23)

It is at this moment that they beg God to save them (Ps 118:25) and offer a sacrifice to take their place (Ps 118:27).

This day—the day of salvation, the day of praise and thanksgiving for rescuing them through their rejected king, the day of lavish feasting—is the day Yahweh made (Ps 118:24). They have much reason to rejoice and be glad, for their God has had the last laugh against their enemies.

Another Such Day Comes

Yet another such day would come. The Jews sang Psalm 118 annually at the feast of the Passover, which explains why it was on their minds when Jesus rode through the gates of Jerusalem like a returning king (Matt 21:9). This also explains why this psalm was on Jesus’ mind when he went to inspect the temple (Mark 11:10-12).

There was a feast on, but these people couldn’t even recognize the one they were supposedly celebrating (Mark 14:1-2).

King Jesus rides through the gates and up to the temple, but he receives no blessing. He never binds the festal sacrifice to the horns of the altar (Ps 118:27); instead he reinterprets the sacrifice around himself and what he’s about to do (Luke 22:14-20). Then he becomes the sacrifice himself.

And this king is not rejected by the surrounding nations. He is rejected by his own people (Matt 26:63-66, John 1:11). And in this way salvation comes to the world (John 3:17, Rom 11:11-12).

“Save us, we pray, O Yahweh! O Yahweh, we pray, give us success!” (Ps 118:25).

Now this is something worth celebrating. This is the day the Lord has made. This is a day that can change your life. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Context matters.

Thanks to Elizabeth H for the idea for this post.

For more examples of why context matters, click here.

What To Do When the NT Quotes the OT

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Mike Leake has some great advice for what we should do when we’re reading the New Testament, and it quotes an Old Testament verse. He looks at 2 Cor 4:13, where Paul quotes Psalm 116:10, and he shows how Paul has the entire Psalm in mind as he makes his argument. Leake’s analysis is rich and compelling.

Then he concludes:

But we miss all of this if we think the biblical authors quoted verses the way that we do. So here is a little tip for your Bible reading. Whenever you see that a New Testament passage is a quotation of an Old Testament passage, don’t just go back and read that one verse in the OT. Instead go back and read the entire Psalm, or the entire context of that quote. It’ll help you to understand more fully why the biblical author quoted that verse.

Context matters. This is basic Bible study at its best, and I commend it to you.

Check it out!

Context Matters: Refrain From Anger

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Context matters. If we learn to read the Bible for what it is—and not as a collection of independently assembled proverbial sayings—we’ll discover that some quotable quotes have much more to them than we thought.

This week, I’m happy to point you to this article by Mark ward, where he walks through his process of re-discovering a familiar verse by considering its context.

Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. (Psalm 37:8, NIV)

What is the connection between anger and worry (fretting), at least in the mind of this psalmist? You’ll have to read Ward’s article to find out.

Check it out!

What to Do When You Don’t Feel Like Reading Your Bible

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John Piper addresses the question of desire: What do we do when we don’t feel like reading the Bible? After reflecting on the prayer of Psalm 119:36 (“Incline my heart to your testimonies”), he writes:

Over the years in my pastoral ministry, many people have complained to me that they do not have motivation to read the Bible. They have a sense of duty that they should, but the desire is not there. It is remarkable how many of those people feel that the absence of the desire is the last nail in the coffin of joyful meditation on God’s word.

When I ask them to describe to me what they are doing about it, they look at me as if I had misunderstood the problem. What can you do about the absence of desire, they wonder. “It’s not a matter of doing. It’s a matter of feeling,” they protest. The problem with this response is that these folks have not just lost desire for God’s word, but they have lost sight of the sovereign power of God, who gives that desire. They are acting like practical atheists. They have adopted a kind of fatalism that ignores the way the psalmist prays.

Evidently, the psalmist too felt this terrible tendency to drift away from the word of God. Evidently, he too knew the cooling of desire and the tendency of his heart to incline more to other things — especially money. Otherwise why would he have cried out, “Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain”? He is pleading with God to give him desire for the word. He knows that ultimately God is sovereign over the desires of the heart. So, he calls on God to cause what he cannot make happen on his own. This is the answer to fatalism. This is the answer to acting like an atheist — as if there were no God who rules the heart, and can restore what we have lost.

Repent. Pray. Trust God to give what we cannot drum up ourselves. Then act as though we expect him to answer. This is great advice.

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The Staggering Consequences of Neglecting Your Bible

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Erik Raymond looks at Psalm 1 to draw out “The Staggering Consequences of Neglecting Your Bible.” He observes the severe contrasts in the psalm to draw the following conclusions:

So often we minimize doctrinal differences, but we cannot forget, doctrinal error leads to eternal punishment. We must be sure above all that we have that essential doctrine clear and see the Bible as God’s holy Word, given to us as a treasure to for reading, meditation, prayer, preaching, and singing. Too often our doctrinal confessions that assert a belief in the inspiration and inerrancy of the Scriptures are betrayed by lives that ignore them. We must be sure that we are not succumbing to the false teaching that denies the supernatural nature of the Bible.

When we look at the result of a life lived drinking and delighting in the Word contrasted with one that rejects and belittles it, we have ample cause for evaluating our habits and our hearts.

Here in the dawning of a new year, it is certainly healthy to ask yourself what changes you should make with your life in order to give yourself more faithfully to this Word. For motivation, you need only to consider the staggering consequences of neglecting your Bible.

Check it out!