How to Read the Bible

Psalm 119 presents God’s Word as something to treasure, study, and delight in because it brings people into a deeper knowledge and love of Jesus. The Bible is not merely a religious book of moral lessons, an instruction manual for success, or a trivia book for knowledgeable Christians. The Bible is one grand story of God’s rescuing, redeeming, holy, saving love, with its climax in the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus.

The psalmist connects seeking God with the whole heart to storing God’s Word in the heart. The psalmist also connects wandering from God’s commandments with sinning against God. God’s written Word cannot be treated casually while God himself is supposedly loved deeply. A person’s response to God’s words reveals a person’s response to God. The letter from a beloved person gets read, reread, and studied because that person matters. God’s grand letter deserves even more attention because God has revealed himself so that people may know him.

Psalm 119 calls for more than reading quickly or grabbing whatever initially “hits.” Biblical meditation fills the mind with God’s truth and does the hard work of asking what the text is actually saying. The baseball diamond gives an order for studying rightly: first, ask God for help; then read the text carefully; then seek the author’s intent for the original audience; then trace the passage through the redemptive story that points to Jesus; finally, apply it personally.

Jesus declares that all the Scriptures bear witness about him. Commands reveal God’s character, expose human need for a Savior, and point to Jesus as the one who perfectly obeyed. David and Goliath does not first make fearful people into little Davids. Jesus is the true and better David, defeating the ultimate Goliath through the very weapon of death.

Psalm 119 also insists that study must move from asking to adoring. God’s Word is not meant to stay as information in the mind but to go deep into the heart until delight grows. Hurry, distraction, endless scrolling, and laziness can leave no space to enjoy God. Yet Hebrews promises that God rewards those who seek him, and the gospel gives confidence for that pursuit. God first drew near in Jesus, the Word made flesh, so that sinners might know, love, and delight in him. Christ’s costly love calls for a life that values what he says and makes space to hear it.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. God’s Word reveals God himself God’s Word is not detached information about a distant God. Indifference toward what God says eventually reveals indifference toward God himself. Love for God creates a growing desire to hear him, understand him, and treasure his words in the heart. [10:47]
• 2. Read for meaning before application The Bible was written for present-day readers, but it was first written to particular people in particular settings. Quick personal application can turn Scripture into a mirror that only reflects existing assumptions. Careful study listens for what the author meant before asking what obedience looks like today. [19:36]
• 3. Every text finds fulfillment in Jesus Jesus stands at the center of the Bible’s grand story. Commands reveal the need for his perfect obedience, and victories reveal the need for his greater victory over sin, Satan, and death. Scripture becomes clearer when it leads beyond self-improvement to the Savior who has already accomplished redemption. [27:16]
• 4. Study must become delight and adoration Bible study can become a rushed intellectual exercise when hearts never slow down enough to take in God’s beauty. Delight grows as truth is pondered, prayed over, and allowed to confront the noise of hurried lives. God’s Word is meant to captivate hearts with his grace, power, glory, and love. [31:36]
• 5. The gospel gives confidence to seek God does not wait for people to become committed seekers before drawing near. Jesus came near first, gave his life first, and showed a deeper commitment to being known than any human pursuit could produce. That grace gives confidence that God will use his Word to inform minds and transform hearts.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [01:16] - Psalm 119 and Prayer
• [01:51] - A Letter Worth Reading Again
• [03:09] - Why Study the Bible?
• [05:03] - The Bible as God’s Grand Story
• [08:17] - How God’s Word Relates to God
• [11:53] - Ask and Adore
• [15:06] - The Baseball Diamond of Bible Study
• [18:21] - Authorial Intent and Context
• [23:18] - Reading Every Passage Through Jesus
• [28:56] - Delighting in God’s Word
• [32:21] - Keeping Going Without Giving Up
• [35:25] - What Keeps People From Scripture?
• [39:06] - Repentance and a Call to Faith
• [42:09] - Prayer of Surrender and Communion

Bible Reading

Psalm 119:9-16

9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.

10 With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! [00:37]

11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. [00:45] [00:48]

12 Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes!

13 With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth.

14 In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches.

15 I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. [01:09] [01:12]

16 I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word. [01:16] [01:20] [01:22]

Luke 24:26-27

“Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. [23:34]

John 5:39

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me.” [24:01]

Hebrews 11:6

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. [32:50]

Observation questions

1. In Psalm 119:10-11, what connections does the psalmist make between seeking God, storing his Word in the heart, wandering from his commands, and sinning against him? [08:51]
2. What words in Psalm 119:14-16 show that the psalmist’s relationship with God’s Word is more than simply gathering information?
3. According to Luke 24:26-27 and John 5:39, what does Jesus say the Scriptures are ultimately about? [23:50]
4. What are the four main steps in the “baseball diamond” approach to studying the Bible before personal application? [28:00]

Interpretation questions

1. Psalm 119 connects treasuring God’s Word with seeking God himself. Why would indifference toward Scripture eventually affect a person’s relationship with God? [10:25]
2. Why is it important for a reader to ask what a biblical author intended to say to the original audience before asking, “What does this mean for me today?” What problems can come from skipping that step? [19:19]
3. Jesus says that all Scripture bears witness about him. When a passage includes commands, how can it both reveal God’s character and show a person’s need for Jesus’ perfect obedience and saving work? [25:06]
4. Hebrews 11:6 says that God rewards those who seek him. What does it mean that the greatest reward of seeking God through his Word is God himself, rather than simply getting quick answers or solving problems? [32:50]

Application questions

1. What most often shapes your thoughts during the week—God’s Word, entertainment, social media, news, work, sports, or something else? What might that reveal about what currently receives your attention and delight? [11:00]
2. When you open the Bible, do you usually approach it mainly as rules to follow, advice for success, facts to learn, or God’s grand story centered on Jesus? How could your purpose for reading change this week? [05:17]
3. Think about a recent time you read Scripture quickly and immediately asked how it applied to you. What might change if you first slowed down to ask what the passage actually says and what its author intended? [17:43]
4. What is one passage or book of the Bible you find difficult, unfamiliar, or intimidating? What is one simple next step you could take—praying for help, rereading the text, using a study Bible, or discussing it with another believer? [35:25]
5. What tends to keep you from making space for Scripture: busyness, distraction, uncertainty about how to study, laziness, discouragement, or something else? What realistic change could help create a small but protected time to read and reflect? [36:53]
6. Is there a particular truth about Jesus—his grace, his sacrifice, his power, his love, or his victory over sin and death—that you need to slow down and delight in rather than merely understand? How could you meditate on that truth this week? [31:14]
7. Jesus drew near first, gave himself for sinners, and welcomes those who seek him. How does that grace give encouragement for someone who feels inconsistent, guilty, or discouraged in Bible reading? [33:43]