The Rewards of Meditation on Scripture

praying hands over bible

A couple of our first blog posts (here and here) have been on the discipline of Bible study and meditation. This is good and important and necessary. I fear too many of us neglect this basic privilege and calling of Christian discipleship to our peril. 

Arthur Wellington Pink (1886-1952) was a pastor devoted to the study and exposition of the Bible. He wrote many books on Bible doctrines and themes, one of which, The Life of David, I have been reading as we've been preaching through 1 and 2 Samuel. I can't say that this is a great book, but I am grateful for Pink's confidence in the applicability of every part of Scripture. He works hard to find the timeless truth reflected in every episode from David's life. While one will certainly not agree with how Pink applies the text to life, we should all agree with how Pink views the text and its relevance to life.

Perhaps the reason why we struggle to see the relevance of all of Scripture is because we do not share Pink's view on what it takes to see it. He writes,

Whilst it be true that none but the One who inspired the Holy Scriptures can open to any of us their hidden depths and rich treasures, yet it is also true that He places no premium upon sloth. It is the prayerful and meditative reader who is rewarded by the Holy Spirit’s illumination of the mind, giving him to behold wondrous things out of God’s Law.... If, then, any verse of Scripture is really to speak to our hearts, there has to be not only a crying unto God for the hearing ear, but there must be a girding up the loins of our minds and a careful pondering of each word in the verse.

As followers of Jesus, isn't it right for us all of us to "gird up the loins of our minds" and devote some time to the "careful pondering" of Scripture? We may be averse to hard work, but we cannot afford to be lazy when it comes to the Scripture and to hearing the voice of God from its pages. God is speaking to us in his word, but we are exhorted to "think over" what we read there with the confidence that it is through this "careful poindering" that God will grant us understanding (2 Tim 2:7).

Yes, this takes some real effort, but nothing else can be so worthwile. Don't neglect Bible study and meditation because of the effort it requires; embrace it for the promise it offers.

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