DOCTRINE & DISCIPLINES OF THE BIBLE II
Before you open your Bible, what are you hoping to find? You may come with a question, a burden, or a need for direction. Those are good reasons to read. Yet if we approach every passage asking only, “What does this say about me?” we may miss the first and greater question: “What does this reveal about God?”
Scripture does speak to our lives. God uses it to teach, correct, and equip His people. But we are not the center of its story. The Bible tells us who God is and what He has done, especially through Jesus Christ. As we understand the passage on its own terms, we can better understand what it asks of us.
Read each day’s passages in your ESV Bible before beginning the lesson. Keep your Bible open as you work through the questions.
Day One: Begin with God
Read: Psalm 119:17–24 and Ephesians 2:8–10.
Our concerns tend to fill our thoughts. We think about our families, our responsibilities, our troubles, and the decisions before us. We can carry that habit into Bible reading and search immediately for an answer to today’s problem. When we do, we may move past what the passage first reveals about God.
The writer of Psalm 119 asks, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law” (Psalm 119:18, ESV). He has the words before him, yet he asks God to help him see and receive them. That is a fitting prayer for us. We need more than a few minutes with an open Bible. We need humble attention to what God has said.
Ephesians 2:8–10 helps us put ourselves in the right place. God saves by grace through faith. We do not accomplish our salvation by works. Then, as His workmanship, we walk in the good works He has prepared for us. God’s gracious action comes first; our response follows. If we read the passage only to find something to do today, we might miss the grace that makes our obedience possible.
Augustine began the tenth book of his Confessions with a prayer: “Let me know thee, O my Knower.” He wanted to know the God who already knew him. Our Bible reading should lead us beyond collecting facts or finding instructions. It should lead us to know, trust, and worship the Lord.
Timothy Ward’s Words of Life, named among the sources for this broader series, encourages readers to consider the Bible as God’s living and active Word. If God is the One speaking, then our first task is to listen for what He has revealed about Himself.
Study questions
- What does the writer of Psalm 119 ask God to do in verses 17–18? What does his request suggest about his attitude toward Scripture?
- What do you learn about the psalmist’s circumstances and desires in Psalm 119:17–24?
- According to Ephesians 2:8–10, what has God done for us in Christ? What place do good works have in this passage?
- What would you miss in Ephesians 2:8–10 if you began by asking only, “What should I do?”
- Think about your recent Bible reading. What question usually comes to your mind first? How might you begin by asking what the passage reveals about God?
Pray: Ask God to open your eyes to His Word and help you attend to what He has revealed before turning to your own concerns.
Day Two: Read with Humility and Care
Read: James 1:19–25 and Luke 24:25–27.
A Godward posture calls for humility, but humility does not mean setting aside careful thinking. It means being willing to discover that we have misunderstood a passage or approached it with the wrong question. We bring our concerns to Scripture, and we also allow Scripture to examine us.
In James 1, we are told to receive the implanted word with meekness and to be doers of the word. A person may hear what Scripture says and still turn away unchanged. We should ask God to show us where we have been quick to defend ourselves and slow to listen.
After His resurrection, Jesus spoke with two disciples who had misunderstood what had happened to Him. Beginning with Moses and the Prophets, He helped them see how the Scriptures related to His suffering and glory. Their expectations did not determine the meaning of those passages. They needed Jesus to help them understand what God had already said.
Paul David Tripp, another author included in the broader series sources, writes about the way our interpretations shape how we respond to life. That insight gives us a useful question for Bible study: Am I allowing Scripture to shape the way I see my circumstances, or am I forcing the passage to agree with the way I already see them?
Careful reading begins with observation. Who is speaking? To whom? What happens before and after these verses? Is this a command, a promise, a prayer, or an account of something that happened? What does it tell us about God’s character, purposes, or actions? These questions help us hear the passage before we decide how it applies.
Study questions
- What does James 1:19–25 say about the way we should receive the Word?
- What warning does James give to someone who hears the Word but does not do it?
- In Luke 24:25–27, what had the disciples failed to understand? How did Jesus help them?
- What expectation or assumption might you be bringing to a passage you are currently reading?
- Choose a passage you plan to study this week. Write down who is speaking, who is being addressed, and what happens in its surrounding context before writing down an application.
Pray: Ask the Lord to make you willing to have your understanding and your conduct corrected by His Word.
Day Three: Let Understanding Lead to Obedience
Read: Luke 24:44–47; Psalm 51:10–17; and James 4:6–10.
A Godward posture does not leave us with information alone. As we learn what a passage reveals about God, we ask how its truth should shape our beliefs, desires, words, and actions. Good application grows from understanding what the passage means.
That order matters. A psalm of lament may show us how to bring grief before God. A command given to an Old Testament king may reveal God’s character without becoming a direct command to every reader. An account of Jesus’ life first tells us about the Savior before it offers an example for us to follow. Reading in context helps us apply the Bible more faithfully.
In Luke 24, Jesus showed His disciples how the Scriptures pointed to His suffering, resurrection, and the proclamation of repentance and forgiveness of sins in His name. We should not force a mention of Jesus into every detail of every passage. We should, however, learn to read each passage within the larger story of God’s saving work in Christ.
The condition of our hearts matters as we read. In Psalm 51, David comes before God with confession rather than excuses. James tells us that God gives grace to the humble. We need that humility when the Word exposes sin, challenges our assumptions, or asks for obedience we would rather delay.
John Chrysostom urged believers to keep reading Scripture at home, beyond the time they spent hearing it taught. He pointed to a reader who continued even when he did not fully understand. Difficulty is a reason to keep learning and seeking help, rather than a reason to close the Bible.
You may read at a table, listen while traveling, or open your Bible beside a hospital bed. You may arrive weary or distracted. Whatever your circumstances, you can ask God to help you see what He has revealed. Begin with the passage. Consider what it teaches about Him. Then ask how you should respond.
Study questions
- According to Luke 24:44–47, what did Jesus help His disciples understand about the Scriptures and His work?
- What does David ask of God in Psalm 51:10–17? What does his prayer show about repentance?
- What does James 4:6–10 teach about pride, humility, and drawing near to God?
- Why should you understand what a passage meant in its setting before applying it to your life?
- Return to the passage you chose on Day Two. What does it reveal about God? How does it fit within the Bible’s witness to Christ? What response does it call for from you?
- What will you do when you come to a passage you do not understand?
A prayer before reading
Lord, open my eyes to understand Your Word. Help me set aside the desire to make myself the center of every passage. Teach me to see what You have revealed about Yourself and Your Son. Correct what I have misunderstood, and give me a willing heart to obey. Amen.
A Godward posture begins with the conviction that God has spoken and that we need to hear Him. Open your Bible to learn who He is. Read the passage as it was written. Then consider what it asks of you. The Word that reveals Him also addresses your life, and you will understand its application more clearly when you begin with Him.
Won’t you join me at the table?
Historical sources: John Chrysostom, Four Discourses, Chiefly on the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, Discourse 3; Augustine, Confessions, Book X, chapter 1.
Authors from the broader series source list referenced in this study: Timothy Ward, Words of Life; Paul David Tripp, Do You Believe?