Studying the Word of God
Psalm 119:161–76
My soul keeps your testimonies; I love them exceedingly. Psalm 119:167

Study of the Bible must be the consuming passion of a believer’s life. This is because it is only by the study of the Word of God that we learn what it is to obey God and follow Jesus. If you want to know God as he speaks to you through the Bible, you should do the following.

1. Study the Bible daily. We should discipline our lives to include regular periods of Bible study, just as we discipline ourselves to have regular periods for sleep, eating our meals, and so on. These things are necessary if the body is to be healthy and if good work is to be done. In the same way, we must feed regularly on God’s Word if we are to become and remain spiritually strong.

2. Study the Bible systematically. The best system is a regular, disciplined study of certain books of the Bible as a whole. The psalmist did this. The proof is the great variety of terms he uses for the Scriptures. As he saw it, the Bible embraces the law, statutes, ways, precepts, decrees, commands, words, and promises of God. He did not want to neglect even one of them.

3. Study the Bible comprehensively. There should be an attempt to become acquainted with the Bible as a whole. This means reading it comprehensively. Paul told Timothy, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16).

4. Study the Bible devotionally. Nothing is clearer in this psalm than the close, indissoluble link between knowledge of God and study of the Word of God, between loving God and loving the Bible. In reading the Bible, we study to know God, hear his voice, and be changed by him as we grow in holiness. Furthermore, we must memorize important sections of Scripture. As Christians we need to allow the Word of God to become a part of us. To have that happen, we must memorize it.

5. Study the Bible prayerfully. The best way to study the Bible is to encompass the study in prayer. Before we begin to read, we should say, “Lord God, I am turning to your Word. I cannot understand it as I should. I need your Holy Spirit to instruct me and draw a proper response from me. What I understand I want to obey. Help me to do that for Jesus’s sake.” Then we must study the passage, and when we find something that pertains to our lives, we must stop and acknowledge it prayerfully. Without regular, personal Bible study and prayer, we are not really walking with Christ as his followers, and we are certainly not obeying him in specific areas.

Taken from Come to the Waters by James Boice ISBN 9798887790954 used with permission from P&R Publishing, Phillipsburg NJ 08865

Scripture quotations are from the ESV (the Holy Bible English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.