Read Psalm 119:25-31.
The best way to read the Bible (and, indeed, to live life) is prayerfully. We come to this book for daily guidance because we believe not only that God speaks through it, but that He speaks to us. As we approach its pages, our hearts need to be in communion with God, asking ‘What do You want to say to me today?’
The psalmist does not love the word in isolation to God; rather, he understands the connection between the word and his own life (‘Preserve my life according to Your word’ Ps 119:25) and the word and God. He reads in order to understand, in order to obey.
‘Let me understand the teaching of Your precepts; then I will meditate on Your wonders.’ (Ps 119:27) There is a need to slow down and ‘ponder anew what the Almighty can do/ If with His love He befriend thee.’ (Joachim Neander/ Cathering Wirksworth).
Ps 119 is not only filled with truth about God’s Word but also gives us model prayers for us to echo:
- ‘Preserve my life according to Your word’ (Ps 119:25);
- ‘Teach me Your decrees’ (Ps 119:26);
- ‘Let me understand the teaching of Your precepts’ (Ps 119:27);
- ‘Strengthen me according to Your word’ (Ps 119:28)’
- ‘Keep me from deceitful ways; be gracious to me through Your law’ (Ps 119:29);
- ‘Do not let me be put to shame.’ (Ps 119:31)
Often, we don’t know how to pray, but this psalm acts like a key, opening a locked door to a new world of prayer. Prayer connects our lives and our understanding to the bigger world and infinite resources of God. The psalmist prays not in isolation, recounting his ways, with God as a remote therapist, but in connection with the teaching of God’s words, having, therefore, a solid foundation on which to build. Prayer that is in line with God’s Word will always see answers (see John 14:13-14, 1 John 5:14-15).
