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).

Christmas starts with Christ! As we are involved in different ways of reaching out to people at this time of year, pray for hearts to be opened and people to come to faith. Christmas can be a very lonely time for people, especially those who have been bereaved this year, and the stresses it can bring (including family problems and financial issues) can overshadow many people’s lives. Pray that the reality of Christ’s presence and hope that He brings will be known by many people at this time.

Pray for:

• all the different forms of outreach, including the Monday youth club, the Parent & Toddler group (with the Christmas Party on 11^th December) and coffee mornings
• Goldthorpe Christmas Market on Friday 11^th December and our outreach at this event
• the ‘Churches Together’ outdoor carol service on Friday 11^th December at 6 p.m.
• all the church services in December, especially the carol service at Cherry Tree Court (13^th December) and the carol service at Market Street (20^th December)
• the work of the Salvation Army at this time and our involvement in their Christmas Appeal
• the Christmas booklets which will be distributed to primary schoolchildren by different local churches

‘The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.’ (John 1:14)

Instead of walking with a disconsolate slump to our shoulders,

Eyes gazing at the puddles,

Miserable winter weather matched by miserable moods,

Hunched shoulders,

Hoods pulled up to keep off the driving rain,

Hurrying forwards into tomorrow,

Full of haste but lacking purpose,

Full of zeal but lacking joy…

We didn’t stop to put on the whole armour of God this morning:

Too preoccupied to pause,

Too laden down with our own burdens

To relish the thought of additional weights on us,

Failing to realise Your yoke is easy and Your burden light…

Instead of this, if we stop to shed the load of care we carry

And stretch to put on Your armour,

Our posture is changed entirely.

Shoulders back, back straight,

Neck muscles employed, head lifted.

Look up!

Your redemption draws near!

Help is on its way!

See the sunlight filtering from those grey clouds,

Live as children of the light.

Loved.

Protected.

Cared for.

You, O Lord, are a shield about us,

Our glory, the lifter of our heads.

You, O Lord, fight for us,

Our deliverer, the Captain of the Lord’s Army.

My I, a willing foot soldier,

March forth with a spring in my step,

A smile on my face,

Hope in my heart,

And a song on my lips,

For God has come to earth

And nothing will ever be the same again.

(Luke 21:28, Eph 6:10,13, Col 3:1-2, Ps 3:3)

Read Psalm 119:17-24.

Countless people read the Bible without ever being transformed by it, because they approach the task with purely human understanding. They put themselves in authority over it, assuming they can read and study it as they would read and study any other book. Since God’s wisdom is entirely different to human wisdom (1 Cor 1:18-25), this approach may yield academic understanding but does not take us far in our journey towards God.

Ps 119:18 says ‘open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in Your law.’ Without illumination from above, the Bible can be baffling and bewildering. When, however, our eyes are opened to its truths (a process described in 2 Cor 4:1-5 and 1 Cor 2:6-16), we are ‘consumed with longing for Your laws at all times.’ (Ps 119:20) We realise an eternal perspective is necessary (being strangers on earth, Ps 119:19). We understand God’s ultimate justice (Ps 119:21, 23). It’s like looking through a corrective lens which enables us to see properly. Now we have a new counsellor (Ps 119:24), a guide on our journey of life.

The University of Oxford’s motto is ‘Dominus illuminatio mea’, the opening line of Psalm 27:1 (‘The Lord is my light.’) We need divine light if we are to travel well on our journey of life, a light provided through God’s Word (Ps 119:105) and by God’s Spirit.

Read Psalm 119:10-16.

Life’s journey is full of pitfalls, ditches we can fall into, things we can stumble over. It’s like walking through a forest full of tree stumps, slippery leaves and hidden snares.

The only way to avoid these and stay pure is to live according to God’s Word (Ps 119:9), something we only achieve as we hide God’s Word in our hearts in order to avoid sin (Ps 119:11). God’s Word acts as a map for our lives, guiding us in right paths (Ps 119:10). It acts as road signs for us, pointing us in the direct direction.

One way of keeping God’s Word in our hearts is to speak it aloud, memorising it, singing it, having it ever present in our minds and thoughts (Ps 119:12-13). This allows us to reflect and consider God’s ways (Ps 119:15). Meditation is an important way of ‘chewing’ on God’s Word, savouring it, allowing its truths to penetrate our consciousness, influence our way of living and direct our actions. This is no chore, but a delight (Ps 119:14, 16), something we relish. Let’s give time and space for God’s Word to impact us during this waiting period.

Mark’s recent sermon on Terah spoke of the need to keep pressing on in God, not being satisfied with stopping at the halfway point but continuing to journey’s end. I recently heard this song (‘I Will Go’) from Kutless, which seems to me to encapsulate the scary challenge we all face when we determine to walk with God. This journey means letting go ‘of the safe and familiar‘, leaving all we’ve known far behind, stepping out into the water and walking into the unknown. It means trusting God to lead us even when we are not sure where we are going, secure only in the fact that He is with us. For most of us, if we are honest, those tentative steps of faith are scary and risky, but the alternative, as Mark reminded us, is to die in Haran and never reach the promised land of Canaan. Our hearts say ‘Wherever You lead, I will go, I will go with You.’

‘Life has a way of changing,
And I can’t deny that it’s time,
To let go of the safe and familiar,
And leave all I’ve known far behind.

So hold me close, don’t let me fall,
It’s a chance to prove, Jesus, I trust in You.

Stepping out into the water,
Walking into the unknown,
I can’t just stay here forever,
Wherever You lead I will go,
I will go with You.

This is a day for new dreams,
A time for my faith to be strong,
My heart’s finding peace in the chaos,
I’m ready at last to move on.

Stepping out into the water,
Walking into the unknown,
I can’t just stay here forever,
Wherever You lead I will go,
I will go with You.

I might stand in a storm,
But I can’t deny, there’s no safer place than by Your side,
Draw me close to You, draw me close to You.

Stepping out into the water,
Walking into the unknown,
I can’t just stay here forever,
Wherever You lead I will go,
I will go with You.’ (‘I Will Go’, Kutless)