Join Me for Bible Study!

For some time now I have been giving a lot of thought and prayer to the idea of finding a way to use technology (the internet, social media) as a way to draw a group of people together for the purpose of Bible Study. And since I am currently pretty much "homebound", due to recovery from ankle surgery as well as because of the weather, I'm even more drawn to the concept. Add to those limitations that I am a Precept Bible Studies Leader who currently has no group to lead, the concept has even more appeal. So, after much prayer, I believe the time is right to launch this venture!


I love the Psalms! For many years now it has been my practice to spend a little time in the Psalms every day....or nearly every day! What a wonderful book of worship as well as of comfort! And so the Psalms is where we will begin this journey......Psalm 119 to be specific.


The choice of this particular Psalm is inspired by a Bible study written by Pam Gillaspie, a sister Precept Leader and Bible teacher. Her study is titled "Sweeter Than Chocolate". Don't you love that title? It comes from the concept that just as chocolate is sweet, a delight to our physical taste buds, even more so the Word of God is "sweeter" to our souls, to our spiritual taste buds.

So, with thanks to Pam for writing that study and with apologies if I misquote her or misrepresent her study, we will begin in Psalm 119. While we may find many similarities between what we study and the workbook Pam has written......truth is, after all, truth.....it is not my intent that we complete "Sweeter Than Chocolate" together, that we exactly follow the study she has written, although I may refer to it from time to time. For one thing, she has written a 6-weeks study and it may take us longer than that. One of the advantages of studying together this way is that we are not bound to the same time structure.

All that having been said, I hope you will join me in this journey through Psalm 119. If so, will you please leave a comment and/or "follow" me on this blog? That way I, and others who decide to participate, will have at least some idea how many of us are taking this journey together.


Our study will be an inductive study. That means we will be studying the Bible itself, letting Scripture speak for and interpret Scripture. We will not be studying what someone has written about the Psalm or studying commentaries. We will be going directly to the Psalm itself. We may from time to time do some word studies, examining the words used in the original language (in this case Hebrew), but I'll give you plenty of "how-to" when we get there. Our purposes will be to read/observe the Scripture......what does it say; to interpret the Scripture......what does it mean; and then to apply it to our own lives.....how should our thinking, attitudes, behaviors, actions be affected by what we have learned. Application is putting into practice what we have learned.


So, if you're planning to take this journey with me, let's get started. First, leave a comment or "follow" the blog. If you have friends you think might be interested, invite them to join us! Then, get a good translation of the Scripture (I use the New American Standard Bible for study......I'll be happy to explain why if you want to know......but you can use any translation you are comfortable with. I would recommend that you get a good word-for-word literal translation and not a paraphrase) and read through Psalm 119. You might even want to consider reading it out loud. This usually works best if no one else is around to distract you.....or to think you've cracked up!! As you read, see what, if anything, you can learn from the text about who the author is and the historical context in which he is writing. Also, see if you notice anything interesting about the structure of the Psalm.


Meet me back here tomorrow as we take the next steps on our journey. I'll be praying for you as you begin this adventure, just as I hope you'll be praying for me and for others who will be joining us. And one more thing.....as you sit down to read the Psalm, and anytime you are ready to study the Scripture, I strongly recommend you begin with prayer, asking God, by His Spirit, to show you wonderful things in His Word. Then be prepared for Him to do exactly that!