Savoring Every Word

Last week I talked about the value of reading the entire Bible from cover to cover.  This week I’d like to focus on another approach to reading the Bible:  savoring every word.  For the goal of reading the Bible is not just to get through it all, but to get it all through you!

One way to do that is to take some time to meditate on the words you’re reading--to think deeply about them and the implications they may have on your life.  

For instance, let’s take a close look at just a few verses from Psalm 23, the second most popular passage in the Bible.  Because Psalm 23 is such a popular passage, you might be tempted to read it so quickly that you miss the flavor and nutrients offered by each of its words.  But by slowing down and meditating on every word, you can better digest what you’re reading.  

Here’s what happened to me as I spent time meditating on the first few verses of Psalm 23 this week, which starts like this:

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.  

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

He restores my soul.” 

(Psalm 23:1-2a).

As I started with the words, “The Lord is my shepherd,” I thought about how God isn’t just “a” god or “one god out of many,” but that He is “THE God, THE Lord, THE One and Only Creator of the universe, THE Author and Sustainer of my life, with all of my life’s intricate complexities.  

As I thought about the little word “is” in “The Lord is my shepherd,” I thought about the fact that the Lord IS my shepherd--not that He was my shepherd, or that He will be my shepherd, but that He IS my shepherd, taking care of me, protecting me, and nourishing me, right here and right now.

As I looked at the word “my,” in “The Lord is my shepherd,” I realized that the Lord is not just our shepherd, or the shepherd of the whole world, but that He’s also MY shepherd.  He knows me by name (see John 10:3 and 11), and if I ever strayed away, I know He would leave the rest of the flock behind in safety in order to find me and rescue me from danger (see Matthew 18, 12-14).

With the Lord as my shepherd, it’s no wonder the verse continues with the words: “I shall not want.”

But it was when I read, “He makes me lie down in green pastures,” that God began to speak personally and specifically to me about a situation in my life that happened about a year ago, when we were considering launching out into a whole new aspect of our ministry.  At the last minute, God redirected our steps and moved us out here to where we’re living now at Clover Ranch.  As I read about the green pastures this week, I was watching my son mow the green grass in our front yard for the first time this year.

Although a year ago it seemed like God was pulling the rug out from under our feet in some ways, the truth was that He was “making us lie down in green pastures.”  He was leading us beside His still waters.  He was restoring our souls.  I was reminded of the quote from Daniel Defoe, the author of Robinson Crusoe, who said, “God will often deliver us in a manner that seems initially to destroy us.”  Oh, how thankful I was--and am--to have the Lord as my shepherd!

I didn’t make it through the rest of Psalm 23 that day, but what a sweet time I had with God by meditating on just a few of His words.

As much as I love encouraging people to read through their whole Bibles many times, I love it even more when they can savor every word.  I’d encourage you to read through the rest of Psalm 23 for yourself today, stopping and meditating on those words or phrases that seem to stand out to you.