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| | Psalm
34:11-14
The
following is a Bible study posted on our Bible Study Group.
Happy... uh... FRIDAY, everyone! Lol!
Thank you so much for your patience with me this week. I'm excited about
what we're going to learn today.
Last week, we discussed one method for studying a passage of Scripture:
looking up the definition of almost every word in the verse by using the Hebrew
dictionary in the back of the Strong's Concordance. I thought it was very
enlightening!
Today, we're going to discuss another great method for studying Scripture:
"Subject Analysis." Subject analysis is described in great
detail by Tim LaHaye, in his book How to Study the Bible for Yourself. I
encourage you to read this book!!
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1565076311/anneshomeyplace
Let's say you're facing a challenging situation. Maybe you lose your
temper a lot? You'll go to your bookshelf and pull off your
concordance. (You DO own one, right? It's an essential tool!)
You flip to the A's and look up "anger." (An alternative is to
go to http://bible.gospelcom.net/
and do a keyword search on anger. If you use the "advanced search
form," you can even limit your search to Psalms, Proverbs, and the New
Testament, or whatever you want.)
Now, read each one of the Scripture passages listed. On a sheet of paper,
write down the basic thought of each verse. In some cases, you'll want to
read a few verses before and after the verse so that you understand the context
of the verse. You could have several pages of notes written when you're
done!
Next, try to summarize what you've learned. If you don't mind writing, Tim
LaHaye suggests summarizing the key teachings of the Bible (on
"anger", let's say) in just one page. Then he says to reduce it
to just one paragraph, then just one sentence. Verbal people like me then
enjoy going to their spouses and "waxing eloquent." :-)
I've found that I don't really know how well I understand something until I've
tried to explain it to someone else.
Finally, punch holes in your notes and file them in a 3-ring notebook, possibly
in alphabetical order. Now you're ready to refer back to your study or to
help someone else. Wow!
How long does this process take? It depends, but allow at least an hour --
maybe more! I often break up the process over several days, but on the
other hand, if the subject is very close to my heart, I enjoy spending a longer
hunk of time all at once.
Let's try it. Today's verses are Psalm 34:11-14:
"Come, you children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the
LORD.
^ Who is the man who desires life,
And loves many days, that he may see
good?
^ Keep your tongue from evil,
And your lips from speaking deceit.
^ Depart from evil and do good;
Seek peace and pursue it."
There are lots of topics on which we could do subject analysis (in fact, I
encourage you to pick one and try it yourself this week). We could study
"the fear of the LORD," the "tongue," etc. My kids
have been bickering this week, so I'd like to study "seek peace and pursue
it" so that I can teach my kids what God's Word says about
peacemaking. (Do you see how practical this is?)
Usually I use my Strong's Concordance, but in case some of you don't own one,
let's use the online keyword search at http://bible.gospelcom.net/
(Why don't you open up a window in your Internet browser now, and follow along
with me?) Let's type "peace" into the keyword search on the
right. (I'll be searching in the NKVJ... you use the translation of your
choice.)
Oh, dear! 400 results? That might be too many!!! Let's go up
to the top of the browser window and click on "Advanced Search" (it's
orange in my browser).
- I'll type "peace" into "Word
Search."
- Below, I'll choose the Bible translation I want.
- Preferably, since I don't have time today to do the
entire Bible (even though, if I were really doing this on my own, I WOULD),
I'd like to look at Psalms and Proverbs PLUS the New Testament.
However, I can't do both at once, so I'll tell the form to "restrict
search to" and then put "Psalms" in the first box and
"Proverbs" in the second box.
- Now I'll scroll back up and click "go"
next to the word search box.
Well, Psalms and Proverbs will keep us plenty busy for
now with 34 results. (Later, I'll find that the New Testament has 98 more
references to peace. Wow!) I'm now going to begin the process of
reading each verse and summarizing it.
For instance,
- Psalm 4:8 says, "I will both lie down in
*peace*, and sleep; For You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in
safety." I would write down, "When I'm in peace, I can
sleep. I know God will protect me."
- Psalm 7:4 says, "If I have repaid evil to him
who was at *peace* with me, Or have plundered my enemy without
cause," Uh, oh! This isn't even a complete sentence.
I'm going to click on "whole chapter: Psalm 7" so that I can
read the context of this verse. Verses 3-5 seem to apply.
"O LORD my God, if I have done this: If there is iniquity
in my hands, If I have repaid evil to him who was at peace with me, Or have
plundered my enemy without cause, Let the enemy pursue me and overtake me;
Yes, let him trample my life to the earth, And lay my honor in the
dust." So on my sheet of paper, I'll write, "It is wrong to
repay evil to someone who hasn't done me any wrong. God should allow
my enemy to punish me," or something to that effect.
- Psalm 28:3 says, "Do not take me away with the
wicked And with the workers of iniquity, Who speak *peace* to their
neighbors, But evil is in their hearts." I'd write down,
"The wicked man pretends to be peaceful but has evil intentions."
- Psalm 29:11 says, "The LORD will give strength
to His people; The LORD will bless His people with *peace*."
After reading this, I'd write, "Peace is a gift from the LORD, given to
His people, His followers."
- Now we're back to our Psalm 34. Verse 14
says, "Depart from evil and do good; Seek *peace* and pursue
it." I would write down, "If I want peace, I have to pursue
it. I also have to put aside (depart from) evil and do good to
others."
Ideally, I would keep this up until I had read all the
references listed. For the sake of time, I'll stop here today. But
can you see a pattern emerging? What have I learned about peace?
That it is a gift of God, given by His great protection of me, only as I follow
and obey Him. That I need to have a clean heart, having put aside
evil. That I need to pursue peace with others, that it takes hard work,
etc.
We've learned a lot from just five verses, and we haven't even touched the tip
of the iceburg of what's available for us to learn. And this was just one
possible subject analysis from this passage of Scripture.
May I remind you of a verse from the New Testament (my children were required to
learn it for school last week)?
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God,
and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished
unto all good works" (2 Timothy 3:16-17, KJV).
Another verse that my son had to look up in a school assignment was,
"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your
mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do
according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way
prosperous, and then you will have good success" (Joshua 1:8).
God's Word truly has every answer to every question and problem that
arises. Our job is to study, to dig in, to uncover all the treasures it
contains. I can tell you with confidence that the more we dig, the more
wisdom God gives us. It really is exciting!
(...and I'm looking forward to hearing what "subject analysis" goes on
in YOUR homes this week!)
If you would
like to participate in our current study, click
here to join.
Next - Psalm
34:15-16
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