Delighting in the Word - Steve Holmes

I wonder how many of us, if we are honest, 'delight in the law of the Lord' (Ps. 1:2)? I think I know what it is to delight in a book. For me, it is a particular sort of detective novel, the sort they stopped writing around the end of the Second World War. When I find a good one, I will stay awake all night reading it, sneak upstairs to consume a quick chapter when I should be spending time with visiting family; neglect projects and deadlines to find out 'whodunnit' and (usually more importantly) how it was done.

 I read my Bible almost every day - but not like that. I'm not late for meetings because I couldn't wait to find out what happened to Daniel and his friends; I don't tell my wife I'll be up to bed in a while because I just want to read one more chapter of Leviticus; the day I finished reading the Bible for the first time was not tinged with deep sadness the way the day I realised there were no more new Peter Wimsey stories to read was.

 It is tempting to get moralistic at this point, to start lecturing myself and others that we should 'delight' in the Bible like this. We should prefer it to any other book, enjoy it more, and all the rest. But condemnation and rules can't make our hearts feel delight - we might convince ourselves to read out of duty, but telling ourselves we ought to do something will never make us want to do it, still less rejoice in it.

How do we start to rejoice in the Word, then? There is plenty of research to suggest that most Christians in Britain are unsure what to do with the Bible. The book is strange and angular and troubling. We don't know how to engage with it. There are parts that are safe and familiar, and that we do love: Psalm 23; Isaiah 40; Romans 8; … Mostly, however, odd and difficult words and stories confront us. We don't know how to apply them to our own lives, or to hear God's living voice speaking in them.

Psalm 1 doesn't give us easy answers, but it does give us a picture. The tree, planted by streams of water; the man or woman who meditates on God's Word 'day and night'. A vision of God's Word becoming as much a part of our life and growth as living sap is of the tree's; flowing through us and in us constantly, bring the life and nourishment we need to keep living and growing. How do we get there? I don't have any quick answers - if it were that easy, we would not have the problem. I think the start, however, is that we need to be dissatisfied with what we have.

As long as we think experiencing the Bible as dull or confusing is normal, that reading it regularly is at best a duty, we won't be motivated to change. Psalm 1 gives us a vision of something far richer, much more exciting; an authentic and nourishing encounter with God's Word. If we fix that ideal in our heads and hearts, then we will search until we find the reality the psalmist describes. It won't be easy - the rest of the Psalms are brutally honest about the difficulties of life and faith, troubles in the world and the seeming absence of God - but better to start the journey than to stay where we are, surely?

Steve Holmes teaches theology at the University of St Andrews, and chairs the Theology and Public Policy Advisory Commission of the Evangelical Alliance UK.