The Saint’s Attentive Love of the Scriptures
Faith is a gift of God (Phil 1:29), whereby God’s indwelling Spirit causes the regenerate child of God to trust in the Word of God (Ps 119:42; Jn 3:1–8; Rom 8:9, 11). God makes Himself the object of the Christian’s faith. God’s Word of promise awakens hope…in Christ.
As the Word finds a home in the heart and mind of the believer, it becomes more and more a familiar meditation (Ps 1:2). Circumstances arise and the adopted son or daughter remembers the most relevant promises. He or she prays to the Father, “Remember the Word to Thy servant (Ps 119:49).”
God’s Word is powerful to minister comfort and encouragement. It is the Word of God that dispels fear for God’s sheep, who remember that “perfect love casts out fear (1 Jn 4:18).” The words of men, whether philosophical, psychological, or religious cannot compare. God’s Words are life, and they powerfully revive the soul (Jn 6:63).
It must be stressed that the Word and the Spirit are inseparable. The Word without the Spirit is just words on a printed page. The Spirit without the Word could be any spirit, even a deceiving one. It is the agency of the person of the Holy Spirit who employs the Word as an instrument. In tandem, these Two raise the dead soul to life (Jn 6:63; Eph 2:5; Col 2:13), and then, together, they labor to sanctify the saint unto glory (Jn 14:26; 17:17).
No one who seeks to serve the living God should be ignorant of the resistance. Living godly in Christ Jesus invites judgment and scorn from the proud, who wish to derail the slave of Christ through derision. The light of the world shines and the darkness objects. Jesus faced derision with meekness. He knew the Sovereign One upon the throne over heaven and earth.
The child of God is equipped for war (Eph 6:10–20), but he knows the battle belongs to the Lord (1 Sam 17:47). God is able to repay just recompense to those who hinder the Lord’s anointed ones (2 Cor 1:21). He is a ready help to them on the day of trouble (Ps 119:173). Fiery trials should be expected because fiery darts are normal in war.
Who can read his Bible and not see the trials of the saints from Genesis to Revelation? Our troubles are appointed for us to produce patience, endurance, and perseverance (Rom 5:4). We see those who have suffered, both at the hands of evil doers, and surviving under the shelter of God, amidst His wrath against sinners.
God is merciful and gracious to deliver His people from the execution of His just judgments (e. g. Noah, Lot, Israel, etc.). We remember His judgments when we remember His Word that tells us it is Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come (1 Thess 1:10).
It is a horror to the Spirit-filled saint to observe godless politicians leading people into sin. These blind leaders think nothing of promoting lawlessness, in the form of every kind of wickedness. They champion the sacrifice of human babies on the altar of women’s health. They force the people to finance their own idol worship to Molech. Ignorant of God’s Word, these criminals are not even aware of who this god is, and why he demands these gruesome deaths.
Knowing the criminality of wicked perversions invites the wrath of God (Rom 1:18), the fear of God is stoked in the penitent. She knows what she deserves, but she reveres the Law of God instead of shunning it. In her failure to keep it, she is humbled, penitent.
The ministry of reconciliation is the work of royal priests (2 Cor 5:18–20; 1 Pet 2:9). Christians pray to God for mercy for the obdurate, and at the same time they plead with the obstinate to consider God. As one repents, his hope is that others will do the same.
Guilty sinners have a song of rebellion in their hearts. They sing of rivalries, crude debaucheries, and self-love. The forgiven saint sings a new song unto the Lord. He sings the Word of God and occupies himself with the very revival he sings of, in the Psalms provided for him. David was afflicted, so he wrote songs about his relationship with God.
Christians are soothed at the sound of God’s many names. His names tell of His attributes. His perfections are revealed in His Law. Blessed, therefore, is the man who meditates, even sings, God’s Law day and night (Ps 1:2).
The journey home to heavenly Zion requires full focus. The devil tempts us to despair, through distractions and double-minded divisions. We must have a clear allegiance, heard in the Word of our testimony.
Sinners are responsible for their sins, and saints are responsible for humility and praise. The more grace we receive, to focus on God’s Word, the more thanksgiving resides in our witness (1 Thess 5:17–18). The studious slave can only marvel, as Christ occupies more and more of her thoughts and affections (1 Cor 2:16). The Law exposes her debasement, and yet, God’s grace delights her with the truth…she is loved despite her foibles and failures (Rom 5:5).
Christian, today, repent of your dramas and the delusion that other matters have primacy. The Spirit and the Word are the wisdom and power for Christian living (1 Cor 1:24; 1 Pet 1:2). He has promised in His Word that He will never forsake you (Heb 13:5), so why would you forsake that very promise for lack of attentive love? May it never be!
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
June 15, 2022
