The Meaning Of Life

https://biblehub.com/nkjv/psalms/84.htm

Verse 11-12: “No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly. 12O Lord of hosts, Blessed is the man who trusts in You!”

In this psalm, there is a lot of praise for God, but in each psalm, you can pick out at least one or two verses that really hit home. Verses 11 and 12 really don’t need much explanation; if you have a relationship with God, if you walk with Him, if you trust in Him, good things will happen to you and you will be blessed. These are things you never want to forget.

I must add however, that this doesn’t mean that if you pray for the newest, most beautiful vehicle, God probably won’t answer that pray. God will provide what you need, but God doesn’t reward people with worldly things that are for luxury only.

Psalm 85, Verse 2, “2You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people; You have covered all their sin. Selah”. The people in the Old Testament did not know Jesus, as we know Him as a man who walked the earth. Maybe they knew of “the Son”, but the Bible doesn’t really say, so I always assume they only knew God. That said, why would the God of the old testament forgive? Why would he “cover their sins”? Most of the Christians I talk to firmly believe that God was an angry tyrant, but “just”. When I tell people that God was a loving and merciful God who wouldn’t send people to an eternity burning in hell, I hear, “But God is just”. If God is just, then He will punish us for our sins. We know the law, we break the law, we are deserving of punishment. That, is justice. But I believe we get too wrapped up in what we’ve been taught from childhood and we cannot see things from a different perspective. We focus on the verses that talk about an “angry” God, and ignore verses like these that talk about a “forgiving” God, A god that “covers our sins”. And I can’t. Say. This. Enough. “If you’ve seen Me, you’ve seen the Father.” God has the exact same character as Jesus; they are different, yet they are one.

Read Psalm 87 and 88 for yourself. Psalm 88 is over my head. I understand what is being said, but I don’t know if the psalm is coming from one individual who has gotten separated from God, or from the people of Israel as a whole, or if it is an anecdote for something, like the City of David. I just don’t know. I always pray for understanding, and I trust God will help me find the truth whether it is this time I read the Bible, or if it’ll be the next time I read the Bible.

And that brings me to my final point. Once you read the Bible, and reach the end, you cannot stop. If you stop reading the Bible, you will soon find yourself distanced from God, and eventually you will be separated from Him. If you’re like me, you’ll have to find new ways to study the Bible. Forgive me if I’m repeating myself, but the first time I read the Bible, I was reading it just to be reading it. It was reading the words without taking the time to attempt to comprehend it.

The second time I read it trying to comprehend and retain what I was reading, but I didn’t understand much.

The third time, I finally read it in chronological order, and when events aren’t scattered around like a Quentin Tarantino movie, it is easier to understand; for example, it is easier to read a psalm that David wrote while hiding in a cave from Saul, than it is to read that psalm four or five books in the Bible later.

The next time I read the Bible, I used an online software that allowed me to take notes, compare scripture, look at the opinions of different theologians.

The next year, I did a year long study of the Book of Revelations, and the year after that, I followed a commercial Bible Reading Plan.

This year, I’m reading the Bible without any helps, without the opinions of theologians, without researching too much; I’m inviting the Spirit into my heart to teach me and show me the truth. Sometimes the Spirit shows me something, sometimes it doesn’t. The Spirit knows me better than I know myself. But I still trust in God. I do not believe the Bible has any hidden secrets, it is not a treasure hunt where God makes you look for the answer. I think my understanding of the Bible is limited to my intelligence level, which is lacking quite a bit. But I also believe that if I pray for understanding, the Spirit will reveal what He wants me to know. But even when I finish this read, I will start all over again, trying a different method, so that each time I read it, I will learn something new. and you always find something new; it’s like watching a movie, every time you watch it, you see something you missed the first time.

I simply urge you to never stop reading, it will keep you close to God at all times.

God bless you.