Bible Study Tools: Who’s it all about?

We talked last week about recognising how Bible stories point us to Jesus (or our need of him). Another thing we should always be looking out for is what we learn about God (Father, Son and Spirit). After all, the Bible is, primarily, a book about God.

As I mentioned, I’m not great at the ‘application’ part of Bible study, but one application that I think often gets overlooked is to allow a passage to shape our understanding of who God is and what he’s like. We’re often so busy wondering, “What does it say about me? How does it speak into the things I’m facing in my life?” that we forget to dwell on what it says about God. In particular, we forget to talk to him about what we have learned about him.

Many of the psalms and other prayers and hymns throughout scripture include lines telling God who he is and what he has done. The psalmists often flip back and forth between telling God what’s so great about him, and telling themselves or the congregation to praise him for it.

Look at Psalm 99, for example:

The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble!
    He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
² The Lord is great in Zion;
    he is exalted over all the peoples.
³ Let them praise your great and awesome name!
    Holy is he!
⁴ The King in his might loves justice.
    You have established equity;
you have executed justice
    and righteousness in Jacob.
⁵ Exalt the Lord our God;
    worship at his footstool!
    Holy is he!
⁶ Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
    Samuel also was among those who called upon his name.
    They called to the Lord, and he answered them.
⁷ In the pillar of the cloud he spoke to them;
    they kept his testimonies
    and the statute that he gave them.
⁸ O Lord our God, you answered them;
    you were a forgiving God to them,
    but an avenger of their wrongdoings.
⁹ Exalt the Lord our God,
    and worship at his holy mountain;
    for the Lord our God is holy!

Notice how many times the psalmist switches from ‘he’ to ‘you’ and back again.

Or here is the first third of Psalm 90:

Lord, you have been our dwelling place
    in all generations.
² Before the mountains were brought forth,
    or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
    from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
³ You return man to dust
    and say, “Return, O children of man!”
⁴ For a thousand years in your sight
    are but as yesterday when it is past,
    or as a watch in the night.
⁵ You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream,
    like grass that is renewed in the morning:
⁶ in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
    in the evening it fades and withers.

Verses 7 to 11 talk a bit more about us and our status before God, then 12-17 are requests to him. But the scene is set for them by the psalmist’s focus on the timeless, eternal nature of God.

These were just a couple of examples I found as I opened the Psalms more-or-less at random.

Psalm 97 also caught my eye, because much of its language and imagery was repeated again and again throughout the writings of the Minor Prophets, which we recently studied in church:

² Clouds and thick darkness are all round him;
    righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
³ Fire goes before him
    and burns up his adversaries all round.
⁴ His lightnings light up the world;
    the earth sees and trembles.
⁵ The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
    before the Lord of all the earth.

When we read passages about God’s judgements on Israel’s enemies, the passages can seem long and tedious. The lesson for us each time – the application – is generally ‘Worship God, not idols’.

But what if we looked for ways to respond, rather than necessarily to act? And what if we responded like a psalmist?

This week’s download is a table which you might find helpful when looking for what we learn about God in a passage. It’s unlikely that you’ll be able to fill in every section for any given passage, and you might find some a bit repetitious – the aim is not to fill in all the boxes, but simply to help you as you start to look in this new way.

Study your passage as normal first, using whatever other tools seem appropriate (if you’re not currently studying anything, use the book of Haggai). Then, when you’ve got to grips with understanding what it says and what it means, read through it again, noting down anything we learn about God – what is he like? What can he do? What does he love? What does he hate?

Then turn your reflections to prayer. Tell God all you’ve learned about him. Praise him for all that is wonderful. Ask him to help you understand things that seem inconsistent or that you find hard. Thank him for revealing himself to us.

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This post is part of a series of ideas for how to get started with studying the Bible either for yourself or as a small group leader. Follow this link to find the other posts in the series.

PS All these resources are absolutely free, but if you find them useful, consider making a small donation through my Ko-fi page. Thank you!