The law of the Lord is perfect and preserves one’s life. The rules set down by the Lord are reliable and impart wisdom to the inexperienced. The Lord’s precepts are fair and make one joyful. The Lord’s commands are pure and give insight for life. The commands to fear the Lord are right and endure forever. The judgments given by the Lord are trustworthy and absolutely just. They are of greater value than gold, than even a great amount of pure gold; they bring greater delight than honey, than even the sweetest honey from a honeycomb. – Psalms 19.7-10

If you read Think-Biblically.com regularly, you have an interest in reading and studying the Bible but would you say you love the Scriptures? Do they bring greater delight than your favorite food? Maybe our favorite passages such as those that inspire or comfort us, but how about the law? Does reading Leviticus make you joyful? King David thought it should. He thought so because God’s word is a lot like God himself: reliable, wise, fair, pure eternally enduring, trustworthy and just. If spending time with God brings us comfort and joy, shouldn’t his word do the same?

Perhaps the reason Leviticus and passages like it cure our insomnia is because we aren’t reading it with the right intention. Instead of trying to apply an old covenant law like accidental death caused by a faulty tool (Deuteronomy 19.5), we should be asking “what does this tell me about God’s character?” Once we understand God’s reason for a law, we can more easily discern what it might mean in a modern context. Our own legal system has similar categories of law for accidental death, negligent death, death by depraved indifference, attempted murder and murder are only a few examples.

The fact is, while the Bible is meant to be applied the chief end of every Bible story is reveal something about God. In historic narratives he is the hero, and in other places it is intended to reveal himself. By keeping this important truth in mind the Bible becomes more illuminating, more interesting and yes, even more joyful. This tip alone isn’t the only way to make the Bible come alive in our daily life. A disciplined approach to studying the Bible can help us make sense of difficult passages, see new truths in passages we thought were easy to understand and help us build connections with our Creator.

There are many Bible study methods out there, and all are worthy of your time to learn and use. To be clear, this is not a detailed review of Bible study helps like a concordance or software (though we may want to do that later). Instead we will examine methods, like traditional Hermeneutics and the more modern Literary Analysis that pastors use, and other simpler forms for everyday use. Because of the importance of this topic, the next few blogs will introduce you to the world of Bible study methodologies in the hopes that you will find one that fits your thinking style.

There are two kinds of Bible study described an inductive and deductive. Inductive studies start with the Bible to determine meaning. In deductive study the student begins with his presuppositions and attempts to find them in the Word. Our area of study will be inductive methods, as it is most likely the form that will be most helpful, especially if we want to apply these methods to our daily Bible readings. At a later date we will discuss how to do a deductive study without forcing meaning on the text itself, but that will not be a part of this series.