The Personal, Then the Precept

Hold me up, and I shall be safe,
And I shall observe Your statutes continually. Psalm 119:117

Mark Hall as the lead singer of the Christian band Casting Crowns has proclaimed the Bible in song to thousands upon thousands. It is perhaps surprising, then, to hear him admit, "We can't cry to a worldview. We can't lean on a Book."

He has a point, one reinforced by the candor of Psalm 119:117. That author admits he needs to know that God cares before he cares what God knows. He needs, Mark Hall needs, every faithful follower of Christ needs to know that we are held safe in His Provenance before the buzz of panic quiets enough for us to start learning from His particular instructions.

As we, by grace, develop that relationship, that shared experience with the Author of the Bible, we approach its precepts differently. The Word does us good, alludes George Whitfield, when we find it spoken to us in particular. We hear not just rules, and good rules, but the voice behind them, the same voice which called out to us in rescue. Obedience, then, is established by built trust over time. We worship, as pastor Matthew Sink says, through the Word as we develop discerning eyes for its Author.

As we appreciate the sweetness of intimacy with the Divine in our sustaining vertical relationship, our horizontal ones with fellow humans might change also. We might, as I was reminded by someone's deepening ministry heart yesterday be in a little less of a hurry to get the results we desire, even biblical results, out of those we get to influence. If the Bible's own Originator cultivated a relationship over time in order to deepen a heart in us that would desire to follow Him continually, we can invest today with His vision in mind.

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