"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky aboe proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge."
- Psalm 19:1-2
Most people approach Bible study like a quiet hobby or a polite suggestion. But what if our interaction with Scripture was meant to be more intentional? The same God who filled the universe with light and life has invited us to interact with Him and feast on His Word.
From the testimony of creation to the original definition of meditation, let’s look at what it means to move from simply reading words on a page to developing an intentional, hungry relationship with God through His Word.
The Declaration of the Heavens
Psalm 19 begins with the heavens and sky declaring there is an Almighty Creator who is worthy of praise. The day communicates knowledge of God like a gushing, refreshing spring of water, bubbling over with an unending declaration. The night reveals His glory and greatness through the vast expanse of stars and planets.
If we looked outside at night and saw nothing but blank, empty darkness, it would communicate only emptiness and silence. Yet the beauty of the sky evokes a realization in every tribe, tongue, and nation: there must be someone greater beyond ourselves.
The ancient world worshipped the sun, moon, and stars. They acknowledged that creation gave evidence of a higher power, but as Romans 1:22 says:
“They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshipped the created instead of the Creator.”
David makes it very clear that nature was created to bring God glory and make Him known to man.
A God Who Fills the Void
In Isaiah 45:18-25, God repeatedly reminds His people that He is God alone. He reveals through both His creation and His Word that nothing else has power over, nor can save humanity apart from Him. He declares:
“The Creator of the heavens, the God who formed the earth and made it, the one who established it (he did not create it to be a wasteland, but formed it to be inhabited)—he says, ‘I’m the Lord and there is no other.’” — Isaiah 45:18
God did not create the world to be an empty wasteland; God creates space so that He can fill it. He created the sky to be filled with the sun, moon, and stars. Land was created to be filled with plants and animals. Most importantly, God created man for relationship—made to be filled with God’s love and fellowship.
Mankind was designed to reflect the image of Creator God, but instead of filling God’s space, they broke what God had made. Sin ushered in darkness, brokenness, death, and decay. What God had made to be hearts filled with love, man turned into hearts of emptiness.
But God was so gracious to fill that empty space created by sin. He promised to send a great Light to people who walk in darkness (Is. 9:1-2). He also promised to take hearts of stone and turn them to flesh, engraving His Word upon them (Jer. 31:31-34).
The Invitation to Feast
David was intentional to end the personification of creation in Psalm 19 with the sun. As the Word Bible Commentary says, “Just as the sun dominates the daytime sky, so too does Torah dominate human life.”
The Bible was not simply given to us so that we can read it; Scripture was breathed out by God so that we can interact with it. Opening the Bible is an invitation to feast on God’s Word. Psalm 19 concludes with a request that our words and meditations will be honorable to the LORD. Meditating on Scripture is an active state of being. It requires intentionality and action. It is a beautiful, consuming state that drives a person to growth.
Professor and Bible teacher Kristi McLelland describes meditation like this:
” True meditation isn’t just a quiet reflection before we go to sleep nor is it mindful pondering in the mountains. Active meditation reflects a hunger a kin to a predator actively seeking to bite into its prey."
Kristi McLelland, Feasting on God's Word
True meditation isn’t just a quiet reflection before we go to sleep, nor is it mindful pondering in the mountains. Active meditation reflects a hunger akin to a predator actively seeking to bite into its prey.
Becoming Lionesses of Scripture
We are called to be lionesses of Scripture. Joshua 1:8 commands us to meditate—hunger with the intent to devour—on God’s Word day and night.
What is your relationship with God’s Word today? If you have not opened your Bible in a long time or if you struggle to desire to get into it, God is gently inviting you to come sit at His table and feast on His Word. If you are hungry for God’s Word and you are excited to dig deeper, do not do it alone. Good food is meant to be enjoyed with community, and so is the Word of God.
