Ep 158 - Sixth Instruction: Search the Scriptures Diligently (Prov 2:4).

Prayer.

Reading: Prov 2:1-4

Meditation.

We will not get wisdom if we give it a half-hearted effort; it requires diligence. People don’t just walk around and find silver lying on the ground. They have to dig, and work, and sweat, and go, and go, and go. They have to extract it from the ground, then refine it. Silver and treasure do not easily come by, and neither does wisdom. Again, you will not get it by accident. If we are slothful or neglectful in the scriptures, we will not find wisdom. We must search the scriptures diligently.

Be ye doers of the word…

This meditation really is wholly an application. But let me pause here and make a secondary application in keeping with what we’ve just considered: Read good books. God did not make us to live in isolation; he made us dependent on one another, and he ministers to us through other people. One important way he does this is by giving teachers to the church. As Ephesians 4:11 says, “He gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry and for building up the body of Christ.” We will not get everything we need just by reading the Bible in isolation. The church is built up in the truth as a community, and preaching is an important means of grace. We need it. Fellowship, conversations, family worship—they are all important. And another very important thing for growing in knowledge and understanding of the scriptures is reading good books.

Read books about the Bible, theological books, and books that will help us spiritually. Let me exhort you to become readers of books. We will all have different capacities, but books are a means by which we can access the wisdom that has come to the Church through the ages. Through reading, we benefit from the ministry of great teachers God has provided, and we grow in our understanding of scripture.

Let me make a few recommendations. I’ll group them into three areas: studying scripture, studying theology, and books for spiritual maturity. For spiritual maturity, pick up anything by the Puritans—they are a gold mine of spiritual literature, unparalleled in church history. For studying theology, consider Beeke’s four volume “Reformed Systematic Theology, and also A.W.Pink on the attributes of God. For studying Scripture, it is a good idea to use commentaries for individual books. You could start with Matthew Henry for the whole Bible, and then aim to read a commentary per book over time. Why not set a goal to read at least