Letting the Bible speak to us
By Roberta Wallace
I love the Bible. I really do. I enjoy reading it from cover to cover, or selecting a book and exploring certain chapters and verses. I love the stories, and find lessons in harder-to-read books such as Leviticus and Jeremiah, and even in the endless genealogical lists. Most of all, I love when passages of this Holy Book touch me in a way that heals and brings peace.
Expecting the Bible to speak to me feels natural. My study is influenced largely by the example of Christ Jesus, who relied on Scripture for both healing and teaching throughout his career. Also, by my lifelong reading of the writings of Mary Baker Eddy. Her reverence for the Bible permeates Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, which elucidates the healing that lies within the Bible’s pages. Her love for the Bible, her faith, and her conviction to the Word are humbling.
One of my most memorable healings came from an inspired reading of a psalm in the Bible. On a Saturday evening, I had a sore throat and had lost my voice, and was scheduled to sing the next morning at a church service. It was important that I be there if at all possible. That particular evening I opened my Bible at random, and my eyes fell on Psalm 29. This wasn’t familiar to me, although I’m sure I’d heard some of its verses many times before. This time I read it carefully, expecting an answer. The psalm itself became my prayer.
What follows includes some of the inspiration I gleaned from Psalm 29 and some observations I’ve made in the many years of spiritual study since.
“Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, give unto the Lord glory and strength.”
I thought about how we give because we have been given to. In this case my singing in church was a form of giving—an acknowledging that glory, strength, and power belong only to God; therefore, my need was to give over to God glory and strength, and give up any feeling of willpower.
“The voice of the Lord is upon the waters:”
To me, this meant that the voice of the Lord is heard over floods of fears, recriminations, and speculations that enter thought. The voice of Almighty God speaks, is heard, and is obeyed. The very presence of the voice of God speaking to human consciousness stills anxiety and impatience, and calms us. One lesson I learned from this psalm is that when I ruminate or speculate over decisions or what to do, it indicates God’s voice is not directing. God’s directions do not send us helter-skelter. Humbly, I find we may be called upon to fulfill various duties, but at God’s direction we do them in a harmonious and orderly way that complements rather than disrupts.
“The God of glory thundereth: the Lord is upon many waters.”
God’s voice may be a quiet urging, but when it is time to move under His command, it does often “thunder” in our consciousness, our thought, our heart. It can and does move us, if we are listening and willing. God’s voice does still the waters of confusion, murkiness, and tumult.
“The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.”
The voice of God to human consciousness comes in ways each heart hears and understands; however, it is not likely to be wimpy, weak, indistinct, or indeterminate. Whatever God’s voice is to us, it always has power to move, define, clarify, rectify, and unify. This divine voice speaks perhaps quietly but always with authority, security, and sureness, as a supreme ruler or king would—no question as to who is speaking!
I read the psalm carefully, expecting an answer. The psalm itself became my prayer.
“The voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness;”
When we’re in the “wilderness,” feeling sick, unhealthy, lonely, rejected, angry, the voice of God reaches us, shakes up those feelings, and wakes us to wellness, health, fulfillment, usefulness, peace, and goodwill.
“The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace.”
This final verse served as an affirmation to me that the reading of this psalm was not “just reading words” or even merely bringing comfort, but it was truly an inspired treatment, enabling me to demonstrate the Lord’s blessing of peace and wellness.
Rather than a formula or incantation that I applied to my sore throat, these inspired moments with Psalm 29 brought freedom from worry. After I finished studying, my sore throat was gone, and my voice returned. I sang the next morning at church in full voice, free from any discomfort.
In the years since this healing, I have turned to Psalm 29 many times for guidance and comfort. However, the applications of its message have been entirely different, meeting each new need. My hope is that you pick up the Bible, this Book of books, and find what speaks to you.
About the author
Bobbi Wallace lives in Grand Junction, Colorado.