Do you find the Bible confusing?
Everyone does.
In this short video, learn Jesus’ simple rule for interpreting the Bible.
Have you ever tried to apply Jesus’ method?
Take a passage from the Bible and try to understand how it helps us practice the golden rule. Then, reply with what you learned!
This is a new method for me.
I tried applying it to the passage referenced in the lesson from the Together course I was looking at today, Psalm 28.
At first I found it difficult to see how this passage could help us practice the golden rule, since this Psalm is a prayer directed to God rather than directly concerned with others. Yet, in reflecting on the whole Psalm, two things stuck out.
The cry to God out of distress (Psalm 28:1-2) and the statement of praise at the end (Psalm 28:6-9) both highlight God’s faithfulness, love, strength, and deliverance. In treating others the way I want to be treated, I ought to point them to the faithfulness and strength of God - which is the only steadfast refuge through the storms of life. He is the only one who will never fail us.
The psalmist’s prayer not to be carried off with the wicked (Psalm 28:3-5), brought out for me the understanding that I should humbly carry out the deeds of the Lord in integrity, rather than simply giving lip service as the wicked do (Psalm 28:3).
I think, for me, this method really helped to move my reading of scripture beyond an intellectual understanding of the passage to a consideration of what it would look like to actually live out the truth it speaks!
How has this method of interpretation impacted the way you see and live out scripture?