So I’m back from a hectic weekend of no sleep. Despite the sheer volume of people (1684) and the plentiful driving hours (5 hours each way) I had a really good weekend. Despite the missing lug nuts and flying glowsticks, we are all safe and alive.
You would think that a five-hour drive wouldn’t be one of the highlights of the weekend. Well, guess again! It was! In our car, we had some singalong time, some quiet time (though not a lot of it) and we read the Bible aloud. We decided to start the book of Psalms, which was a lofty goal, but with 4-5 of us reading for a couple hours each way, taking turns reading on chapter, we got all the way to the end of Book II in Psalms, which is 72 chapters. My throat was dry as dry can be by the time we got home, but it made for a very peaceful drive.
It got me thinking, why don’t we read scripture aloud more? We do it in church, a bit, and then hear teaching about it, but often we just read it to ourselves at home. We don’t seem to just reading it out loud to each other.
We weren’t even digging very deep. Every so often we would laugh at David’s dramatics (“I’m faint, I’m weary, my tongue is dry…”) and every so often we would point out something interesting, such as the prophecies Jesus fulfilled from Psalms, but we generally just listened and pondered as we went along.
We need to do this more! I can say from experience, it doesn’t require a lot of brain power. You read and listen, letting it just wash over you.
It restores the soul.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surelygoodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
