Psalm 119:27 Learning God's Way

Want to learn to play the piano?

There's an app for that. And videos. And websites.

Just like learning to replace a toilet flapper, merge two columns on Excel, or roast a turkey, modern technology can indeed help you learn to play the piano.

Or you can take piano lessons from a piano teacher.

My wife is a piano teacher. Her students learn to match up the notes on a scale with their letters (A through G, plus sharps and flats), just like they could on an app. They watch a professional pianist (my wife) play the notes on an actual keyboard, much like they could on YouTube. They also receive instruction on a wide variety of musical theory and other piano-playing topics, much like they could on a website.

In fact, several of her students do make use of technology to supplement their weekly lessons with Karen.

What they don't get from the technology though, is learning Karen's way of playing the piano.

By spending half an hour at the piano with Karen every week, they learn to love playing piano because her love for the piano is captivating. As is her love for her students.

From Karen they also learn the reasons behind all the different rules of playing piano. Why do you place your hands and fingers just so? What's the reason behind the preferred way of sometimes crossing one hand over the other - and sometimes not. Why is it important to know those note-letters, to understand the meanings of terms like arpeggio and adagio? Why does correct posture matter?

Karen teaches them the joy of writing their own songs, even if their songs aren't very good. She teaches them how to play along with an audience singing. She instills in them the discipline of practice.

In other words, they learn not just how to play the piano, they learn Karen's way of playing a piano.

Cause me to understand the way of your precepts, that I may meditate on your wonderful deeds.

Psalm 119:27

Many people approach the Bible like its a textbook of doctrines, rules, and precepts. If you want to know what opinion to have about predestination, there's a verse (or several) for that. If you need to know the qualifications for elders, there are chapters that will list them all out for you.

It's true the Bible has a verse or passage for just about every topic you want to study. So why isn't the Bible organized that way?

Instead, the Bible is organized like a history book. Even the poetry and prophecy and epistle sections are grounded in an historical place and time.

That's because the precepts of God and the deeds of God are inextricably connected.

As David says, it's not enough to simply read the precepts, memorizing them and sorting them into categories. They're not meant to be cataloged.

The precepts, the laws, the commands, and the rules aren't organized not by topic. Instead they're presented as they relate to the stories of God's deeds (and Jesus' deeds).

There were reasons behind the things God did, grounded in his character. He does what he does because he loves what he loves. And his precepts grow out of that same love.

Don't approach the Word like someone trying to learn plumbing from a video.

Meditate on the Word alongside the One who wrote the words and did the deeds. Understand his deeds within the context of his teachings, and dive into the depths of his teachings by understanding the way of his works in the world. Meditate on how you can pattern your own words and deeds after the words and deeds of the master.

God does not leave it up to mankind to figure out what his mighty acts mean, but God follows up on his mighty acts with words that tell mankind what his acts mean and how we are to live in light of them.

~ Matthew Barrett, God's Word Alone