ODJ: the blue letters
September 1, 2009
I praise God for what He has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? (v.4).
READ: Psalm 56
During an airline flight, a woman seated next to my friend pulled out a brand-new Bible—still shrink-wrapped. My friend pointed to the unblemished book and remarked, “Now that’s a new one!”
The woman smiled and explained that her old Bible, which she quickly retrieved from her carry-on bag, was “full.” The blue-ink notes and insights she had written in its margins had left little white space in the bulging, tattered book. So, she was cracking open a new one!
It’s obvious that my friend’s co-passenger is a woman who literally clings to God’s Word. She reminds me of David, who wrote in Psalm 56, “I praise God for what He has promised; yes, I praise the Lord for what He has promised” (v.10). David wrote this song to recount his dreaded experience of being seized by the Philistines (v.1; 1 Samuel 21:11-15). He ended up having to fake being crazy to escape his enemies’ clutches. But God comforted him as he safely made it from captivity to freedom (Psalm 56:9).
Both the blue-letter woman—who expressed to my friend her great faith in Jesus—and David shared a common reason for holding on to God’s Word: Trust. “I praise God for what He has promised. I trust in God” (vv.4,11).
You may not be big on writing in the margins of your Bible, but I hope you’re spending a lot of time in the Word. Without those trust-building moments of meditation, observation, and application, we can be left in a state of devastation when tough times come.
As he celebrated God’s deliverance from the Philistines, David wrote, “I can walk in Your presence, O God, in your life-giving light” (v.13). Blue letters don’t just happen and neither does deep trust in God. Keep basking in the trust-building light of His Word (Psalm 119:105). —Tom Felten
What happens to your trust in God when you neglect the Bible? How will you increase your blue-letter times spent in His Word?
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