How God’s Seekers Received His Word as Their Food in the Old Testament

Have your ever found yourself with little appetite for reading the Bible?

Or have you ever wondered how you could  receive more spiritual help from your reading?

In my previous blog on Practical Points on Bible Reading, I pointed out that in reading the Bible we should have the attitude of coming to receive  life supply or nourishment, of opening our spirit, the deepest part of your being, to take in the bread of life from the treasure store of God’s word.

In this post, I would like to expand on this practical point by considering the patterns of those in the Old Testament that express this  attitude of receiving  God’s Word as food.

Moses—Living on Everything that Proceeds from God’s Mouth

In Deuteronomy 8:3, Moses said that God humbled Israel, let them go hungry and fed them with manna, so that He might make them know that man lives not on bread alone, but that man lives by everything that proceeds out from the mouth of God. In Matthew 4:4, the Lord Jesus in quoting this verse to the tempter said, “Man shall not live on bread alone but on every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God, replaced everything with every word. God’s words like the manna, the heavenly bread refers to Christ (John 6:33) who is God’s living Word (John 1:1, 1 John 1:1) to be our life and daily life supply. May we also have this same attitude as Moses, who knowing God’s ways, instructed Israel in their attitude to come to God’s Word to live upon it as their heavenly bread.

The Psalmist—Tasting God’s Words and being Enlivened by Them

In Psalm 119, the Psalmist in appraising God’s word said, “How sweet are Your words to my taste! Sweeter than honey to my mouth! (v. 103). It is very good to come to the Lord in the morning and pray, “Lord grant me a sweet taste of You, in Your word today.” If we will come to the Lord in His word in such a way, we also will be able to testify like the Psalmist, “How sweet are Your words to my taste!”

Then in verse 93 of this psalm it says “I will never forget your precepts, / For by them You have enlivened me.” When we come with the attitude to feed on God’s word for our life supply, we will have the experience of the Psalmist that God’s words have enlivened us.

Jeremiah, the Prophet—Eating God’s Words and God’s Word Becoming His Heart’s Gladness and Joy

Jeremiah the prophet said in Jeremiah 15:16, “Your words were found and I ate them, / And Your word became to me / The gladness and joy of my heart, for I am called by Your name, O Jehovah, God of hosts.” Regarding this verse, a wonderful footnote in the Holy Bible Recovery Version says,

“According to the entire revelation of the Holy Bible, God’s words are good to eat, and we need to eat them. God’s word is the divine supply as food to nourish us. Through the word as our food, God dispenses His riches into our inner being to nourish us that we may be constituted with His element. This is a crucial aspect of God’s economy. When we eat God’s words, His word becomes our heart’s gladness and joy.”

From the few passages cited above it should be very clear that God’s seekers in the Old Testament came to the Scriptures with the attitude of coming to receive His word as their life supply. In this way we also are supplied to live the Christian life, taste the sweetness of the Lord and experience God’s word becoming our heart’s gladness and joy. May we all be so hungry to feed on God’s word in such a way!