Forty Days of Peace: Day 24
Thursday, September 17
Week 5, Day 24
Peace Within
Focus of the Week: Knowing and believing God’s word brings peace
When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, your consolations delight my soul. Psalm 94:19
One of the things I love about the Bible is that the verses support each other. As I study God’s Word, I can count on other verses to reinforce or further explain the ones I am focusing on. This is a tremendous comfort to me because I often need further explanation to help me fully understand what I am reading. This Bible study tactic is known as cross referencing.
Cross referencing simply means to look at other bible verses that are similar in meaning. This tactic helps to both reinforce and also enhance the point of your selected verse. Some Bibles have great cross references supplied within them. However, if your Bible does not provide this on each page, then a great path to take is using Bible-resource websites. Two of these commonly used websites are biblehub.com and bluelettlerbible.org.
Today’s verse, Psalm 94:19, expresses the comforting truth that God’s Word chases away our anxiety by delighting our soul. I wasn’t quite sure exactly what “consolations” means in this verse, so I used cross referencing. Two verses that showed up on biblehub.com are Psalm 37:4, Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart, and Isaiah 57:18, I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will guide him and restore comfort to him and his mourners. These verses explain what God’s “consolations” are. When I switch from stressing and worrying and instead “delight” myself “in the Lord,” He gives me “the desires of [my] heart.” He answers my prayers and gives substance to my hopes and dreams. This verse reassures me that I can believe that God loves me enough to respond to my prayers. Isaiah expresses consolation as comfort and healing. Even more, God promises to guide me as He reveals Himself to me through His Holy Spirit and His Word.
When I believe that God promises to guide me, I am confident that as I read His Word, I will understand what I am reading. I can relax in the knowledge that the Bible will make sense to me so that I can apply God’s promises to my everyday life. Knowing this brings fresh sense of peace. No matter what challenges and chaos come my way, I have the peace of God because I am anchored in the eternal truths of His Word.
Cross References from biblehub.com: Psalm 37:4, Isaiah 57:18
Precious Lord, What a joy it is to discover that the verses in the Bible are interrelated and work with each other to reveal Your truth to us. Thank you that we can cross reference verses to help us better understand Your Word and apply it to our needs and to our life. May Your word be that lamp unto our feet and that light unto our path. I love you, Lord. I praise You! In Jesus’ Name, and for The Father’s glory. Amen.
