“When Micaiah, the son of Gemariah, son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the Lord from the scroll, he went down to the king’s house, into the secretary’s chamber; and all the officials were sitting there. Elishama the secretary, Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, Elnathan the son of Akbor, Gemariah the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the officials.”
– Jeremiah 36:11–12
Why do I read these verses and how do they lead us to pray? The picture here I want you to see, to get in your mind, as the word of God is being read. You’re hearing these words from the scroll. What’s interesting is neither the officials nor the king are present, which think about that. If God is speaking, if you’re the king, shouldn’t you want to hear as soon as possible, directly from, to the extent at which you can, indirectly, straight from the prophet? You want to hear it from God, and the officials the same way.
We need God’s Word from the time we wake up until we lay down again at night. May we be a people who submit to His authority.
Jeremiah 36:11–12 Reminds Us of the Importance of Hearing God’s Word
Now, think about your life, my life, how easily we can, if we’re not careful, go throughout our day doing all that we have to do without first stopping to hear the word of the Lord. This is why I encourage anyone to start their day hearing from God, from the very beginning of the day. In some way, hear from God. We need God’s word from the very beginning of the day, and then all day long to the extent to which it’s possible. And there are all kinds of ways we can do this. Just to bring God’s word to our minds. There are all kinds of apps we use in the church I pastor.
Getting the Word in Your Daily Life
There’s an app called Beyond Sundays, and it’s basically just a way for the word to be fed to you all day long. If you want to search it on the app store. I think it’s McLean Bible Church Beyond Sundays, but that’s just one example. There are many different examples like that where we can have God’s word just fed to us all day long on a phone, on … I mean, the old school, old fashioned way to do that, is note cards and then … All during the day and then at night to soak in God’s word. This is why, in my own family, we have family worship time, at the end of the day. Reflecting on God’s word is so important.
I wish I could say we are perfect in that we do it every single night. But we try to do that because we know. We know God has spoken, and we want to hear from him. This is the most important thing in our day. Think about it. If God has spoken, we want to hear from him. We want His word to lead and guide everything we do. The last thing we want to do is carry on the administration of our lives. Carry on the administration of our families. Carry on all the activities that we have to do during the day without first hearing from God.
Jeremiah 36:11–12: Being Intentional About Hearing From God
Let me encourage you, and obviously listening to this podcast I hope is one way where God’s word is being put before you. Where you’re hearing God’s word, but just, oh God, help us to be intentional about hearing from You. We praise You for speaking to us. We praise You that we have the word of the Lord, Your word.
Oh, God, thank you. What a gift of indescribable measure. God, we praise You for Your word. We pray that You would help us to prioritize Your word from the moment we get up to the moment we lie down. Help us to soak in Your word., and meditate on Your word, in a Psalm 1 kind of way. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands the way of the sinners, and resists in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, on his law. He meditates day and night.
Asking God to Help Us Meditate on Scripture
May that be the story of our lives. Help us to meditate day and night on Your word, to hear it, and to let it guide us, to let it lead us, and we trust that it will. God, we trust that Your word will lead, guide, and direct our thoughts, our desires, our conversations, and our decisions, our words are everything. Please, oh God, lead us by Your word today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
