We Have Neglected Thy Word

I so appreciated this corporate confession from our worship service this last Sunday:

O Lord, our God and Creator,
    By your Word you created all things,
    By your Word you entered into covenant with your people,
    By your Word you promise, command, guide, teach, rebuke,
    and train us unto salvation in Christ Jesus our Lord.
But we, poor sinners, acknowledge
    That though we possess your Word
    Your Word does not possess us.
We neglect your Word.
    We listen more to the words of man than the Word of God.
    We too often desire a fleeting moment of entertainment,
    than to drink deeply of your eternal Word of Truth.
Therefore, O Lord, have mercy on us and forgive us our sin.
    Do not hand us over to a famine of your words.
But grant us, O Father, a renewed hunger to know you through your Word.
For your name's sake, and the sake of your Son, Amen.

I felt like this was a particularly apt confession for me right now because I feel like I'm in a stage of life where it's so easy to neglect God's Word. Then again, when isn't it? And it is sobering to think that a natural consequence of neglecting God's Word is a famine of the very same.

As I prepared to go to my women's Bible Study this morning, which is restarting after a hiatus since Thanksgiving, I was thankful for the accountability engendered by regular meeting to study and discuss the Word. It's kind of like sitting down to dinner. When you have kids, you can tend to forget to feed yourself and you just grab snacks here and there throughout the day as you have time or as you're about to collapse from hunger. But when the whole family sits down to dinner, you fill your belly with a healthy, whole meal.

I'm grateful right now to be getting physical and spiritual nourishment with my physical and spiritual families.

Psalm 63:1-5, an aspirational recitation:

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
    my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
    as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
    beholding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life,
    my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live;
    in your name I will lift up my hands.

My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
    and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips.