Praise From A Women’s Bible Study

Psalm 26:6-12

6I wash my hands to declare my innocence.

I come to your altar, O LORD,

7singing a song of thanksgiving

and telling of all your miracles.

8I love your sanctuary, LORD,

the place where your glory shines.

9Don’t let me suffer the fate of sinners.

Don’t condemn me along with murderers.

10Their hands are dirty with wicked schemes,

and they constantly take bribes.

11But I am not like that; I do what is right.

So in your mercy, save me.

12I have taken a stand,

and I will publicly praise the LORD.

We may have read God’s Word many times before, but how often do we truly think about what it says and praise him for what he has given us? We often take God and his Word for granted. The story of a women’s Bible study group in ancient Rome should both humble us and inspire us in this regard.

In A.D. 380 a group of educated, cultured women met regularly on Rome’s Aventine Mount in the palatial home of Marcella, a young and wealthy widow. These women studied God’s Word seriously. They wanted to sing the Psalms in their original language, so they learned Hebrew. Daily they sang the psalms, pledging to learn them all by heart.

One of the women was Paula, who traced her ancestry to the famous rulers of Sparta and Mycenae. When Paula died in A.D. 404, she had just finished memorizing Psalm 26:8 in Hebrew: “I love your sanctuary, Lord, the place where your glory shines.” For three days after her death, this small community sang the psalms in four languages—Greek, Hebrew, Latin, and Syriac—to celebrate her life.

These women were following David’s example in verses 6-7: “I come to your altar, O Lord, singing a song of thanksgiving and telling of all your miracles.” How do you plan to publicly declare your love for God and tell of all he has done for you?

I love thy Church, O God! Her walls before thee stand,

Dear as the apple of thine eye, and graven on thy hand.

For her my tears shall fall, for her my prayers ascend;

To her my cares and toils be given, till toils and cares shall end.

TIMOTHY DWIGHT

Bible Networking

In the wilderness the glory of God was visible over the Tabernacle (Exodus 40:34-38). Look up John 1:14 to see how the glory of God was made visible in New Testament times.

Notable Quotable

An elderly woman who could not hear the loudest of sounds was asked in writing why she was so faithful to attend church. She replied: “I come to God’s house because I love it, because I like the company, and because I am not satisfied with serving God in private.”