Plain and Right

Two characteristics of the words of God are that they are plain and right.  But often you hear people comment that they aren’t plain and right.  They’ll say, “that doesn’t make sense to me”. Or they’ll say, “this translation is not right; it should read this way”.

When the words aren’t plain to you, it’s not that the words aren’t plain.  When the aren’t plain to you, it’s that you don’t understand them.  They key then is to understand them and then they’ll be plain to you.

When the words don’t look right to you, it’s not that they aren’t right.  When they aren’t right to you, it’s that you haven’t found knowledge.  So, the key then is to find knowledge and then the words will be right.

For the words to be plain and right, you must understand them.  Where are we going to get understanding?

Understanding comes from the Lord.

Prov 9:10, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and the knowledge of the holy is understanding”.  Prov 2:6 “For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding”.

The Lord is holy, the Bible is holy, and the Spirit is holy.  When you read and study the Bible, you are reading God’s revelation of himself. God reveals his holy words to you through his holy Spirit.   As you get to know him through his words, he helps you to understand what he’s saying.  You have to get to know him so that you can understand his words.

God knows what you’re looking for when you pick up the Bible.  And if you’re seeking him, you’re going to find him.  These were the instructions of David to Solomon in 1 Chr 28:9.

But some people who pick up a Bible pick it apart.  They rely upon their scholarship or their commentaries, and they don’t realize that they are dealing with a holy book, written by a Holy God, and revealed by the Holy Spirit.  When he knows you have humbled yourself before his holiness, he’s going to give you understanding.

Understanding comes when you depart from evil.

Job 28:28, “… the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding”.

Not only does understanding come from the Lord himself, but it also comes when you depart from evil.  Prov 3:7, “… fear the Lord, and depart from evil”.  Prov 16:6, “… by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil”.  You know, in part, whether you truly fear the Lord, by what you do when you read these words.  If you fear the Lord, then you will depart from evil.  And if you fear the Lord, he is going to give you wisdom and understanding.  And when he gives you understanding, then the words start becoming plain to you.

For the words to be plain and right, you must find knowledge.  Where do we find knowledge?

Prov 1:7, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge”.  Prov 2:6 “For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding”.  You see the fear of the Lord is connected directly to knowledge.  He is the one who gives it to you.

Knowledge comes when you:

Pray.  Prov 2:3 if thou criest after knowledge.  Pray Ps 119:18 before you read the Bible.  This is not a casual prayer ritual before you read.  This is crying out to God to know his words.  When you can’t “get” what you’re reading, ask him to show you.

Seek.  Prov 2:4 If thou seekest her as silver.  Is 34:16 says, “seek ye out of the book of the Lord”.  The knowledge is in the book.  It’s not in what you already know.  It’s not in your reason, intellect, or ability to comprehend.  You seek knowledge in the Bible, and God shows it to you.

Search.  Prov 2:4 if thou searchest for her as for hid treasure.  In Jn 5:39 Jesus said, “Search the scriptures”.  In Acts 17:11 the Bereans “searched the scriptures daily”.  We live in a lazy society.  People don’t want to search the Bible; they want to search the internet and let someone else do the work for them.

Conclusion: If the words of God aren’t right to you, then you haven’t yet found the knowledge of them.  But you will find them to be right if you come with a humble mind and believing heart to pray, seek, and search.  “No prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation”, 2 Pet 1:20.

When you understand, the words they will be plain.  And when you find knowledge, the words will be right.  You don’t change the Holy Bible to make these words easier to understand.  The words in your King James Bible are already plain and right.