How is the word of God to be read?
The holy scriptures are to be read with an high and reverent esteem of them;1 with a firm persuasion that they are the very word of God,2 and that he only can enable us to understand them;3 with desire to know, believe, and obey the will of God revealed in them;4 with diligence,5 and attention to the matter and scope of them;6 with meditation,7 application,8 self-denial,9 and prayer.10
Scripture proofs
The Westminster Assembly's proof texts (KJV). The bracketed numbers in the answer above mark the clause each set of references supports; expand a row to read the verses.
1 Ps. 19:10; Neh. 8:3–10; Exod. 24:7; 2 Chron. 34:27; Isa. 66:2
More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
Neh. 8:3 And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law.
Neh. 8:4 And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithiah, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchiah, and Hashum, and Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam.
Neh. 8:5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people; (for he was above all the people;) and when he opened it, all the people stood up:
Neh. 8:6 And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the LORD with their faces to the ground.
Neh. 8:7 Also Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the law: and the people stood in their place.
Neh. 8:8 So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.
Neh. 8:9 And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.
Neh. 8:10 Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our LORD: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.
And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient.
Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the LORD.
For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
2 2 Pet. 1:19–21
2 Pet. 1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
2 Pet. 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
2 Pet. 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
3 Luke 24:45; 2 Cor. 3:13–16
Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,
2 Cor. 3:13 And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:
2 Cor. 3:14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.
2 Cor. 3:15 But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.
2 Cor. 3:16 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.
4 Deut. 17:10, 20
Deut. 17:10 And thou shalt do according to the sentence, which they of that place which the LORD shall choose shall shew thee; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee:
Deut. 17:20 That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.
5 Acts 17:11
These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
6 Acts 8:30, 34; Luke 10:26–28
Acts 8:30 And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?
Acts 8:34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?
Luke 10:26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
Luke 10:27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
Luke 10:28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
7 Ps. 1:2, Ps. 119:97
Ps. 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
Ps. 119:97 O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.
8 2 Chron. 24:21
And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the LORD.
9 Prov. 3:5; Deut. 33:3
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words.
10 Prov. 2:1–6; Ps. 119:18; Neh. 7:6, 8
Prov. 2:1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
Prov. 2:2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
Prov. 2:3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
Prov. 2:4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
Prov. 2:5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.
Prov. 2:6 For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.
Neh. 7:6 These are the children of the province, that went up out of the captivity, of those that had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away, and came again to Jerusalem and to Judah, every one unto his city;
Neh. 7:8 The children of Parosh, two thousand an hundred seventy and two.
This doctrine across the Standards
Where the Confession and the Westminster Shorter Catechism treat the same matter, so the question can be studied alongside its parallel statements.
In the Westminster Confession
XXI.1 The light of nature showeth that there is a God, who hath lordship and sovereignty over all; is …
The light of nature showeth that there is a God, who hath lordship and sovereignty over all; is good, and doeth good unto all; and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served with all the heart, and with all the soul, and with all the might. But the acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited to his own revealed will, that he may not be worshipped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representations or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scripture.
→ XXI.1 · Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath DayXXI.2 Religious worship is to be given to God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; and to him alone: …
Religious worship is to be given to God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; and to him alone: not to angels, saints, or any other creature: and since the fall, not without a Mediator; nor in the mediation of any other but of Christ alone.
→ XXI.2 · Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath DayXXI.3 Prayer with thanksgiving, being one special part of religious worship, is by God required of all men; and …
Prayer with thanksgiving, being one special part of religious worship, is by God required of all men; and that it may be accepted, it is to be made in the name of the Son, by the help of his Spirit, according to his will, with understanding, reverence, humility, fervency, faith, love, and perseverance; and, if vocal, in a known tongue.
→ XXI.3 · Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath DayXXI.4 Prayer is to be made for things lawful, and for all sorts of men living, or that shall …
Prayer is to be made for things lawful, and for all sorts of men living, or that shall live hereafter; but not for the dead, nor for those of whom it may be known that they have sinned the sin unto death.
→ XXI.4 · Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath DayXXI.5 The reading of the Scriptures with godly fear; the sound preaching; and conscionable hearing of the Word, in …
The reading of the Scriptures with godly fear; the sound preaching; and conscionable hearing of the Word, in obedience unto God with understanding, faith, and reverence; singing of Psalms with grace in the heart; as, also, the due administration and worthy receiving of the sacraments instituted by Christ; are all parts of the ordinary religious worship of God: besides religious oaths, vows, solemn fastings, and thanksgivings upon several occasions; which are, in their several times and seasons, to be used in an holy and religious manner.
→ XXI.5 · Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath DayXXI.6 Neither prayer, nor any other part of religious worship, is now, under the gospel, either tied unto, or …
Neither prayer, nor any other part of religious worship, is now, under the gospel, either tied unto, or made more acceptable by any place in which it is performed, or towards which it is directed: but God is to be worshipped everywhere in spirit and truth; as in private families daily, and in secret each one by himself, so more solemnly in the public assemblies, which are not carelessly or willfully to be neglected or forsaken, when God, by his Word or providence, calleth thereunto.
→ XXI.6 · Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath DayXXI.7 As it is of the law of nature that, in general, a due proportion of time be set …
As it is of the law of nature that, in general, a due proportion of time be set apart for the worship of God; so, in his Word, by a positive, moral, and perpetual commandment, binding all men in all ages, he hath particularly appointed one day in seven for a Sabbath, to be kept holy unto him: which, from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, was the last day of the week; and, from the resurrection of Christ, was changed into the first day of the week, which in Scripture is called the Lord's day, and is to be continued to the end of the world, as the Christian Sabbath.
→ XXI.7 · Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath DayXXI.8 This Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, …
This Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering of their common affairs beforehand, do not only observe an holy rest all the day from their own works, words, and thoughts, about their worldly employments and recreations; but also are taken up the whole time in the public and private exercises of his worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy.
→ XXI.8 · Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath DayIn the Westminster Shorter Catechism
Q.45 Which is the first commandment?
The first commandment is, Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
→ Open Q.45Q.46 What is required in the first commandment?
The first commandment requireth us to know and acknowledge God to be the only true God, and our God; and to worship and glorify him accordingly.
→ Open Q.46Q.47 What is forbidden in the first commandment?
The first commandment forbiddeth the denying, or not worshipping and glorifying the true God as God, and our God; and the giving of that worship and glory to any other, which is due to him alone.
→ Open Q.47Q.48 What are we specially taught by these words, 'before me', in the first commandment?
These words, before me, in the first commandment teach us, that God, who seeth all things, taketh notice of, and is much displeased with, the sin of having any other God.
→ Open Q.48Q.49 Which is the second commandment?
The second commandment is, Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thy self to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
→ Open Q.49Q.50 What is required in the second commandment?
The second commandment requireth the receiving, observing, and keeping pure and entire, all such religious worship and ordinances as God hath appointed in his Word.
→ Open Q.50Q.51 What is forbidden in the second commandment?
The second commandment forbiddeth the worshipping of God by images, or any other way not appointed in his Word.
→ Open Q.51Q.52 What are the reasons annexed to the second commandment?
The reasons annexed to the second commandment are, God's sovereignty over us, his propriety in us, and the zeal he hath to his own worship.
→ Open Q.52Q.53 Which is the third commandment?
The third commandment is, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
→ Open Q.53Q.54 What is required in the third commandment?
The third commandment requireth the holy and reverend use of God's names, titles, attributes, ordinances, Word, and works.
→ Open Q.54Q.55 What is forbidden in the third commandment?
The third commandment forbiddeth all profaning or abusing of anything whereby God maketh himself known.
→ Open Q.55Q.56 What is the reason annexed to the third commandment?
The reason annexed to the third commandment is, that however the breakers of this commandment may escape punishment from men, yet the Lord our God will not suffer them to escape his righteous judgment.
→ Open Q.56+9 more — see the full topical treatment below.