How’s that for a fifty-dollar word?  Hermeneutics.  It has to do with the science of interpretation and, in specific, the interpretation of scripture.  Well, when it comes to understanding the Bible, I like Paul’s approach.

First, our study of the Bible should be “Personal”:  Study to show thyself approved unto God.”  We need to make certain that we are what God wants us to be.  We can “protect” the truth (cf. 1 Peter 3:15) and “correct” others with the truth (cf. 2 Timothy 2:25,26),  but if we fail to “accept” and apply the truth to our own lives first, we are hypocrites (Matthew 7:1-5).

Second, our study of the Bible should be “Practical”:  “Study to show thyself...a workman that needeth not to be ashamed.”  Of interest, the words “intellectual(s),” “scholars,” and “scholarship” are never used in the New Testament (KJV, NKJV, ASV, NASV, RSV, NIV).  The word “scholar” is found once and, that, with implicit derision (1 Corinthians 1:20; NIV).  But look for the words “do,” “doer,” and “work.”  Our study of the Bible is to be more “vocational” (cf. Ephesians 4:1,2 KJV) than “intellectual” in its emphasis.  We are to be and do what God wants us to be and do.

Finally, our study of the Bible should be very “Professional”:  “Study...rightly dividing the word of truth.”  We must, literally, “handle aright the word of truth.”  If we are studying the Old Testament, we should be looking for principles to underscore (Romans 15:4) or examples to motivate (1 Corinthians 10:11) us to obey New Testament precepts.  If we are studying the New Testament, we should pay attention to context and not make passages say more or less than God intended (cf. Revelation 22:18,19).

In short, the best interpretation of the Bible calls for our looking into, learning from, and personally living by its blessed message.  That’s “Paul’s Hermeneutic” in 2 Timothy 2:15.
  

This brief psalm has two very opposite points.  In the first four verses, David presented an oracle about the wicked.  In the last eight verses, David addressed God in a statement of God’s glory.  His glory is noted in three thoughts:
His omnipresent righteousness (vv. 5,6).
His close tenderness (vv. 7-9).
His continuing kindness (vv. 10-12).
We have before us one of those clear statements regarding how two groups of people view God, responsibility, and spiritual standards.  Again we are reminded of Psalm 1 as the basic statement of how God views the godly and the ungodly, while here in Psalm 36, David shows how the godly and the ungodly view God.

An oracle within my heart concerning the transgression of the wicked: there is no fear of God before his eyes.  For he flatters himself in his own eyes, when he finds out his iniquity and when he hates.  The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit; he has ceased to be wise and to do good.  He devises wickedness on his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not abhor evil
 (vv. 1-4).
Here is David’s four-verse oracle about the wicked. It is an oracle that came to his heart (v. 1).  The word “saith” in the King James Version is translated as “oracle” in the New King James Bible.  The idea is that David’s heart (which had been taught by God; Psalm 19) recognizes that the transgression of the wicked is saying something to David!  The transgression is “saying” the things that follow in the rest of this section.
This word “saith”  means “to say or speak with the greatest assurance of the truth of what is spoken” (Wilson’s O.T. Word Studies).  Let us now see what sin says:

There is no need to fear God (1b).
Human begins are the ones who ought to be flattered—our “transgression” will lead to it (2a).
Sin does not need to be “found out”—it is very unpleasant to see it in the light (2b).
Use words as you see fit (even to sin and deceive; 3a).
Stop being wise and being good and you’ll still be okay (3b).
Make your evil plans before you arise (4a).
Be strong in your evil course of life (4b).
Do not learn to hate evil (4c)!

Your mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.  Your righteousness is like the great mountains; your judgments are a great deep; O LORD, You preserve man and beast (vv. 5,6).
This is the first part of David’s address to God about His glory.  In it, he praises Jehovah for His omnipresent righteousness.  His glorious qualities are evident in the heavens (Psalm 8), clouds (Acts 1:9-11), great mountains (Psalm 121); in their great depth (Romans 11:33-36); and in His preserving of the lowly animals (Job 38-40).  The application of this is simple—since all of this reveals the goodness of God, we ought to turn from the oracle of transgression to the word of the Lord.

How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.  They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.  For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light (vv. 7-9).
This is the second part of David’s address to God about His glory.  In it, he praises God for His close tenderness.  This is a natural move from the sentiments of verses 5 and 6.  He desires that God will know of his total appreciation of God’s connections with the righteous.  To him, God’s close tenderness is precious, loving and kind, worthy of his trust, satisfying, full, pleasing, perpetually life-giving, and light-providing.  Contrast any or all of these with any or all of the oracles of the wicked!

Oh, continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You, and Your righteousness to the upright in heart.  Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.  There the workers of iniquity have fallen; they have been cast down and are not able to rise (vv. 10-12).
This is the third part of David’s address to God about His glory.  In it he praises Him for His continuing kindness.  This word “lovingkind-ness” keeps coming before us in the Psalms.  It is much like the New Testament “agape" (uh-gop-ay; love).  It covers much insofar as the mercies of God are concerned, and it demands much of us in return (see 1 Corinthians 13).  It demands that we do all of the commands of Jesus (John 14:15), that we do no more than what He says (Colossians 3:17), and that we teach everyone else about His love and its demands (Matthew 28:18-20).
Our inspired poet has the following to say to God about this point:
Please continue your lovingkindness (10a).
Please continue it to all who love you (10b).
Please help me keep pride from trampling me (or tripping me; 11a).
Please keep the hand of the wicked away (11b).
Please help me to keep remembering the “end” of the wicked (12).
Let us draw our meditation on Psalm 36 to a close by noticing that exactly two thirds of this poem are a direct address to the Lord about His characteristics and His care for His creation.  Let us learn from it that we ought to spend more of our time thinking on heavenly things than we do on earthly things—especially the ways of the wicked.
Possibly this point can help us with the next psalm, too; for in it we are taught not to envy the wicked.  And envying the wicked stems from spending too much time thinking about them in a wrong way!
Let us then do as Ruth did.  Let us come under the shadow of His wings for all the protection and blessings that is available there (verse 7: Ruth 2:12; see also Luke 13:34).
              — Skip Andrews

 Hebrews is a book of the Bible we can be tempted to skirt around or just skim over.  It quotes from the Old Testament constantly; it repeatedly compares the ministry of Jesus to the Old Testament priesthood; and, as a result, it’s not the easiest book to read.

 But read it again anyway.  Read it slowly and get ready to praise God for “The Supremacy of Our Savior and His System.”

 Chapter by chapter our Lord is presented to us as, to use Paul’s words, “God’s unspeakable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15).  In Hebrews, He is the:
 

“Spokesman” for God to man (ch. 1).
“Sharer” in our flesh and blood (ch. 2).
“Sent” one or Apostle of God (ch. 3).
“Sabbath” into which we should enter (ch. 4).
“Savior” or author of eternal salvation (ch. 5).
“Sprinter” or forerunner appearing before us to God (ch. 6).
“Surety” of a better covenant (ch. 7).
“Spokesman” for man to God (ch. 8).
“Suffering servant” (ch. 9).
“Sacrifice” for our sins (ch. 10).
“Source” of and resource for our faith (ch. 11-12).
“Stable” one that we can rely on, the same yesterday and today, yea and for ever (ch. 13).

 That’s why the book teaches us to turn to Jesus when we are faced with the “temptations” (Hebrews 2:17,18), the “transgressions” (Hebrews 4:15,16) and/or the “troubles” (Hebrews 13:5,6) of life.

 If we do, it will help us hold on (Hebrews 3:6,14; 4:14; 6:18; 10:22,23) to our convictions and continue to become what God would have us to be.