Spending Wednesdays in God’s Word
The Wednesday Bible Study (WBS) is a midweek Bible study group for men and women. What do they do? Sarah Ang, one of the ladies who is in the group, shares with us what they studied in 2024, and how the time in God’s word has encouraged her.
Reading 1 Samuel and Philemon together
This year we covered two books, 1 Samuel and Philemon. We spent most of the year in 1 Samuel (the focus of this piece) and one session in Philemon.
The big idea of 1 Samuel is that God can and will achieve His purpose in His world, not through human power or might, but by His will and through his anointed king. 1 Samuel was written to the Israelites after the divided kingdom and follows the story of how king Saul and king David were appointed to lead Israel. Through the book we see how God works through the main characters – Samuel, Saul, and David — to judge sin, save his people, and provide a king. 1 Samuel also shows us what to expect from God’s anointed King by contrasting Saul and David. Even as Saul seems to fit the worldly image of a king, Samuel warns them that he will take from them (1 Sam 8:11-18) and ultimately disobeys God, leading to his rejection as king (1 Sam 15). Saul is also contrasted with David, who is anointed king in his place (1 Sam 16). We see how God works through David, an unlikely king, to save his people – first through David’s battle with Goliath (1 Sam 17), and later on with Israel’s other enemies. Still, we are given glimpses of David’s imperfections, like allying with Israel’s enemies (1 Sam 27).
Seeing God in the Old Testament
What stands out is how God’s faithfulness continues shines through these encounters, and how through the book God has continued to use imperfect people like Saul and David for His good purposes in saving Israel both from their enemies and from sin. Ultimately, in focusing on Israel’s first human kings, 1 Samuel also gives us a model of who is to come: Jesus, God’s perfect King, who is anointed and empowered by God to be King over the whole world (1 Sam 2:10).
I had never read 1 Samuel before and was excited to study what admittedly seemed like a daunting Old Testament book with other people from church. Something which both surprised and encouraged me was seeing how God was involved in the little details of the narrative – in miraculously bringing the Ark of the Covenant back to Israel, in keeping David safe from Saul and Israel’s enemies, and David from sinning against Saul, who was then still the anointed king. This was also mixed in with details in how God continues to work through imperfect people like Saul and David, who sometimes falter in obeying God and acting righteously, showing even more that God continues to be sovereign and faithful despite human weakness and sin.
Seeing this thread of how God was constantly looking out for and providing for both His king and His people was a good reminder of how God loves and cares for those who trust in Him. For us on this side of eternity, we can be doubly assured because God has proven Himself again through sending Jesus to reconcile us to Him! In this way WBS was also a timely a reminder in the midst of a long work week of who God is: in control, and working out His purpose in His world.
Growing to love God’s people
One of the other outworkings of WBS is to equip church members in their 1-on-1 discipleship. Truthfully I have not yet started on 1-1s since attending WBS, but having regular Bible studies has made me more confident to start reading with someone – and I now have a new book to my “repertoire'“, along with Mark which we covered in 2023. I’ve also learnt many useful Bible-reading tools from the sessions, including how to divide up a passage, look for repeating themes, and put together a summary sentence (this was initially quite daunting, so we always do this part in a group)!
WBS has also been a good place to get to know more people in a smaller group setting as at the end of each session we set aside time to pray for each other and often continue to chat afterward. It is certainly much less intimidating than at striking up a conversation with someone new in the Fellowship Hall after Sunday service! With WBS I have been very blessed to meet new people in church, and get to know others better. I am definitely looking forward to both the Bible studies and fellowship this coming year, where we will be doing Romans together.
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You can find out more about WBS here. If you are keen to join WBS, please feel free to contact Matthew Choo (choohc.matthew@gmail.com) or Cheryl Chew (cherlylac23@gmail.com).