Studying God's Word

As I wrote about several weeks ago, I'm trying to find the best way (for me; I believe different people have different "best ways") to spend daily focused quiet time with God.

For Bible study, I decided that some in-depth expository commentaries would be very helpful, because:

a) Reading through passages on my own often raises questions that I--with my relatively limited knowledge of biblical language and culture--find perplexing. While I think the most important points in the Bible--namely, those related to the Gospel message--are very clear, I want to make sure that my interpretations of the more minor points are accurate; that I'm understanding contexts correctly, etc.

b) I am weary of "devotional books" that ask lots of surfacey questions, like "Name five times you failed to trust God this week" (Good grief...I wish it were only five!) or "Why do you think God instructs us to forgive?" (Umm, because He-first-forgave-us. Can we get past the sunday school questions now? Thanks :op ) Again, this is just my opinion. I'm not necessarily saying some of these books don't have their place...especially for new Christians or those just beginning to study the Bible. Perhaps the biblically-accurate ones can be a good starting place, but aren't meant to nourish someone who has been a Christian for 20 years.

So, I've borrowed a couple of John MacArthur commentaries from my dad. Right now I'm beginning to work my way through 1&2 Thessalonians, and I think I've found what I wanted! From the preface:

It continues to be a rewarding, divine communion for me to preach expositionally through the New Testament. My goal is always to have deep fellowship with the Lord in the understanding of His Word and out of that experience to explain to His people what a passage means. In the words of Nehemiah 8:8, I strive to "give the sense of" it so they may truly hear God speak and, in so doing, may respond to Him.[...]

This New Testament commentary series reflects this objective of explaining and applying Scripture. Some commentaries are primarily linguistic, others are mostly theological, and some are mainly homiletical. This one is basically explanatory, or expository. It is not linguistically technical, but deals with linguistics when that seems helpful to proper interpretation. It is not theologically expansive but focuses on the major doctrines in each text and how they relate to the whole of Scripture. It is not primarily homiletical, although each unit of thought is generally treated as one chapter, with a clear outline and logical flow of thought. Most truths are illustrated and applied with other Scripture. After establishing the context of a passage, I have tried to follow closely the writer's development and reasoning.

From what I've read so far, I highly recommend MacArthur's commentaries to anyone wanting to study the Bible in-depth. I like how his entire focus is ON THE SCRIPTURE instead of extra-biblical application, because I think the ability to apply God's Word to our daily lives must first grow out of our proper understanding of and internalization of that Word. Life application comes later, when the fruits of hiding God's Word in our hearts spring forth naturally. This cannot be manufactured.

I'd love to hear what helps you in your study of Scripture!