This post was last updated on April 7, 2026

Day 13 (Year 2)

God’s Law Revives the Soul

“The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.” (Psalm 19:7 NASB)

One of the wondrous effects of God’s law is that it can “restore the soul.” The word “restoring” comes from the Hebrew word shub, which here also means “to cause to return, to bring back to mind, or to refresh.” The word “soul” comes from the Hebrew word nephesh, also translated as “life,” including “mind, emotions, will, desires, appetites,” and so forth. God’s law, in the broad sense, refers to all of His teachings, which can be understood as the entire Bible. This means that if a person prefers only certain passages or types of scriptures, their heart and spirit may be difficult to restore.

When the eyes of our hearts are opened, and we behold the wondrous things in the law, then our souls can be uplifted. This is one of the major differences between devotional Bible reading and academic study. Devotional Bible reading is unlike academic research, which treats Scripture as an objective, external object to be studied. Instead, it involves exposing the state of our souls before Scripture, seeking a way forward within it for our lives, and allowing our despondency to be invigorated through God’s Word. Therefore, some people insist on reading the Bible only when they are in a good mood, but this is wrong. When we are moody, there is an even greater need for us to read the Bible, so that our mind, emotions, will, and desires can all be strengthened and uplifted through Scripture. The key is that when believers are feeling spiritually low, we need to muster whatever strength we have to read God’s Word with reflections and prayer, and receive the strength He bestows through it.

I have four suggestions to help believers be revived and strengthened through God’s Word. First, strive to obey the scriptures you understand. Where you fall short, ask the Lord Jesus for wisdom and strength, so that your faith may grow and you may have the power to obey. Second, start with difficult passages and work hard to seek to understand them one by one, since you want to understand the Bible comprehensively. This requires a great deal of time and effort. Third, pay attention to what should have been mentioned in the text but was not. Being able to discern the unspoken message is an essential step in understanding the wondrous things in God’s Word. Fourth, understand the big picture that the scriptures point to or reveal, including the spiritual realm behind it and God’s truth. In these ways, our souls can be gradually restored.

Reflection questions:

1) When you read the Bible, do you pay special attention to and try to understand those difficult passages clearly? If so, how do you handle passages that are hard to understand?

2) When you are in a bad mood or low in spirit, are you willing to read the Bible, seek to understand it, and ask God to add strength and wisdom to you?