I was introduced to a Bible study program that I would like to show you.

It is called “SOAP“.

Scripture, Observation, Application and Prayer

The men at the Path church use it to do a mens Bible study luncheon.

They pick a chapter out of the Bible and each person, on their own, chooses a single verse to SOAP. When they get together each person gives their SOAP. They usually go in the order of whoever chose the first verse out of what had been chosen.

Here is one of mine:

Scripture:
1 Samuel 21:11 (NKJV)
11 And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing of him to one another in dances, saying: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands’?”

This saying had been said as a praise of David in 1 Sam 18:7.

1 Samuel 18:6-9 (NKJV)
6 Now it had happened as they were coming home, when David was returning from the slaughter of the Philistines, that the women had come out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and with musical instruments.
7 So the women sang as they danced, and said: “Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands.”
8 Then Saul was very angry, and the saying displeased him; and he said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed only thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?”
9 So Saul eyed David from that day forward.

Observation:
The net result of this praise was to cause Saul to be jealous of David. Now here David is another time before the king of Gath, Achish and it causes David to fear for his life so he proceeds to fake being crazy.

So we have two times where praise from man caused David trouble. When you seek praise from men, or even get it when you did not seek it, you might just get what you did or did not intend. Seek praise to God and not self and your life will be much better off.

Another thing of notice here is that two times now David is found lying. The first to Abimelech a priest. The second to king Achish. This was the unintended consequence of other peoples praise that David did not even seek. I read that this happened to Paul on a island and he quickly set the record straight. If we are doing something that will cause us to want to lie, maybe we should not do it. Just a thought.

Application:
Seek to give God the glory in all things and not yourself. Seek to cause glory to be given to God who deserves it and not yourself. The best you can do will never compare to God’s glory.

Prayer:
Lord help us to think about what we are going to do and make sure it is for good and not evil or even unintended evil. Help us to learn from our mistakes and make wise choices, especially those that would have far reaching and long lasting repercussions. Help us to be humble and not seek glory because all glory belongs to you. Help us to seek the good for others over our self. And, give you the glory, great things you have done. I praise you Lord Jesus.

I am bringing this to you in the event you are seeking a different way of studying the Bible in a group setting.

God bless you as you study. I pray you do regularly study the Bible as it is one of the keys to abundant life.

Read the Bible

Fellowship with the brethren.

Pray to God and listen to Him. Worship God in Spirit and truth.

Share the life you have been given freely.

I call these the four legs of our healthy Christian life.