Martin Luther wrote, "First I shake the whole tree that the ripest may fall. Then I climb the tree and shake each limb, and then each branch and then each twig, and then I look under each leaf."

Becoming a Detective

They brought the guest onto stage before a crowd of 500 people he had never laid eyes on before. Each person in the audience took turns standing and introducing himself. When the 500th person sat down, the guest pointed out and named every single person in the audience, one by one. How did he do it?

Some of us have enough trouble remembering the name of just one person only seconds after meeting him! But super-memories of this world have astounded millions by remembering the names of hundreds of people after meeting them only once. Many believe these special people were born with a photographic memory. Or an Einstein IQ. Not true. The answer is simple: the power of observation. They turn the person’s name into something creative, then observe something unique about that person, and then by attaching their unique observation to the person’s caricatured name, they never forget.

Learning how to observe acutely is just like learning how to shoot a basketball, bat a baseball, or putt a golf ball into the hole. Though it may not be an immediate three pointer, homerun, or hole in one, your observation skills can be developed quickly and powerfully with focused practice. And that is the most basic and powerful tool of Bible study.

Observation is as vital to your Bible study as your kidneys are to your blood. Thousands of great Bible communicators from the early church to the present have solemnly sworn that observation (right alongside the tool of context) is the most powerful element in helping them to understand and preach the text.

Years ago I was teaching a group of high schoolers how to teach the Bible. I gave them a single verse and told them to write down every thing they could possibly discover about it. They came back with a grand two observations. I told them to go back and find some more. They returned to their study but reported back with nothing. Finally I handed them a sheet of blank paper and drew a circle in the middle.

    “What do you see?” I asked.

    “A circle” they responded.

    “What else do you see?”

    “Nothing.”

    “Do you see a rectangular paper?”

    “Yes.”

    “Do you see a white circle inside the dark circle?”

    “Yes,” they replied.

    “Do you see a line of ink curving into the direction of a circle? Do you see the color white and         the color black? Do you see a rectangle with a hole cut out in the middle? Do you see all this         too?”

    “Yes, yes, we do,” they replied.

    “Then why did you not see it until I pointed it out to you?” They had not yet disciplined their         observation skills.

Sherlock Bible Student

The beauty of observation is that it can be acquired very quickly by anyone. My favorite short story is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes episodes. Holmes’ observation skills were so disciplined that his name has become synonymous with observation.

In one episode, a crafty criminal bulleted a squire and his wife to death in their own bedroom, trying to make it look like the squire killed his wife and then committed suicide. Holmes, a police inspector, and the doctor stood in the room, discussing the crime.

"I suppose, Doctor," said Holmes, "you have not recovered the bullet which wounded the lady?"

"A serious operation will be necessary before that can be done," replied the doctor. "But there are still four cartridges in the revolver. Two have been fired and two wounds inflicted, so that each bullet can be accounted for."

"So it would seem," said Holmes. "Perhaps you can account also for the bullet which has so obviously struck the edge of the window?"

Holmes had turned suddenly, and his long, thin finger was pointing to a hole which had been drilled right through the lower window sash, about an inch above the bottom.

"By George!" cried the inspector. "How ever did you see that?"

"Because I looked at it."

Devote yourself to observing—not just seeing—and you will encounter wonderful things otherwise easily glossed over by the lazy eye!

Most people don’t realize how unaware they are. Every day billions of objects pass before their eyes yet never enter into their consciousness. That’s what happens when people get “stuck” in Bible study. They stare at the text, they see all of it, but nothing clicks until suddenly, like a ship from outer space, it hits them over the head and the light goes on. The better you train your observation skills, the faster this will happen for you.

Practice While You’re Pumping Gas

Try this next time you are pumping gas into your car. Count how many things you can observe around you. Sky. Trees. Cars. Cigarette butt. Squeegee. Prices (you may want to skip this one to spare yourself some pain). Glass door. Roof tiles. Tire. Hat. Person. Used chewing gum. Exhaust pipe. Count the number of things you observed and keep counting until you think you’ve exhausted the options. Then do the same thing the next time you are pumping gas and watch what happens. The things you observed at the first gas station will be immediately obvious. You’ll count those up quickly and then have more time to find more. Keep doing this for five gas fill ups in a row. The way you look at life around you should make others think you came from another world. And that’s the key problem: we get so used to seeing things that we no longer see them.

When you think you’ve observed everything possible at the gas station start noticing more specific details on things you already observed. For example, don’t just observe that a man is putting diesel into his truck, but that a tall, bearded man with leathery skin, wiry hair, a flannel shirt, torn jeans, muddy boots and a Camel box peeking from his shirt pocket is pumping gas into a “Hum-V wannabe,” 4x4 Dodge pickup truck with worn tires, cracking white paint, silver trim and half full concrete bags in the back. By the fifth time your observation skills will probably have doubled 10 times.

Why is observation so important? Because weak observation not only yields dry sermons but often damaged interpretation. Damaged interpretation produces defective application. And defective application results in wasted time and disgrace for the workman (2 Tim 2:15). Observation is the single most important tool for collecting content that you will use in understanding the Bible. Like a soldier’s rifle or a writer’s pen, you simply cannot operate without it. Martin Luther compared observing the text to apple-picking: “First I shake the whole tree that the ripest may fall. Then I climb the tree and shake each limb, and then each branch and then each twig, and then I look under each leaf.”

Not only is observation essential but incredibly enjoyable. The joy of a pirate who at last finds his chest of gold or the thrill of an archaeologist who uncovers the remains of an ancient city compare like grains of sand to the ocean of satisfaction when unveiling the diamonds and pearls of God’s Book. I know of nothing more thrilling. The only frustration is that you don’t have time to teach all the things you’ve discovered! It’s like walking into a buffet restaurant bulging with so many meats that you want to fill three trays but only have enough stomach room for two servings.  I remember watching one believer practicing intense observation for his first time and the moment he hit a “big one” his face lit up like the kid who hooked his first catch with his fishing pole. And this joy of discovery never goes away. 

Even the Fine Print Matters

Before moving to California, a family sold their Texas property with a contract guaranteeing that if the land was used for coal mining, they would receive a percentage of the profit. The greater the assets at stake, the more important the small print becomes. It only takes one small sentence in a contract to reverse the tables and destroy a man’s wealth, and this is why some people can make a living out of doing nothing more than reading and interpreting contracts. God’s Word has fine print too. It’s those small words and phrases we deem extra or unnecessary. It’s the “ands” and the “buts” and the genealogies, and the long lists of cultural details that we speed through to get to the better parts.  

But Christ didn’t pass over the small print. When He said that not a single letter or stroke will pass away from the Law until all is accomplished (Matt 5:17-19), He elevated every letter and stroke of the Old Testament to the level of God-breathed truth. Every detail counts. The Bible is the only book from which you can glean truth from even the smallest of words. Notice the Psalmist’s emphasis on every command of God:

“Then I shall not be ashamed when I look upon all Your commandments” (Ps 119:6).
“All Your commandments are faithful” (Ps 119:86).
“Therefore I esteem right all Your precepts concerning everything (Ps 119:128).
“You are near, O LORD, and all Your commandments are truth” (Ps 119:151).
“Let my tongue sing of Your word, for all Your commandments are righteousness” (Ps 119:172).

In his book, Enjoy Your Bible, Irving L. Jensen says this:

Just as a great door swings on small hinges, the important theological statements of the Bible often depend upon even the smallest words, such as prepositions and articles…[A]s the smallest dewdrop on the meadow at night has a star sleeping in its bosom, so the most insignificant passage of Scripture has in it a shining truth.

Never underestimate the power of the details. However, be cautioned that in your pursuit of the details you do not overlook the obvious. When Christ says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matt 28:19), He is not articulating the doctrine of the trinity. Although He does mention the trinity and you could turn this passage into an elaborate study on the trinity, that would badly miss the main point. The point of the passage is “make disciples!” Do not let your avid pursuit of the minorities eclipse the main message of the text. Overdoing it could be, as James Hastings said, “hanging great weights on small wires.”

Don’t Go Out on Your Own

There is no doubt that you need your eyes, brain, and mental reasoning to observe the Word of God. But you need more than that. You must cry out to God for the ability to see the wonderful truths in His word: “Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from Your law” (Ps 119:18). When you buy a new car you feel much safer talking to the owner who drove it than the salesman who parked it on the lot. The previous owner knows the car. He drove it. He washed it. He wrecked it and fixed it. He did its oil changes and it took him to work every day. He is a much better resource on information than the care salesman who took it for two test drives. In the same way, if you want to understand the Word, seek the help of its Author: the Holy Spirit. God’s Word is the Spirit’s sword (Eph 6:18). The Spirit knows His own sword, so ask for His help in understanding it. It is the Spirit who enlightens and teaches (1 John 2:27), and apart from Him your findings will be parched.

What’s Significant?

Observing the facts of the text is important. But don’t just observe the facts and spit them on your paper like a machine. Ask yourself: What is significant about these facts? Why do these facts matter? The Bible says, “Make disciples of all the nations.” So what? The Bible says, “Rejoice in the Lord.” So what? I understand the command but what is significant about the command? What’s the big deal that I need to see?

Let’s say you are studying Exodus 3:7-8:

The LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite.”

You observe that God is going to deliver His people. That’s obvious. But that’s not all. You look a little closer and notice that God will deliver them “from the power of the Egyptians.” That means that Israel’s enemies are powerful. But we already knew that, so what‘s the big deal? Well, this means that these Egyptians are not a band of weaklings. They are powerful enough to rule 2.5 million Israelites. If God, the omnipotent ruler of the universe, calls Egypt “powerful” then she is something to be reckoned with. A little background study (look up “Egypt” in some Bible encyclopedias) reveals that Egypt ruled as one of the most powerful nations in Moses’ day. What’s significant about this? It makes God’s deliverance of them all the more miraculous. The deliverance was so huge that rumors on how God crushed Egypt (Josh 2:9-11) spread through the nations like a prairie grassfire. The greater the odds are, the more glory God receives for His mighty acts of deliverance! What started as a simple observation can turn into an entire paragraph on God’s power to deliver.

But then you read the end of verse nine and ask, “Why does God mention the Canaanite, Hittite, Amorite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite people? Why did He put that in there?” The temptation is to pass it over and move on—but wait! God didn’t add that clause to decorate the passage with rhyming names. If all these “ites” live in the Promised Land, and God is going to put Israel in the Promised Land, guess who’s going to have to move out? The “ites.” Once again, the difficulty of this feat demonstrates God’s power much more mightily than if they were moving to a preserved lot of land inhabited by no one. This is just one example of the many significant details in Scripture.

How to Do It

Let’s take Matthew 6:33 as a sample passage for this exercise and see what we come up with:

“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt 6:33).

First of all, look for what the text does say.

Notice below that for each word I observe the plain observation of the text, and then extract what is significant about that observation.

The text says:
“But” contrasts what the Gentiles worry about (clothing, food, and drink) and what you are to be concerned about (godliness). [this is the plain observation]
“But” indicates that pursuing godliness is much more important than worrying and fretting about your daily needs. [this is the significance behind that observation]

“Seek” is the main word and a command. Every thing else in the verse hangs on this one word. [plain observation]
“Seek” is a command, thus, pursuing personal godliness is not an option or a suggestion. [significance]

The text is speaking to “you,” (Jesus’ audience), though not stated, “you” is understood. [plain observation]
By the understood “you”, we see that Christ does not just deliver doctrinal facts, but gives direct commands with immediate application to His people. [significance]
This understood “you” also displays Christ’s divine authority to command people how to live. [significance]

“First” means that you are to seek God in priority over your food and clothing. [plain observation]
“First” indicates that God is more concerned about your spiritual holiness than about your physical needs. This is a silent rebuke upon all who live to gain material wealth. [significance]
 “First” also indicates that you are not to stop pursuing your daily needs, but that you are to seek God’s kingdom as a higher priority than your daily needs. [significance]

“His” tells us Who this kingdom belongs to. It belongs to God. It’s God’s kingdom. [plain observation]
“His” means that God wants you pursuing the kingdom that belongs to God, not the kingdoms of money, fame, political power, and prestige, but His kingdom which is eternal and everlasting. [significance]

“Kingdom” Seek the kingdom of God. This is to be the object of your pursuit. [plain observation]
“Kingdom” This means God is King, that He rules a Kingdom, and that you are either his subject or His enemy. [significance]

“And” This connects two phrases, indicating that there are two things we are to seek. [plain observation]
“And” shows you that to pursue God’s kingdom is not enough. You need to be pursuing more than just His kingdom. [significance]

“His” tells you Who this righteousness belongs to: God. [plain observation]
“His” means the righteousness you are to pursue is not your own (like every other religion in the world seeks) but God’s righteousness only. [significance]

“Righteousness” You are not only to pursue God’s kingdom but also God’s righteousness. [plain observation]
“Righteousness” shows that God wants you seeking what is right according to God’s standard, not man’s. [significance]

“And” connects the command with the result of the command. [plain observation]
“And” indicates that if you obey the command there will be consequences for your obedience. [significance]

“All” means that all the things listed in the previous verses (food, clothing) will be added to you if you seek God first. You will not lack anything. [plain observation]
“All” Faithful pursuit of God results not only in knowing Him but in having your daily needs met. [significance]

“These things” refers to the food and clothing the Gentiles seek, listed in the previous verses. [plain observation]
“These things” indicates that if you take care of your spiritual walk, God will take care of your physical needs. [significance]

“Will be added to you.” You will not only receive spiritual growth, but in addition to this you will see God meet your daily physical needs. [plain observation].
“Will be added to you.” Pursuit of God’s kingdom and His righteousness yields the best of both worlds: God’s daily provision, and all the spiritual blessings that sprout from a close walk with God. [significance]

The example above does not mean that you must find the “significance” behind every word you study. The above is simply an example showing how much can be found in each word. Just remember that it is easy to nail down the accurate meaning but completely miss the significance, the very part which makes the text stick in your audience’s memory and sets the sermon on fire.

Secondly, look for what the text does not say.

Matthew 6:33 does not promise abundant wealth and prosperity. It only promises that pursuing God above all things guarantees that your needs will be met.
The verse does not explain what God’s kingdom is.
The verse does not explain what God’s righteousness is.
The verse does not explain what it means to pursue God’s kingdom and His righteousness or how this is to be done.
The verse does not say that you can sit around reading your Bible all day and expect God to pay the bills. This passage is not an excuse for shirking the responsibility of working hard.

Observing what the text does not say is important. It shows you what you need to spend further time studying. What is God’s kingdom? How are we to pursue it? Until you can answer these kinds of questions, you don’t have a firm grasp on the text and are not ready to teach it.

Observing what the text does not say also protects you from coming to conclusions that are not supported by Scripture. Ephesians 5:18 says, “Do not get drunk with wine.” Many have taught that this means drinking alcohol is a sin. But notice that the text does not say this. It does not say, “don’t drink,” but rather, “don’t drink till you’re drunk.”

Thirdly, apply the power of questions.

The traditional approach to observation has been to write down your observations. This method is very effective and yields great rewards. I use it frequently. Many great preachers of modern day and past centuries used this approach. But this third step can greatly increase your collection of observations.

Learning to ask questions about the text makes you even more productive with the time you have and keeps you far more objective in your study of the passage. There are two reasons for this:

#1 Asking questions helps you to see before you conclude.

In the original Superman cartoons, the bad guy would throw the city into catastrophe, a flying object would appear from the clouds, and people would cry out, “Look! It’s a bird! No! It’s a plane! No—it’s Superman!!!” And in soared Superman to rescue the people. Who did they see all along? Superman. But their first two conclusions about what they saw were faulty. Why? They jumped to a conclusion prematurely. We do the same thing very frequently. We’d rather conclude what something is before getting all the facts. It may be humbling to wait and admit ignorance until the answer is obvious. But it’s always better to wait for the right thing later then get the wrong thing now. Asking questions can protect you from this.

Let’s pretend that you are studying Mark 12:30 where Jesus tells the scribe, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” By an observation statement you might observe: “Jesus says that you are to love God with all your heart.” That is true. But notice that your brain has already begun putting meanings into “heart,” and 10 different people would probably give 10 different answers for defining “heart.” Using observation statements instead of observation questions can tempt you to conclude too quickly. Instead it would be better to ask: “What does Jesus mean by saying “with all your heart”? Questions are less presumptuous than statements.

Sales experts will tell you that the number one most powerful tool for sales is listening. You must know what their needs are before you can effectively meet those needs. You can’t sell a glass of water to a man who isn’t thirsty, or a hamburger to a sated stomach. You need more information before you can accurately propose the product. Likewise, by asking questions from the text, you are collecting more information with an interrogative mind so that you can arrive at a more accurate conclusion instead of prematurely making your conclusion and closing your mind off from a more plausible conclusion. 

#2 Asking questions helps you to look beyond the obvious.

It is impossible to ask a question about the text without 1st observing it. Every time you ask a question it forces you to first register valuable data from the text, otherwise you would not be able to ask the question. When you ask your wife, “How did the grocery shopping go today?” you demonstrate that you already know she went shopping. When you ask your neighbor, “Would you like some help moving your refrigerator into the moving truck?” you are showing that you already knew he is moving.

Pretend that you are studying Christ’s command for the Great Commission (Matt 28:19), and you ask, “Why does Jesus say, ‘go’ first, ‘make disciples’ second, and ‘baptize’ third?” Note that in order to ask this intelligent question you first had to observe the order of these three verbs. Notice also, that if you simply made the statement, “Jesus says ‘go’ first, ‘make disciples’ second, and ‘baptize’ third,” you are not inviting your mind to pursue further study. You are sub-consciously telling your mind that it is finished observing that fact. But by asking why Jesus does this you are not only observing the verb order but asking why it is significant.

Psalm 23 provides another great example. An observation statement says: “The Lord is my shepherd,” but an observation question asks “Why is the Lord my shepherd?” The question included the observation and went a step further by asking: “Why?” Keep Rudyard Kipling’s “six honest, serving men” at your side:

    I keep six honest, serving men
    They taught me all I knew;
    Their names are What and Why and When
    And Where and How and Who.

Taking Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding,” let’s see how many questions we can ask about this verse, using Kipling’s six honest men:

• What is the main point of this text?
• Who is writing?
• Who is being addressed?
• Why does he command you to trust?
• Whom are you to trust?
• When are you to trust?
• What does it mean to trust?
• Who is the LORD?
• Why is He to be trusted?
• How are you to trust Him?
• With what are you to trust Him?
• With how much of your heart are you to trust Him?
• Why does he say to trust him with “your heart”?
• Why doesn’t he say to trust God “with your finances, goals, or intellect”?
• Why does he say to not lean on your own understanding?
• Why does he contrast trusting God with trusting yourself?
• How can you responsibly not trust your own understanding but still make intelligent, common sense decisions?
• What does he mean by “lean”?
• If we are not to lean on ourselves, what does this imply we are to lean on?
• By telling you to not lean on your own understanding, what is he implying?
• Why does he give you the two commands: “trust” and “do not lean”?

By simply asking questions, we have already uncovered a vast amount of observations from this verse, and highlighted questions that need to be answered. When you begin asking questions, you will be tempted to not ask the obvious such as, “Who is to be trusted?” because the answer is obvious: the LORD. However, still ask the question because it will train you to increase your objectivity by asking before you conclude. In summary:

1. See yourself as a detective.
2. Study the small details, but major on the big ones.
3. Ask God for help.
4. Find out what’s significant about your observations.
5. Write down what the text does say, what the text does not say, and ask as many questions as possible.

Follow these steps and you’ll have an arsenal of Bible truth at your fingertips.