Deuteronomy 17:18-20
And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites:  And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.

Israel would ask for a king so they could be like the other nations.  But Israel’s king was to be different than those other kings.  The Word of God was to be the center of his life.  He was to make his own copy, to get to know God’s Word, to have it available to him always.  He was to spend time in it daily for his whole life and was to commit to obeying all that it said, to seek to live above reproach.  It was a learning process and a character-building exercise, since the one ruling the nation should have a close connection to God.

As a representative of God, the king was to live and act accordingly.  But this is good advice for us non-kings, as well, because even though we may not be rulers of a nation, we still represent God to the world as His people, His church, and His witnesses.  So we, too, can make God’s Word the center of our lives.  We can make knowing and studying His Word a daily commitment and a lifelong endeavor.  It is how we learn to fear God, to obey Him, to be humble, to know our place, and to learn the right path to follow.

This practice was evident in the life of King David.  He loved the Word of God and desired to follow it in his life.  He made a commitment to obey God in all things.  He sought the Lord day by day through the ups and downs of his life.  It was evident in some of the kings who followed that the Word of God was not important to them.  Their actions bore that out, and the nation followed the heart of its king and went astray from following God.

May we place great importance on the Word of God in our lives.  The fruit of our lives will be shown in our attitudes toward the Bible.  It’s not that when we follow God’s Word we’ll never have trials or trouble, but it’s that we will know how to handle difficult situations when they arise.  It’s not that seeking to obey God means nothing bad will ever happen, but we will have His truth and His promises to carry us through.  Let us make a daily and a lifetime commitment to learning and knowing the Word of God.