The Big Idea
During Martin Luther’s time as a monk he would have no doubt used the Lectio Divina method. And in fact he adapted the steps to follow the pattern of reading scripture he saw pop up over and over throughout Psalm 119.
What Luther Says, Vol 1. p. 77
That the Holy Scriptures cannot be penetrated by study and talent is most certain. Therefore, your first duty is to begin to pray, and to pray to this effect that if it please God to accomplish something for His glory - not for yours or any other person’s - He very graciously grant you a true understanding of His words. For no master of the divine words exists except the Author of these words, as He says: “They shall be all taught of God” (John 6:45). You must, therefore, completely despair of your own industry and ability and rely solely on the inspiration of the Spirit.
Therefore to rightly order any deeper study of Scripture, we must first and foremost be oriented around prayer. Luther expands that perspective to include all of life. One way that he offers to access this kind of living and study is to follow the pattern of Psalm 119. Psalm 119 is the longest of the Psalms and has a line of poetry for almost every letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Throughout, Luther points out three main things the Psalmist does over and over with God’s word.
Oratio or Prayer - We start with prayer, we read with prayer, we return to prayer. It mingles with and is an essential part of our reading and study of Scripture. Without prayer there is no right study.
Meditatio or Meditation - This is what we most often associate with Scriptural study. And yet it is more than just the factual collection of artifacts. Instead we seek to follow the example of Mary: “Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart”( Luke 2:19). It is a joyful and expansive exploration of God’s eternal wisdom. Like Luther we seek to not be satisfied with trite or watered down treatment of God’s word: “If the Bible were a large, mighty tree and all its words were little branches, I have tapped at all the branches, eager to know what was there and what it had to offer” (What Luther Says, Vol 1. p. 83).
Tentatio or Temptation - Satan will always try to drag you down once you have learned or grown. He wants to drag you away from God and His word, but God can turn what is meant for evil as the means to drive us back to His word of truth, love and comfort. And so the stress, hardship and trials of life become the means to grow in endurance and be driven back to prayer and meditation.**