Biblical Meditation • Faith, like a muscle, needs to be strengthened and formed in us by practicing three Biblical disciplines: Reading the Word of God (the Bible), meditating on the Word, and praying according to the Word. • These three God-appointed means, strengthen our hearts in the faith. When ONE of these is done effectively, the other two will follow. • EX: Bible reading will move us to meditate on what we have read and pray accordingly. When ONE of these three is neglected, the other two suffer. • EX: A lack of prayer can keep us from reading the Word leaving us with nothing good and true to meditate on. • All three disciplines (reading, meditating, and praying) must be done together and done in faith if we are to please God and receive from God. Defining Biblical Meditation: We find the Hebrew word meditate (Hah-GAH) 25x in the Bible – first in Joshua and used most by David in the Psalms. • Meditate means, “to murmur, ruminate, speak to oneself, ponder, chew, plot.” • Meditation is the private conversation going on in your head. • Everyone meditates! Meditation is “Sustained attention.” • Meditation IS when words/thoughts build a nest in your head, and live there rent free. • Negative meditation: worry, anxiety, envy, lust, bitterness. Ruminating on all this negativity which includes sinful thought patterns is not good for us or acceptable to God. • Positive meditation focuses/fills our minds/hearts with God’s Word, and ponders His character, works and virtues. • Our meditations matter to God and to our future. Psalm 19:14 (NASB) “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.” • What swims around in our head (God knows) and we should know our private meditation will eventually come out in public. • What we mutter about under our breath does matter in time/eternity. • Meditation is perhaps the most neglected aspect in faith formation. Matthew C. Bingham, A Heart Aflame for God, “Life is getting faster. And while some might be inclined to dismiss this accelerating pace as neutral or even beneficial, there are good reasons to suspect that our habitual exposure to this hyper-paced world has serious consequences for our capacity to slow down and pay attention to things that really matter.” Ill. Have you noticed how meditation is big these days? • Meditation apps/content are popular – millions of downloads. Headspace. Calm. Balance. YouTube. • Meditation practices abound inside/outside the church – with rules, rhythms, retreats, silence, mindfulness, and contemplative gurus galore. But, meditation is not new, it is as old as Joshua and King David. • Meditation is God’s simple prescription to slow us down and let faith form your soul, to enjoy sweet communion with God. • OUR cultural moment is called “the great acceleration.” • God’s answer is meditation. TITLE: Meditating by Faith OUTLINE: Meditation digests the Word for application. (Joshua 1) Meditation delivers the Word to the heart. (Prov. 4) Meditation dwells on the Word with delight. (Psalm 1) 1. Meditation digests the Word for application. Joshua 1:8 (NASB), “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will achieve success.” • God is preparing Joshua to lead Israel across the Jordan River and into the Promised land. • God gives General Joshua one command here – Meditate! • How’s that for a military strategy? Why? • Joshua must meditate on God’s Word so he will be careful to SAY and DO and FOLLOW and LEAD the people by the Word of God. • The key to spiritual victory is meditating on the WORD to apply it personally and experience God’s promises. • Israel was good at meditating! For decades they had been negatively meditating: grumbling, murmuring, complaining in the wilderness. • Meditating on their fears kept Israel from moving forward in faith. The same is true for us. Meditating on fear keeps us from moving forward in faith. • The command is to meditate on the Word of God in faith – without terror or dismay. • God has spoken. We must meditate on God’s Promises to know His Presence in the coming battles. Ill. Remember when Jesus was tempted in this same wilderness, he defeated the devil by saying, “it is written.” Meditation on the Word will ensure the right application for our battles too. This is the first reason we meditate. Meditation digests the Word for application – for action – for successful living. Illustration: Meditation is like a cow chewing its cud. • A cow regurgitates and re-chews cud dozens of times per day. • Cows chew the same food 30,000–40,000 times for hours/day. • Chew, Swallow, Repeat – That’s meditation! Warren Wiersbe, “What digestion is to the body, meditation is to the soul.” • Like a cow, we graze the Truth of the Word of God and reflect on it. Then we re-read and regurgitate and bring that truth back to mind – over and over – day and night – pondering and breaking it down until the Word is absorbed and applied. • We can eat fast, but we digest slowly. We can read fast, but we meditate slowly. • Meditation is the bridge between reading the Word and digesting to the Word. 2. Meditation delivers the Word to the heart. Proverbs 4:20 (NASB), “My son, pay attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. 21 They are not to escape from your sight; Keep them in the midst of your heart. 22 For they are life to those who find them, And healing to all their body. 23 Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life." • Look at the commands: Pay attention, listen, focus! Sound familiar? Why? • So the Word of God can enter and be kept in the heart. AND if so… the Word will give life, and healing to the body! • Meditation is the means, the delivery system to get God’s wisdom and Word in the midst of your heart. One criticism about church efforts in discipleship is too much emphasis on the intellect, not enough emphasis on practice and experience. • Meditation is one answer to this. • Meditation is not a Bible Study or a Sermon. • Meditation is not just head work, it is heart work. • Meditation moves the truth from your head to your heart. • No one can do this for you. • You must make the choice to meditate, and the HS will help deliver the Word deeply into your heart. • Taking the Word to heart is the goal of Biblical meditation. Nathaniel Ranew, Solitude Improved, “Reading brings me meat, meditation brings forth the sweetness. Reading brings the coals to the wood, meditation makes the flame. Reading brings me the sword of the Word, meditation sharpens it. • Meditation allows the Word to cut deep into our hearts. The people in Jesus day, thought eating certain foods made them holy. • But Jesus said no! Food goes in one end and out the other! • But what stays in our heart… that is what makes us holy or unholy. What is in our hearts comes out in our words and actions. • Good bookkeeping keeps the finances in order. • Good housekeeping keeps the home in order. • Good heart-keeping (through meditation) keeps the heart in order. • Meditation on the Word orders/guards our heart and our affections. Thomas Watson, “Without meditation the truth of God will not stay with us; the heart is hard, and the memory slippery, and without meditation all is lost; meditation imprints and fastens a truth in the mind. . . . As a hammer drives a nail to the head, so meditation drives a truth to the heart.” 3. Meditation dwells on the Word with delight. Psalm 1:1 (NASB), “Blessed is the person who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! 2 But his delight is in the Law of the Lord, And on His Law he meditates day and night. 3 He will be like a tree planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season, And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.” • The blessed believer is one who does not meditate on the counsel, the path, and place of the wicked, the sinners, the scoffers. • Instead, the blessed believer delights in the Law (the Scriptures) and meditates day and night. V2, is an example of Hebrew parallelism: • But his delight is in the Law of the Lord, • And on His Law he meditates day and night. • In Hebrew parallelism, the 2nd line sharpens the meaning of the 1st line. • NOTICE: “Delight” refers to “Meditate.” • The blessed one is the one meditating on the Word of God and that means – delighting in God. George Muller, “… the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God and to meditation on it, that thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, instructed; and that thus, while meditating, my heart might be brought into experiential communion with the Lord.” Summary: Meditation digests the Word for application. Meditation delivers the Word to the heart. Meditation dwells on the Word with delight. Transition: Before I give suggestions on how to meditate, let me make sure we are clear on what Biblical meditation IS and what it IS NOT: Unbiblical Meditation*: 1. Focuses inwardly on the “true self.” 2. Empties the mind and alters the consciousness. 3. Seeks detachment from the world. 4. A secret technique for elites. Biblical Mediation: 1. Focuses outwardly on the trust God. 2. Fills the mind with truth for holy transformation. 3. Seeks digestion of the Word. 4. A means of communion with God for all believers. Warning: Unbiblical meditation is dangerous. Eastern, Zen, New Age versions of meditation can alter your consciousness and make you vulnerable to lies and demonic attack. Beware! Always meditate with your Bible in hand. CONCLUSION: How to Meditate Biblically The Bible doesn’t reveal any meditation method – only to read God’s Word with greater focus and lingering attention. The goal of meditation is to take His Word to heart and increase our love for the Lord. Slow down! Read less and digest more. Memorize Scripture. Sing Scripture songs/hymns Keep it simple. Delight in God Repeat, repeat, repeat.