Continuing our January series on the Bible, we posted earlier this week a video from Joe Thorn on the discipline of meditation. Joe encouraged readers that the discipline doesn’t require hours of free time every day to pour over Scripture. In fact, Scriptural meditation can be woven into our busy schedules—while waiting for a ride, at lunch, mowing the lawn, jogging, and even lying awake at night (Ps. 63:3; 119:48). This is a great way to develop what Kent Hughes and Carey Hughes call a Bible-Infused mind.
How do you prepare to meditate on God’s Word?
Select a text.
Write it on a card and slip it in your pocket (old school), or put it in your smart phone’s note app (new school).
How do you actually meditate on God’s Word?
Listen. Meditation begins with listening to the Word. This isn’t just hearing or reading—but really listening. It’s all too easy when reading the Bible just to read and not let it sink in. We need to absorb the Word like a sponge, not like a cloth that merely skims the surface. When God helps us to really hear what he is saying, the result is that we respond. For example, when this happened to King David (when God gave him an “open ear” to hear the Word), David responded: “Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me: I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart”(Ps. 40:7–8). David was saying that he had read and heard God’s Word—and that now it was guiding his whole life. This should be the way it is for us.
Murmur. As Psalm 1 opens with a blessing on the man who “meditates day and night” on the law (v. 2), the word the psalmist uses for “meditates” is a word that means to mutter—which St. Augustine translated with the catchy phrase, “on his law he chatters day and night.” From this we understand that biblical meditation requires the use of both mind and mouth. Personally, this means that (along with the regular reading of the Bible) we must choose especially meaningful passages of Scripture to reverently murmur. When we prayerfully, slowly, and repeatedly murmur the text, we engages the eyes and ears and mouth—so that the truth of Scripture drills deep in our heart, maximizing our understanding and devotion.
Where do you start?
Larger portions of Scripture, especially some of the famous texts, are tailor made for meditation. For example:
The Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:1–17)
The New Covenant (Jer. 31:31–34)
The Beatitudes (Matt. 5:1–12)
The Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6:9–13)
Or you can meditate on NT passages about Christ:
John 1:1–4
Col. 1:15–18
Heb.1:1–3
Phil. 2:5–8
Or go to Jesus’s parables, Psalms, Proverbs, the sayings of the book of James. Pull out your card (or smart phone) in those spare moments and murmur it, pray it, mutter it, memorize it, chatter it, sing it, share it.
We know we’re supposed to read our Bibles. We hold the deep conviction that this is God’s special revelation to us. But let’s be honest, sometimes it’s hard to nail down what reading God’s Word is actually supposed to accomplish.
Fortunately, the Bible isn’t silent on matters of its own effectiveness.
It initiates faith: “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ”
(Rom. 10:17).
It gives new spiritual life: “You have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God” (1 Pet. 1:23).
It helps us grow spiritually: “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation”
(1 Pet. 2:2).
It sanctifies: “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17).
It searches the heart and convicts: “The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb. 4:12).
It liberates: “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31–32).
It refreshes and renews: “Give me life according to your word!” (Ps. 119:25).
It revives and enlightens: “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple” (Ps. 19:7; see also Ps. 19:8–11).
A Few Questions:
Has the knowledge of these claims made it down to your heart yet?
If you know these claims to be true, are you truly expecting them from Scripture?
How could this change your approach reading the Bible?
While carving out an hour a day for intense, inductive Bible study is wonderful, not everybody’s schedule or life situation allows time for that. Joe Thorn (author of Note to Self) gives some advice on the spiritual disciple of meditation.
Go slow.
Focus on smaller passages at a time.
Seek to understand some key things:
What does this passage tell me about God?
What does this passage tell me about the human condition / my condition?
John Piper, author of Bloodlines, shares his thoughts on unity within God-given diversity and how the gospel profoundly affects race relations in this video interview with Collin Hansen. Thanks to The Gospel Coalition for this video and the time markers:
0:02 – What is at stake in our pursuit of racial harmony?
3:31 – Why do some think the ideal is color blindness?
Many of you have your Bible and your reading plan all set for 2012. However, there are undoubtedly some passages or even books that more difficult to understand than others. In Welcome to the Story, Stephen Nichols gives us some pointers on understanding the prophetic texts:
You should keep the big picture of hope in view. It’s easy for us to get lost in the details. We are tempted to run down rabbit trails of trying to decipher minutiae and looking for some secret insight into the details. Is Ezekiel’s “wheel within a wheel” some sort of UFO? Are the locusts in Revelation Huey helicopters of the US Air Force?
Remember the big-picture reason why God reveals the future to us. He wants us to know what will happen so that we can have a real and abiding hope. God wants us to know what will happen so that we will trust in him that despite appearances, he controls the future and we need to trust and rest in him. He wants us to know what will happen so that we will work until he comes.
As you journey through these prophetic passages of Scripture, you can easily lose your way. These questions serve as guideposts to help you navigate these texts. Begin with trying to capture the big picture of restoration, and then work from that solid ground to sorting through and understanding the details.
Questions for reading prophetic passages of Scripture:
What does this passage teach about the grand narrative of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration?
What does this passage specifically teach about the coming restoration of all things?
What have I learned from this passage about the future that I can put into practice now?
What do I need to change in my life based on what I have learned about the future?
How does this passage offer a different perspective on life, as compared to the perspective offered by our surrounding culture?
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