Introduction
This morning we begin a series on several of the Psalms. We will be studying them primarily because the Psalms teach us how to pray. The vast majority of Psalms are inspired prayers to God. They were the prayer book for Old Testament Israel. Jesus' prayer life was steeped in them, so that He sang them even while He was being betrayed (Matt. 26:30) and prayed them even while being crucified (Ps. 22; 31:5). The spiritual vitality of the early Christians was deeply rooted in them (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16). So the more familiar we are with the Psalms, the more effective our prayer lives will be, as we will see in this series.
Interestingly, though, these inspired prayers begin with two Psalms that are not prayers. The arranger of this book evidently positioned these two Psalms as the gateway to the rest, because through these two "gate-posts" we learn two keys to effective prayer. We will explore the first key this week in Ps. 1, and Mike will explore the second key (Ps. 2) in two weeks.
Read Ps. 1. You can see that the main point of this psalm is to call us to meditate on God's Word (1:3). The point is that an effective prayer life does not begin with prayer, but is ignited and sustained and guided by meditating on God's Word (read Jn. 15:7 – God's Word "abides in us" as we meditate on it). Let's examine this Psalm more closely by answering three questions . . .
What is biblical meditation?
The word "meditation" is often used in America to refer to the discipline of emptying your mind of conscious thoughts. This view of meditation was popularized in the late 20th century (Transcendental Meditation). It is rooted in the pantheistic view of God as impersonal Oneness. By chanting a mantra, we empty our minds of all conscious thought on specific ideas, and thus become more "God-conscious." But the God of the Bible is a Person who has revealed Himself in words. So meditation has a conscious mental object – "the torah (instruction) of the Lord" – which refers not just to the Ten Commandments or the first 5 books of the Old Testament, but to the whole Bible.[1]
Most Christians reject TM and affirm the concept of biblical meditation, but rarely practice it because we are enmeshed in a way of reading and thinking that makes us aversive to it. Habituated to the internet and television, we read and think primarily to access new information and/or be entertained. This creates a habit of restlessly "moving on" to the next thing – including when we read the Bible. But biblical meditation requires a different habit. To meditate (hagah and siyach) is to linger over a specific biblical passage – to "mutter" it to oneself, to ponder, muse, ruminate, savor, ingest it (LUDENS LOZENGE PACKAGE) – so that it gets down into your soul and deepens your trust in God,[2] profoundly changing your deepest beliefs and affections and values.
This may sound difficult/intimidating. But actually, we are already skilled at it through daily practice! After all, we rehearse past offenses and plot (Ps. 2:1; 38:12; Prov. 24:2 - hagah) revenge, we obsess over past regrets and anxieties about the future (Isa. 33:18 - hagah; Matt. 6:25 – merimnao), we brood in self-pity (Job 7:11 – siyach), we critique other people's flaws, and (especially over the past 18 months) we ruminate over political rants and conspiracy theories. We keep going over and over these things in our thoughts and imagination, and they destructively affect our emotional state and choices and actions and character. But with God's help, we can replace these "natural," destructive meditations with a growing habit of life-transforming biblical meditation!
I will share some practical ways to develop this habit in a few minutes. But practical steps won't help us much until we are convinced that this is a life-or-death issue. This is why most of the content of Ps. 1 is about this. The Psalmist gives us two reasons (one positive promise and one sober warning) why biblical meditation is essential.
Why is it essential?
Positively, because meditating on God's Word results in a life that is "blessed" (genuinely happy) because it is "like a tree" (1:3; BURR OAK SLIDE) – characterized by:
- STABILITY: Because your roots drink regularly from the life-giving water of God's Word, you will be "firmly planted" – not blown down by the winds of adversity.
- FRUITFUL: You will "yield fruit in season." Your character will become more godly, and you will attract people to the living God. There will be "seasons" when this may not be as evident – but these seasons will eventually yield greater fruitfulness.
- VITALITY: You "will not wither." When others are subject to damage from disease and storms, your soul will continue to have motivation and health and vigor (BURR OAK SCAR SLIDE).
- PROSPEROUS: You will "prosper in whatever you do." This does not mean that every career or financial plan that you devise will succeed. It means something far more wonderful than this. It means that God will accomplish His will through your entire life. He will work even through adversity and hardship to fulfill the true purpose of your life to know Him and make Him known to others.
- SUMMARIZE: Who doesn't want a life like this? All of us can have this – regardless of IQ, baggage, life-circumstances – by developing a habit of biblical meditation. Listen to George Mueller's discovery in this regard: "I saw more clearly than ever, that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord . . . I saw that the most important thing I had to do was give myself to the reading of the Word of God, and to meditation on it . . . What is the food of the inner man? Not prayer, but the Word of God; and . . . not the simple reading of the Word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as water runs through a pipe, but considering what we read, pondering over it, and applying it to our hearts."[3]
Negatively, if you don't meditate on God's Word, you will have a life "like chaff" (1:1,4). Chaff is the opposite of a tree: it is insubstantial and easily blown away, it is not nutritious to others, it quickly rots and perishes. The psalmist declares that your life will become either like a tree or like chaff. You will either meditate on God's Word and be genuinely happy, or you will by default walk in the counsel of the wicked (1:1) and fail in life (1:5). Americans don't like how binary/either-or this is, but this is the consistent message of scripture. Many things in life are "grey" – but ultimately:
There are only two ultimate voices – either the voice of Satan, whose lies will lead us to death and slavery, or the voice of God, whose truth will lead us to life and freedom (Gen. 3; Jn. 8:32).
There are only two ultimate ways to build our lives – either upon the rock of heeding God's Word, or upon the sand of not heeding His Word (Matt. 7:24-27).
We will ultimately either be transformed into a person who demonstrates the goodness of God's will by having our minds renewed by His Word, or we will be conformed to the spirit of this age and corrupted by it (Rom. 12:2).
Contrary to our culture's postmodern magical thinking, we don't have the power to make our own reality by constructing our own narrative. We have the much smaller but significant power to choose which narrative will mold us. Which narrative are you listening to/being molded by?
Listen to a man who was personally convinced of the necessity of biblical meditation: "Why do I meditate? . . . Because I need help against the ungodly haste and unrest which threaten my work as a (Christian). Only from the peace of God's Word can there flow the proper, devoted service of each day. In the same way that the word of a person who is dear to me follows me throughout the day, so the Word of Scripture should resonate and work within me ceaselessly. Just as . . . (with) the word spoken by someone dear to you . . . (you) would accept it just as it was said, so you should accept the Word of Scripture and ponder it in your heart . . . That is meditation . . . Ponder this word in your heart at length, until it is entirely within you and has taken possession of you."[4]
How can we practice it?
There is no one-size-fits-all recipe for biblical meditation. It is more like an art that anyone can begin (no matter how biblically literate or illiterate you may be) and keep growing in. Also, variety (changing up the way you meditate) helps.
Here is the heart of it. Take a short passage that has already arrested your attention (e.g., Phil. 4:5). Memorize it so you can carry it with you through the day. Recite it to yourself and to God through the "seams" of the day. Prayerfully reflect on how it helps you to trust in God. After you have sucked the life out of it (for now), go on to another small passage.
Here are a few different ways to do this:
If you have a Bible reading plan (which involves longer passages), look for a short passage within it that arrests your attention. Write or type that passage, which will help you to slow down and reflect (see Deut. 17). Then meditate on it as per above.
Making biblical passages into songs (see Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16) can help you to memorize the words (e.g., Ps. 92:1-5 to "If I Were a Rich Man"). Then meditate on it as per above.
If you are part of a cell/study group, take a week between study series. Each member chooses a short passage to memorize. In group, share why you chose to memorize this passage, what helped you to memorize it, and how memorizing and meditating on it affected you.
The main thing is to work toward making meditation a daily habit ("day and night"). Why not meditate on portions of the Psalms that we cover in this series? Give it a shot, and see what happens!
[1] "Torah means 'teaching,' not 'legislation.' Such instruction as passes between a caring parent and a loved child (Prov. 4:1). God's 'law' is the loving instruction for life that he has revealed to His redeemed." J. Alec Motyer, Isaiah by the Day (Christian Focus Publications, 2017), p. 13.
[2] In Jer. 17:5-8, Jeremiah uses this same contrast between tree and chaff/desert bush. But instead of referring to meditating on God's word, he speaks of trusting in the Lord and making the Lord our trust. This is the ultimate aim of meditating on God's word – to trust Him more deeply.
[3] George Mueller, A Narrative of Some of the Lord's Dealing with George Mueller, (Dust and Ashes, 2003), 1:272-273.
[4] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Meditating on the Word.