We are faced with enemies in our lives that we often do not recognize. The enemies I am talking about are noise, hurry, and busyness. Any of these things can attack us at any moment and distract our minds. Carl Jung, a psychiatrist, once said that, “Hurry is not of the Devil; it is the Devil.” Constantly every day we are bombarded with busyness. And the busyness that surrounds us distracts us and makes our lives feel crowded. These distractions plague us so that our minds and hearts are cluttered. These distractions hinder us from hearing the voice of God.
What is the solution? The answer to our question of busyness is the discipline of meditation. Today we are continuing in our series called “Sacred Rhythms.” This series is on the spiritual disciplines. Last week we learned why the disciplines are important. They are important because they help us to live a Christ-centered life all the time, when we respond to the crises of life that response comes from deep within us, this response will be natural because it is who we are. Let’s examine the spiritual discipline of meditation.
Now when I say meditation, probably in most of your minds you picture something like sitting in some uncomfortable position with your hands on your knees and making a humming sound while trying to empty your mind. Is that what meditation is from a Christian standpoint? NO! Let’s look at what the Bible has to say about meditation. Turn in your bibles to Joshua 1:6-9. Today, we are going to see what God tells Joshua to do and why He wants him to meditate and consider what meditation is from a Biblical standpoint.
Here is a bit of background to the book of Joshua. In this section, of Joshua, Moses has died and now Joshua is the leader of Israel who is going to lead them into the Promised Land. They have been in the desert for 40 years so that the unbelieving generation had died off. Now God has called upon Joshua to lead the people and this is going to require great courage and obedience to the Lord. In our day, we need great courage and obedience to the Lord. Each of us needs to hear and heed the words of the Lord to Joshua. Here is what God says to Joshua:
“Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:6-9
Ok, I want to start by asking some questions. First, I want to ask: What is Meditation? Now from this passage of Scripture, we don’t get the sense that the Lord is telling Joshua to sit in some lotus position with his hands on his knees day and night, do we? No, that is certainly not what the Lord is communicating. In fact, instead of emptying our mind, like we might hear in some of the eastern religions like Buddhism, Meditation from a biblical standpoint is about focusing our mind.
In fact, when we look back at the Hebrew word translated as “meditate” we find it is the word “hagah” (Ha Ga). It can mean to murmur, ponder, devise, muse, imagine or plot. It is about thinking and going over something in your mind. So a definition that might be helpful for us today is: Mediation is thinking and/or Dwelling upon a subject or series of subjects to seek greater understanding of the subject. It is going over something in your mind over and over. Meditation is connected to, yet different from Bible study and prayer. In Bible study we are seeking to learn what the Bible says. In prayer, we are looking to communicate with God and draw close to Him. In Meditation, we are seeking to take what we have learned and have it cemented inside of us so that we constantly have His word and our knowledge of Him with us. Meditation is thinking about a subject to seek greater understanding.
In the meditation that the Bible speaks of, what are we supposed to meditate on? What do we meditate on? I am sure there are many of us who have lived out the definition of meditation, but not from a standpoint that the Bible speaks of. I am sure there are times we have thought and dwelt upon things and gone over and over it in our minds, but it has really not benefited us. That is because a negative form of what we have defined as meditation is worry. Rick Warren said if you know how to worry, you know how to meditate. The difference is, in meditation that the Bible speaks of, we don’t think about the negative things that may occur; instead, we focus and think about some specific things that will be a help to us. So what do we focus on/meditate on? The Lord tells Joshua in the first part of 1 of chapter 8: “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night”
First, we see that we meditate on God’s Word. As we study God’s word, we need to take time to think about it. How do we do that? When we read a passage or section of Scripture, we need to take time to ask questions to ourselves about it. We need to read it over and over. We need to commit it to memory and as we do that, we seek to truly understand its meaning in the context of the passage and in the context of our lives. We need to ask questions as we think about it.
Questions like:
- Why did this person or people need to hear what the Lord was speaking to them?
- How did people respond to hearing that?
- How did they apply what they heard, if at all?
- What were the effects of following or not following?
- What is God trying to teach me in this verse?
- Is this view in accordance with the rest of Scripture?
- Is there anything I need to do today or this week in light of what this says?
We need to mediate on God’s word and think about it, dwell upon it and its effect on our life. Too often, at least for myself, I will read something in Scripture and not think about it and forget later in the day what I have even read because I didn’t think about it and meditate upon it. James 1:25 says
“But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.”
Meditation helps us not forget what we have heard from God’s word and to store it away inside of us. So, one of the things we mediate on is God’s word.
Scripture also gives us another thing to mediate on: we meditate on God’s Works. Psalm 77:12 says: “I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.” We are to dwell upon and think about the things God has done, His mighty works. His work of creation, His works throughout History. Those, we can read about in God’s word. But, we also need to also mediate on the works that the Lord has done in our lives. So often we forget when God has answered a prayer, helped us overcome a trial. We need to think on that, meditate on His mighty deeds. It is important for us to think back over our lives and look at the milestones and markers and see how they are fitting together and see how God has in fact used those things and directed our lives to lead us to where we may be today.
Remember how God answered your prayer. It is also helpful to remember how God may not have answered something in the way you wanted at the time, but to look back now and see how God may have used that to direct you to where you are today. Those are the times that we get to see how God can work all things for the good of those who love him. (Romans 8:28) We may not always understand in the moment, but many times we can see as we think back and remember and meditate on it. That ultimately, helps us go forward with the Lord, to be strong and courageous when we don’t understand in the moment, but we have come to know our God and His love and His mighty works in our life. Ultimately, we know that all the works God does are good and right. Listen to what Paul tells the Philippians. Philippians 4:8 says:
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
We can meditate on those things and give praise and glory to the Lord for His truth, for His mighty deeds, for the beauty He creates, for who He is. So ultimately, we are meditating upon the things of God, His word, His works, Who He is and what He has done.
Okay, so that is what we should meditate on from a biblical perspective, but why? What does meditation do? According to this passage in Joshua, meditation has a number of effects in our lives. The first we have already talked about a bit. Meditation helps us to be Strong and Courageous. Three times in this passage, the Lord instructs Joshua that he needs to be strong and courageous. Now, we can’t be strong and courageous for the Lord in ourselves. To be strong and courageous for what the Lord wants us to do, we need to have close relationship with the Lord. It is imperative that we are close and trust the Lord when He is leading us because we know of His love for us and how He cares for us. When I have studied and mediated upon His word and His works, I can remember of His love and His power and know that He is trustworthy and true. I would know and remember and believe what the psalmist writes in Psalm 28:7 “The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.”
Be Strong and courageous. Meditate upon His word and His works. But, why do we need to be strong and courageous in the Lord? Well, we also see in this passage that we need to be strong and courageous so that we will obey. Meditation helps us to be Obedient. We need to be strong and courageous knowing what God’s word tells us to do so that we can be obedient to His word. Joshua 1:8 says: “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, (WHY?) so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.” So you will be obedient to it. There are things we can read in God’s word and know what it says, but often we don’t want to think about it because it is hard. We can see in God’s word that we are at times called to sacrifice, but that is hard. We can see in God’s word that we are called to serve, but we don’t because it means changing schedules or other priorities. When we meditate on God and His word, it helps us be strong and courageous to be obedient to Him knowing He is good and directing us well.
Let’s meditate on this passage a minute: “Be strong and courageous.” Why did Joshua need to be strong and courageous? After all, God is leading him. Well, he definitely needed to be strong and courageous, because the people he was leading had a history of not following through. To lead, and not be swayed by people, he was going to have to be strong and courageous. Not only did the people have a history of not wanting to follow the Lord, but the battle plan that the Lord was going to give Joshua, was not your typical military operation. It wasn’t, “Pull out your swords and I will help you defeat them.” It was, pull out your trumpets and march around the city for seven days, and then blow your trumpets and the walls will come down and then I will help you defeat this people. Imagine having to explain and lead a people with this unorthodox plan. Joshua was going to need strength and courage to obey the Lord.
How could this apply to us today? Be strong and courageous. What is the Lord calling you to do? Do you need to be strong and courageous to be bold to others about your faith? Do you need to be strong and courageous to follow something the Lord is leading you to? Maybe He has been calling you to some life change. A different job, a move to another place, going back to school, changing your schedule to serve Him more, confronting someone over an important issue? Be strong and courageous.
So often, I know that I can read something and not meditate on it and I continue on the same course I have been on, without changing because I am not strong or courageous. If I would take some time and truly meditate on the Lord and His word and His works, I would find that He gives me the strength and courage I need through that. I would find that I know God’s word better and it is being stored away in me to direct me in my actions. Psalm 119:11 says: “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Meditation helps put His word in our heart and be strong and courageous and obedient to Him.
Finally, meditation helps us be successful. Successful how? Successful in what the Lord is calling us to do. Successful in living life to the full, in living life abundantly, in experiencing the fullness of life. Now this success is not necessarily monetarily. Instead it is successful in accomplishing all that the Lord has in mind for us and experiencing closeness with Him.
Being successful is going through life accomplishing His will. Being successful means hearing the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Matthew 25:23) Being successful means experiencing the fulfillment that only comes through following the Lord and being blessed. Listen to Psalm 1:1-3. Psalm 1:1-3 says:
“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, 2 but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night. 3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.”
I would encourage you to try meditating for this next month. Find a time in your day that you can block off and practice meditating on scripture. Try to meditate between four and seven times each week.
Here are some suggested Scriptures to start with:
- Gospel Stories: John 2:1-12 The wedding at Cana and John 12:1-8 Mary anointing Jesus’ feet
- Jesus’ Teaching: John 10:11-18, 27-28 My sheep hear my voice
- Epistle Teaching: James 3:143-18 True wisdom and Ephesians 3:14-21 Prayer for deep wisdom
- Psalms: Psalm 121 God our faithful guardian
Remember, if we want to prosper in our life for the Lord, then we need to take some time and meditate on His word and His works so that we can be strong and courageous, so we can walk in obedience and live a successful life in the Lord.
