God is alive and active in his Word. He has so many things to tell you.
There are so many treasures yet undiscovered. Medicine for your broken heart. Promises beyond your limited understanding. Healing of painful wounds of spirit. Revelation of God’s character and works in your life.
Meditating on God’s Word is an effective method to experience the truths of God in your life.
Meditation starts with reading, but is more than reading.
Meditation allows open time and space in your schedule and heart for reflecting, considering, putting the puzzle pieces together and connecting the dots. Mary did this when she reflected on the birth of Jesus, God’s expectations of her, and the ancient promises of Scripture. She “treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19).
Meditation makes you say, “Aha!” or “Wow, I get it!” or “Okay, I’m seeing this differently now,” or “God, I’m listening.” Through the process, God the Holy Spirit enlightens you to realize what you didn’t appreciate or understand before. He draws you in to God’s presence. He unites you with the living Jesus Christ. He attaches you to your true identity as a child of God.
I find that I want to stay in that moment. Because meditation is not always clarifying or convicting. God wants me to wrestle, to dig deeper, to explore his Word where the journey is the destination and I’d rather just get somewhere and be done.
So when those moments of clarity do come, they refresh my soul like coming home after a long absence. Ahh. It’s good. Thank you, Lord.
“I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways” (Psalm 119:15).
Meditation is spending time with God, eagerly expecting enlightenment from God, which aligns our thinking and believing to God, so that we live for God.
BONUS: Have a blessed Friday and weekend. In the Further Meditation section below, I walk through my personal and unfiltered meditation of Psalm 3. Bonus material for the weekend!
PRAYER: Dear Holy Spirit, God and Lord, you meet me in meditation and promise to renew in me the joy of my salvation. May that joy encourage me to meditate more frequently and with more focus, knowing that I find you in God’s Word. And when I do, I also find myself. Amen.
FURTHER MEDITATION: Here is a running commentary of my meditation on Psalm 3 from this morning. It took about ten minutes (admittedly, there was prayer and other Bible reading that set me up for it, though). And it took longer to write than to enjoy in the moment. It labeled my day as belonging to God, not my enemies, and inspired this Friday edition of CrossWords, too!
1 Lord, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
2 Many are saying of me,
“God will not deliver him.”
Daron: See this, God?! See how many troubles and challenges I have? I’m so overwhelmed. There are too many opposing voices, shouting, screaming into my head and heart. They assure me that you can and do deliver everyone else, but not me. No, I’m the exception. That’s what they say. Nobody else has seen this kind of trouble. Nobody has fought like I need to be fighting. I can’t do it. Maybe I’ve done something so terribly wrong, that you’re going to leave me alone. It’s going to be like my enemies say. They’re right, after all. You deliver others, but not me. Others can fight without failing, but not me.
3 But you, Lord, are a shield around me,
my glory, the One who lifts my head high.
God: Oh, yes, there are many. I know that. Many troubles, many opposing voices, many lies from the devil. Accusing. Threatening. Troubling. I hear them too. My Son heard them while suffering for you and saving you. He absorbed them and forever labeled them as lies. By the pardon of his sacrifice and the power of his rising from the dead, every one of your enemies, all your temptations and troubles, each ounce of your suffering, the many opposing voices—they will not harm you. I promise. I am holding you. I am protecting you. I am taking care of your anxieties for you, better than you can. I am the ultimate truth, the ultimate shield and safety for you. Stand up, now. Look up at me. I’ve got this. I’ve got you. And you should fight. You can fight. You will win, with me.
Daron: I see now, Lord. My foes are many. You are One. They fail. You triumph. I triumph, too. Their many voices cannot drown out your clear voice of truth, your promise, your focus on me with your faithful love. I lift my head high!
4 I call out to the Lord,
and he answers me from his holy mountain.
Daron: You, my Lord, have an answer for every one of my enemies. You have a solution for all my problems. You hear me. You care about me. You know better than I do what is the right way, because you and your ways are holy. You and your ways are strong, as solid as a mountain, unshakeable.
5 I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.
God: Rest, my child. Find peace in my ultimate authority, and my mercy that is for you personally. You are the one I watch through the night. You are the one I greet in the morning with new mercies. You are the one I sustain through moments when you aren’t in control.
6 I will not fear though tens of thousands
assail me on every side.
Daron: Fear is such a liar, Lord God. Many fears and many lies. Many threats and opposing voices. They come from all over, in unsuspecting moments, in circumstances I had hoped would be different, from within me and from around me. So many of them. So many. Yet, one of you, Lord. One. That’s all it takes. One saving name. One Creator of all things. One promised Messiah. One Son of God lying in a manger. One Sacrificial Lamb who takes away my sins. One baptism where you claimed me as your own. One of you. One of me. None of our enemies stand a chance. Let them surround me, because I am not alone. You are with me.
7 Arise, Lord!
Deliver me, my God!
Strike all my enemies on the jaw;
break the teeth of the wicked.
God: I’ll take care of your enemies. I’ll shut up the opposing voices. I’ll silence their taunts with trouble that I will strike upon them.
Daron: I need you, Lord. I need to trust that you deliver every one else, and deliver me, too. I am not the exception. All of your promises come true in me. I am yours, and you are mine.
8 From the Lord comes deliverance.
May your blessing be on your people.
God: I am your salvation. I deliver you every time. I bless you and curse your enemies. I look with favor on you, smile on you, and give you peace. Trust me. Turn to me. Today. Tomorrow. Forever.