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Psalm 119:97-104 READ LATER!!
Church members like to hide the fact that they struggle with sin.
I understand this, of course, we don’t want to air our dirty laundry!
But when a christian has come to me and confessed that they struggle in a particular area of their life I have been able to give them some counsel that helped me more than anything else I have been given.
I love these charts that I had made.
I took the verses from the book by Dr. John Goetch “What’s on Your Mind?” and mad this chart of 82 sins to put off, and the right thing from God’s Word to replace it, or to put on.
If we are ever going to be successful against our besetting sins it is going to be through this action of putting off and putting on.
But it’s not really one simple action, it is a series of actions which include reading God’s Word, studying God’s Word, Memorizing God’s Word and Meditating on God’s Word.
This thirteenth section of Psalm 119, labeled “Mem” deals with that last action, “Meditating on God’s Word”.
Of course for every good thing that God presents us the devil has his twisted counter.
The new age idea of meditation is emptying your mind of everything and only focusing on your breathing, or something else inside yourself.
God’s true meditation is the filling of your mind with one particular scripture, or biblical thought.
The benefits and blessings of meditating on God’s Word is innumerable, but the Psalmist here gives us six Invaluable Blessings of Meditating on God’s Word.
Let’s take a look at Psalm 119:97-104
97 MEM.
O how love I thy law!
It is my meditation all the day.
98 Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: For they are ever with me.
99 I have more understanding than all my teachers: For thy testimonies are my meditation.
100 I understand more than the ancients, Because I keep thy precepts.
101 I have refrained my feet from every evil way, That I might keep thy word.
102 I have not departed from thy judgments: For thou hast taught me.
103 How sweet are thy words unto my taste!
Yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104 Through thy precepts I get understanding: Therefore I hate every false way.
What are the blessings of Meditating on Scripture, first we see in verse 97 it is:
I.
A Love for the Bible
97 MEM.
O how love I thy law!
It is my meditation all the day.
Our sinful nature does not naturally love the Word of God, even as Christians it is not our natural state to love God’s Word.
When you really focus on a passage or verse of Scripture, the Holy Spirit really makes it come alive.
You begin to see applications of that verse to different areas of your life.
As a result you truly fall in love with the Word of God.
Unfortunately, recent research reveals that is not an isolated occurrence.
In a recent study done by Lifeway, 90% of churchgoers agreed with the statement “I desire to please and honor Jesus in all I do”.
And 59% percent agreed with the statement “Throughout the day I find myself thinking about Biblical truths”.
However, when asked about how often they personally read their Bibles outside a church service, only 19% replied “every day” while 40% read their Bibles once a month or less.
So essentially what the majority of churchgoers here in the United States are saying is this:
I love God, I just don’t love His Word
When asked why they don’t read their Bibles more, over a third of the people couldn’t give a reason.
But among those who did, over a quarter said they don’t prioritize it, 15% said they don’t have time, and 13% said they have read enough of it.
The truth is you will grow in love with what you spend time with.
The more you spend time with your spouse the more you love them.
The more time you spend with a close friend, the more you will love them.
Now it has to be the right kind of time, it has to be purposeful and right time.
Just as you can’t just carry around the Bible and expect to fall in love with it.
You have to open it, study it, and especially purposefully think about it.
The Psalmist said, O how I love thy law!
It is my meditation all the day.
Next the Psalmist gives us the second blessing of meditating on God’s Word:
II.
Wisdom
98 Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: For they are ever with me.
He said in the last verse that God’s Word is his meditation all the day, then he turns and says through thy commandments made him wiser than his enemies.
We see that God’s Word gives us wisdom.
My favorite definition of wisdom is - Seeing life and life circumstances from God’s point of view.
When we meditate on God’s Words, we begin to see things from God’s perspective.
We don’t see things the way God does.
A story is told about a man who found out it was his time to go to Heaven.
He asked the Lord if he could bring just one thing.
The Lord said, “No”.
Finally after many requests the Lord said, “You can bring one thing.”
Happily, the man packed his suitcase full of gold.
When he arrived in Heaven the angels said, “Sorry you can’t bring that in here.”
He said, “The Lord said I could.”
“Okay,” they said.
“By the way, what’s in there anyway?”
The man opened the bag, and they looked in.
Then an angel said, “Oh... It’s ...pavement.”
Oh how we need wisdom as we live this life below!
Let’s ask God for it and begin meditating on the wisdom he has already given us…The Word of God!
Oh the many Blessing sof Meditation on God’s Word!
A Love for the Bible
Wisdom from Above!
and thirdly...
III.
Understanding
You say, “Isn’t that the same as wisdom?”
No, some have defined wisdom as the correct application of knowledge.
Knowledge, of course, being what I know.
But Understanding is the ability to translate the meaning from the facts - or to understand the things I know.
Here the Bible says in verse 99 and 100,
99 I have more understanding than all my teachers: For thy testimonies are my meditation.
100 I understand more than the ancients, Because I keep thy precepts.
Verse 99 is the favorite of students everywhere.
However, it’s not a arrogant or rebellious notion, it is the realization that what is being taught is against the Bible, and therefore the person who meditates on scripture understands more than their teacher.
A prime example of this is the teacher who teaches Evolution as fact.
The Word of God is clear that the earth was formed by our Creator.
Meditation on the Word of God will give you the ability to discern fact from fiction!
The Psalmist looked at those around him at the elders in his community and saw them veer away from God’s Word, but because he studied, and meditated on the Truth, He could see that He kept God’s Precepts.
By meditating on God’s Word, we gain a real love for the Bible, we gain wisdom and understanding, then the fourth blessing is:
IV.
Right Living
101 I have refrained my feet from every evil way, That I might keep thy word.
102 I have not departed from thy judgments: For thou hast taught me.
The Psalmist has refrained from the evil way, Why…so that he can keep God’s Word.
When we keep God’s Word forefront in our minds we will be able to refrain from every evil way and keep ourselves from departing from God’s judgments.
We are able to do this because God has taught us through His Word.
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