Sunday School: Christian Meditation

Psalm 1

You were made to meditate, this morning I’m going to teach you how to do it…

Sundays come with amazing regularity (Expound).

Your minds are PACKED with junk, tasks, and life drama. Then you walk in here and expect to hear something and it’s just going to automatically change you? The means of grace give rise to means of gratitude—Responses to God’s appointed means such as the Word and prayer. THis is one of them. The change you’re hoping to see in your affection for Jesus is going to come through this God given means of gratitude called “meditation.” This very well could be the missing link between what you hear and your every day life.

“The Reason we come away so cold from reading the Word is because we do not warm ourselves at the fire of meditation” - Thomas Watson

Not what the world says (Expound- “empty your mind”)

The object of meditation is everything—There is content attached that matters. Definition: To prayerfully receive the truth of Scripture with a believing heart and think about it deeply for the purpose of worshiping and enjoying God through prayer.

Read Joshua 1:6-8

Here are 3 movements of mediation that you should follow each week or each day you pick up your bible (or a bible saturated book) to read…

Take in the Truth

Before a garden can be planted, weeds must be pulled and ground must be prepped. James 1:21 “Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.”

Acronym IOUS

Incline my heart

Psalm 119:36 “Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!”

Open my eyes

Psalm 119:18 “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.”

Unite my heart

Psalm 86:11 “Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.”

Satisfy me in the morning

Psalm 90:14 “Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.”

Think About the Truth

Psalm 1

Psalm 119 (Almost all of it)

Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

Think about the difference between a morning cup of coffee and coffee tasting session (Expound—Difference in what I believed).

Or passing be Cinnabon or chewing on the cinnabon

Believing in the sufficiency of the Word of God.

A method and a pattern: Psalm 1; the pattern of day and night.

Methods: Thinking (look at it again and again) Linger by the warmth of the text, uttering It back to yourself.

“In meditation, we pause and reflect over [God’s] words, which we have read, heard, or studied. We roll them over in our minds and let them ignite our hearts—We go deep in God's revelation, take it into our very souls, and as we are being changed by his truth, we respond to him in prayer.”- David Mathis

praying (talk it over with God) (Give examples).

Thank God for the Truth

“Teach me your way oh Lord… I give thanks to you with my whole heart and I will glorify your name forever.” (Expound—We respond to God for the truth in thanksgiving)

The results-Psalm 1–He shall be like a tree planted by the waters—Jesus is our chief treasure, satisfaction, and sustenance.

Your meditation will not be acceptable in God’s sight and will be rife with worldliness if He is not first your rock and your redeemer.

The redeemer, Jesus, is the blessed man of Psalm 1. He actually meditated on God’s law day and night, died in our place to make us acceptable in the father’s sight so that our thoughts can now be filled with what brings life than what brings death.

Think of it: The Son was treated as the ungodly fool of Psalm 1 on the cross—Punished for your heinous and godless thoughts. And by rising again, he wraps us in his perfect righteousness and now fills us with His Spirit to give us the gratitude to respond to His word with Meditation. For us who are brought into God’s covenant of grace by the gospel and our union with Jesus, we have even more to captivate our attention—it’s the unchanging gospel (expound-Transition) Psalm 19:14 “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”

Conclusion:

Don’t let the world hijack this practice.

Christian meditation emptys the mind of the world, but fills it with the God who made us for Himself and who alone can satisfy. Christian mediation doesn’t dispense of all desire, but reorients desire toward God. Christian meditation doesn’t utter empty incantations, but true communication with a God who actually hears and acts. Christian meditation isn’t just some cold discipline that leaves you feeling warm inside, it is warming ourselves with unquenchable truth that is outside of us in a cold world shredded by sin—Though my feelings are unstable, God’s peace can guard my heart and mind through Christ Jesus.

So let us go to Christ today before our worship service even begins, maybe while the prelude is happening, and silently give yourself to meditating upon God’s Word to prep your heart to receive from Him. Ask Him to make the meditation of your heart acceptable in His sight.

As I said, it very well could be the missing link from your intake of information, and the enjoyment of your savior and the change you desire to see in your life.

5 Second Fly-through review:

Proper meditation can be summed up in three T’s—what are they?

True or false: Christian meditation means to merely empty your mind.

Who is the righteous man of Psalm 1?