The Lost Art & Skill of Biblical Meditation (Part 5)

This is the last in the series on meditation and I wanted to close on the goal and skill by which healthy Christians should pursue biblical meditation. If you haven’t read the first four articles please do so before reading this final part as much of the first four deal with the wrong way to meditate, which is linked to eastern religions like Hinduism and Buddhism.

Whereas Easter meditation focuses on achieving serenity and tranquility through emptying yourself, Christian meditation involves pursuing understanding, not emptying one’s mind. Judaism has made use of meditative practices for thousands of years, although the idea of gaining greater intimacy with God has become somewhat obscure in this day and age.  The search for the law and its detailed meaning has become the central practice, rather than a deeper relationship with the creator. For Islam, the purpose of meditation is incorporated in the practice of Salah, a mandatory act of devotion performed by Muslims five times per day. The practice is focused on sets of different postures meant to reinforce respect and beliefs, rather than opening up to God’s voice for greater intimacy.

Many times Jesus would say while teaching the crowds, “He who has an ear let him hear” which translates to, “You have to listen carefully to gain greater depth of understanding.”  The writings of King David in the psalms and King Solomon are packed with the idea of gained knowledge for the purpose of great intimacy. David speaks much about witnessing in nature God’s hand and realizing God is speaking daily through it. This great insight into nature’s purpose helped David not only respect and love God more, but also opened for him a doorway into the greater presence of God.  David understood that God will reveal himself generally through nature, but one must move into greater respect and faith in order to avail themselves of knowing God better. Listed below are just a few passages of such insight.

Psalms 19:1-3                                                                                                                                                          

The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to-day pours forth speech, and night to-night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard.

Psalms 119:14-16                                                                                                                                                    

I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, as much as in all riches.  I will meditate on Your precepts and regard Your ways. I shall delight in Your statutes; I shall not forget Your word.  Deal bountifully with Your servant, that I may live and keep Your word. Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from Your law.

David understood that the entrance to great intimacy with God was first observing what the creation is revealing about the creator. This moves him to solicit God directly for greater revelation that must come from God who holds key information about himself and the creation, which includes humanity’s purpose. Interestingly, the writer of the Book of Hebrews speaks directly about this transition from general knowledge to greater intimacy in chapter 11.

Hebrews 11:1-3                                                                                                                                                      

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval.  By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.

There is an element of faith, which is practical trust, that God requires individuals to exercise to move from general knowledge of God to personal knowledge. This awareness of God’s conditions for greater intimacy is gained when an individual opens their soul to the spirit of God with the information at hand.  We all in our own way came to a saving knowledge of God by steps. We heard a testimony from someone and we opened our minds and souls to consider a creator who might be willing to care and love us as a person. That openness is the beginning of faith.

Hebrews 11:4-6

By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; AND HE WAS NOT FOUND BECAUSE GOD TOOK HIM UP; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God. And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarded of those who seek Him. 

God has certain standards by which he reveals himself and as we discover those standards we move closer and closer to him. King Solomon asked God for wisdom in becoming king and that wisdom was a doorway into greater intimacy. The key is to use the knowledge we gain from our own transparency so that God reveals himself in a more transparent way. If we start living contrary to what we have learned, like Solomon, God shuts down his intimacy and we are on our own again.

Proverbs 3:32                                                                                                                                                         

For the devious are an abomination to the LORD; but He is intimate with the upright.

Listening is what mediation is all about. We choose to invest time in pursuing greater awareness and understanding to engage in greater intimacy with our creator. When Jesus told parables he was revealing truth in stories that could be taken at face value or could be a doorway to greater truth. His objective was to hide deeper meaning from those who didn’t want to learn to change, including those who were more interested surface truth instead of transformative truth.  If you listen to God and truth passively, God will stay in the shadows.

One of the hardest things for people to do in life is to develop an ability and skill in listening. We hear others speak but often misunderstand the content and true meaning of the person trying to communicate. God has the same problem with us. He speaks but we only casually listen, which causes misunderstanding.  Only those who choose to meditate on scripture regularly will gain a deeper perspective of the nature and character of God.  Our Heavenly Father reveals himself deeply to them.  Effective listening requires concentration and the use of all of our senses. David understood and applied himself to not only learning about God and his creation but to honoring the Lord. He discovered the presence of God in such a unique way that even today we long for the kind of experience he had with the Almighty.

Psalms 31:19-20                                                                                                                                                 

How great is Your goodness, which You have stored up for those who fear You,  Which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You, before the sons of men! You hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the conspiracies of man;              You keep them secretly in a shelter from the strife of tongues.

Questions:

1) Do you desire greater intimacy with God? Only through the learned habit and skill of meditation will you discover the depths of God.

2) Do you desire to learn from others what they have experienced with biblical meditation? Start reading books about men and women who have developed a meditative lifestyle.

May the Holy Spirit of God invade our souls daily so that we might discover more about our Heavenly Father.

Pastor Dale