Introduction - Context and the Benefits of Meditation

So far in this series we have seen that Paul has given a great vision of the kingdom - a vision guaranteed to produce hope, endurance, love, and joy, among other things. But how do we maintain the presence of those blessings in our lives? Well, Paul indicates that one of the keys is meditation.

Memorization and meditation upon the Scripture used to be considered an essential part of Christianity. But it is almost a lost discipline in our day and age. Yet those who have made the effort to begin to consistently memorize and meditate upon Bible verses have found that this discipline has profoundly changed them. Let me summarize a few examples.

1. Ruth Lawrence testifies that meditation on Scripture has cleansed her of paralyzing fear and anxiety.¹ And actually, since I used to be a very anxious person, that is my own testimony.
2. Chris Brauns says that it helped to improve his prayer life.²
3. Sally Michael says that it cleansed her children of bitterness and complaining and began to replace those sins with joy, excitement, hope, and confidence.³
4. Barb Raveling says that it helped her to replace negative thinking with God’s peace.⁴
5. Martin Luther said that it changed the way that he approached the Bible. Rather than seeing the Bible as simply a collection of true sayings, meditation on the Scripture introduced Him to Christ Himself speaking personally to his heart through the Scriptures.⁵ Do you want an intimate relationship with God like King David had? Then Luther says that meditation is a key.
6. In the Puritan book, The Divine Art of Meditation, Calamy said that meditation increased his faith to expect great things from God and to attempt great things for God. And of course that makes sense since Scripture says that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
7. The Puritan, Thomas Watson, said that meditation increased his love for God dramatically.
8. Another Puritan, Thomas Brooks, said that he had seen the discipline of meditation hugely strengthen weak Christians in his congregation and help them to grow up and mature.

I've given a screenshot of David Saxton's marvelous book, God's Battle Plan for the Mind that deals with the Puritan practice of Biblical meditation. I highly recommend it. One of the chapters in that book shows the Puritan exegesis for many other benefits of meditation that I won't take the time to go over right now.⁶ In any case, down through the centuries thousands of Christians have testified that memorizing Bible verses and meditating upon them has been one of the most profound tools of growth in the Lord. I will give just one Puritan quote. Thomas Brooks said,

Meditation is the food of your souls, it is the very stomach and natural heat whereby spiritual truths are digested. A man shall as soon live without his heart, as he shall be able to get good by what he reads, without meditation.… It is not he that reads most; but he that meditates most, that will prove the choicest, sweetest, wisest, and strongest Christian.⁷

And I say, "Amen!" And I've started with those testimonies to motivate you to take this sermon seriously.

The Imperative of Biblical Meditation (v. 8 - "meditate on these things")

With the incredible benefits of meditation that we have looked at, it's no wonder that Paul does not simply give meditation as a nice suggestion. Verse 8 presents meditation as an imperative. The verse ends with the command, "meditate on these things." It is a command of God Himself. Do not think that meditation is an option for anyone. Even the youngest children can memorize and meditate upon Scripture by listening to older children memorizing or reciting their memory verses. We were shocked that some of our children who couldn’t even read yet were reciting Bible verses that we hadn't even taught them yet. They had just heard the older children reciting them. They could barely talk and they were reciting these Scriptures along with the older children.

And it doesn't take a great mind to do so. You might think, "I'm an exception because I have a hard time memorizing." But God wrote these words to you. One person said that she had a hard time memorizing, but what she would do was to take a verse, break it into small portions, and repeat each portion out loud ten times. Then she would move to the next part and repeat it ten times. Then she would put the two together and repeat the two phrases together several times - all the while asking God to speak to her through those Scriptures and to change her through those Scriptures. And then she would add a new phrase. By constantly repeating the phrases of the verses she was able to memorize vast portions of Scripture. She likened it to the ant in Solomon's proverbs. An ant is a tiny creature, and it can only carry small bits of grain, but over time the ant is able to store up a great deal. So if you can only remember a small phrase, be an ant and carry that phrase with you. And then add to it. As I said, this command is given to everyone.

The What and How of meditation? (vv. 8,15 - "meditate" - λογίζεσθε & μελέτα)

Not emptying the mind, but filling the mind. Likened to a cow chewing its cud

But once you have memorized a Scripture, what does it mean to meditate on it? Paul uses two different Greek words for meditation that together encapsulate the Old Testament concept of meditation. It takes a lot of pondering, questioning, applying, and mulling over a passage. You see, unlike Eastern meditation, which involves emptying the mind, Biblical meditation is filling the mind with God's truth and expelling false thinking with true thinking so that over time we begin to think God's thoughts after Him.

One Puritan likened meditation to a cow chewing its cud. The cow's stomach has four parts. You can see a picture of it there in your outline. There is the rumen part of the stomach where food is initially stored and fermented by microbes to break down cellulose and produce volatile fatty acids. The next portion is the reticulum, known as the honeycomb of the cow's stomach. It filters out solid objects and helps in regurgitation of a cud for further chewing. It will chew and rechew these cuds to break them down. Then it passes into the Omasum where the cow absorbs water and nutrients from the food. Then there is the Abomasum that is similar to the human stomach. It secretes digestive enzymes to further break down proteins and other nutrients. By constantly chewing the grass over and over again, it is eventually able to assimilate the grass into its entire body. In much the same way, thinking over and over a Bible verse and asking God to break it down and help you to assimilate it is like a cow chewing the cud. I love that illustration for meditation. So meditation is not emptying the mind (like in Eastern meditation). It is filling the mind.

Pick a time (any time) and be consistent with it (Josh 1:8; Ps. 1:2; Gen. 24:63; Ps. 4:4; 63:6; 119:97; 148)

But the next hint the Puritans gave for meditation was to find a consistent time of day that you set aside for meditation. If it's not in your schedule, it probably won't get done. Genesis 24:63 shows that Isaac meditated in the evening. Some people can concentrate better in the evening and others can concentrate better first thing in the morning. Psalm 4:4 suggests meditating when you are in bed. Since it is in inspired Scripture, that is not irreverent to do. In fact, Psalm 63:6 and 119:148 mention taking advantage of insomnia to meditate on Scripture. That's when I get extra meditation in. Psalm 119:97 says that David meditated throughout the day. And Joshua 1:8 and Psalm 1:2 just say "day and night." Some of you have jobs that require a lot of concentration, and you can’t meditate while on the job. That’s Okay. But others have physical jobs where you won't diminish your work by meditating. It really doesn't matter when you do it. It is just critical that you find a time and that you be consistent. It's the only way you will reap the maximum benefits from this discipline.

Either read or recite an appropriate passage before meditating (Ps. 119:15,23,48; etc.)

Next, the Puritans said that it is important to read or recite an appropriate Scripture before meditating on it. You aren't meditating on just anything that comes to mind. Biblical meditation is a disciplining of the mind to think through and apply various verses of the Bible. Hans Boersma says,

Some part of your daily reading should also each day be committed to memory, taken in as it were into the stomach, to be more carefully digested and brought up again for frequent rumination.” No matter how often the path has been taken from thinking to understanding to love, we keep going back to the same Scriptures, chewing the cud. We ruminate to digest the Scriptures more thoroughly.

Talk of chewing the cud in connection with reading was common... in Christian thought... Saint Augustine, in his Confessions, speaks of the “stomach of the mind” [where we] “deposit it in the memory as though swallowing it down into its stomach, and by recollection it will be able somehow to chew (ruminare) this in the cud and transfer what it has learnt into its stock of learning.”⁸

Pray for the Holy Spirit's help (Ps. 119:27; John 15:5)

And that brings us to their next recommendation: pray for the Spirit to help you to understand and apply the Word to yourself, your family, your work, and to life in general. After all, Jesus said, "without Me you can do nothing." Well, meditation helps us appropriate Christ’s power for living. We must meditate with a dependence on the Holy Spirit to use it as a tool for growth. Psalm 119:27 prays to God, "Make me understand the way of Your precepts; so shall I meditate on Your wonderful works." When we pray for wisdom God will grant us wisdom to apply the Word.

Question, considering, and examining oneself (Ps. 4:4; 19:4; 49:3; 77:6; etc.)

Next, they encouraged us to ask questions of the text and of ourselves whether we are living up to the text. And wow, did they ever have a systematic way of considering the meaning of a passage and examining one's own life. In your notes I’ve given an illustration of a hand. That’s a simplified approach, but at least it gets you started. Whether the Scripture presents a good or a bad example, we want to learn how to imitate or avoid those examples, discover God's commandments and promises implied in the passage, confess where we fall short, and request grace to experience the reality of that command or promise, etc.

Conclude with personal application, resolution, and prayer

And since the whole goal of meditation is to be transformed, they recommended writing down any applications the Holy Spirit has brought to our minds, resolving to work on those by His grace, and praying that the Holy Spirit would give His grace to live it out. If the application doesn't make it into a goal, you will lose it. All of those are the previous Scriptural background of the what and the how of meditation. That’s all implied in the Greek words for meditation.

The Content of Biblical Meditation (v. 8)

But verse 8 also speaks of the content of Biblical meditation. And each of these descriptions is a beautiful description of the Bible itself.

Truth versus deception

First, he says, "whatever things are true." When demons (or your own flesh) or something else throw doubts, fears, and false accusations against your soul, you can use the sword of the Bible to resist them. What better way to resist falsehood than to fill your mind with the truth.

The Greek word for "true" means truthfulness or dependability. We bombard our minds with things that are not so dependable - Facebook and other social media, movies, news reports, and other sources of information that can be very discouraging. Why not give priority to bombarding our mind with the Bible, which is God's inspired and inerrant truth?

Honorable versus indecent

Next, he says, "whatever things are noble." The Greek word for "noble" means honorable. It is the opposite of indecent. If you have problems with indecent thoughts coming into your mind, meditation is one of the tools that can purge such thoughts out. Remember that your mind can't operate as a vaccum. Gary likes to use the illustration of how to stop thinking about a pink elephant. It’s hard - unless you actively think of something else. If you simply cast a bad thought out, it will come right back in again if it is not replaced with the opposite. God's word replaces indecent thoughts with honorable thoughts. The more we memorize and meditate upon the Bible, the more God's ways of thinking anchor our own thinking and replace bad thoughts with good thoughts.

Just versus unfair and unkind

The next word is "just." It is the word δίκαια, which refers to justice. When you have unfair and unkind thoughts about your spouse, your pastor, a deacon, or someone else, you need to replace those unfair thoughts with what is just, kind, decent, and fair. Again, don't think you can create a vacuum in your mind by simply shaking your head and refusing to think a thought. If it is not being systematically replaced with the kinds of words that God wants you to think, you will keep repeating those unjust words in your head so much that the words will wear patterns in your brain of unjust thinking. Well, meditation can wash those tracks away and begin to pave new patterns of thinking in the brain (and ultimately in the soul's mind).

Pure versus immoral

The next word that describes the Scriptures we are thinking is "pure" - "whatever things are pure." If you want to get rid of immoral thoughts that keep coming back to your mind, memorize and meditate upon the Bible. In my OMIT book I point out how transformative this discipline is to get pornographic thoughts out of your head and pure thoughts to replace them. It works! It really does. That book was written from my own experience of struggles as a teenager, and how meditation was a powerful tool in cleaning up my mind.

Lovely versus ugly thoughts

The next word is "lovely." The Greek word προσφιλῆ literally means that which produces love or that which is loveable. Would others love the thoughts that race through your mind? Would they wish they had such thoughts? If not, they are not loveable thoughts. And it might be time to put on this discipline of meditation.

Commendable versus embarrassing

The next word is "commendable," or as the New King James renders it, "things which are of good report." It refers to thoughts that are praiseworthy or attractive. If you would be thoroughly embarrassed if people could read your thoughts, that is a good indication that you need to start the discipline of meditation. After all, God can read your thoughts. The more God's thoughts transform your own thoughts, the more your internal thoughts will be commendable and not embarrassing.

Excellent/Virtuous versus worthless

The next phrase says, "if there is any virtue." The Greek word ἀρέτη can refer to manly things or things of valor, but dictionaries also say that this word refers to what has intrinsic excellence. We speak of the virtuous wife. But this word also describes the virtuous man. This is the opposite of worthless thoughts. If we are going to be judged on the last day of history for every idle and worthless thought (Oh, wow!), it is a motivation to begin to implement this discipline of meditation sooner rather than later. Hopefully by now you are thiking, "Yeah, I ought to do this."

Praiseworthy versus condemning

The next word is "praiseworthy." If you want your thoughts to receive God's praise, meditation on Scripture is the way to go. God loves His own thoughts, and meditation on Scripture is thinking His own thoughts after Him.

A Model for Biblical Meditation (v. 9a)

And Paul practiced what he preached. As busy as he was, he made it a top priority to make sure that memorization and meditation was a part of his daily routine. And it stood him in good stead when he was in prison without any Bible. But in verse 9 he clearly calls upon the church to imitate him. And before I look at each phrase, I would admonish you deacons and elders to be models of meditation to the congregation like Paul was. Don't expect the congregation to do what you yourselves are not willing to do. Paul was a model. He practiced what he preached. Let's look at each phrase in verse 9. And keep in mind that each phrase is followed by "in me." So - what you learned in me, received in me, heard in me, and saw in me.

Learned meditation (v. 9a)

First, meditation is a learned discipline. He says, "The things which you learned." Parents - how do your children learn meditation? By you teaching them and modeling to them how to do it. Don't expect this to be easily and automatically adopted by your children. By constantly teaching it, your children will learn the discipline.

Received (v. 9b)

Second, verse 9 speaks of the things you have "received" from me. Gary and I hope you will take our encouragements for you to grow in these areas in the same spirit that the church members at Philippi received Paul's teachings on this important subject. Don't just blow off these constant admonitions that Gary and I give. Receive them from us as the Philippians did.

Heard (v. 9c)

And ditto for the next phrase, "and heard." Much of our ministry is a speaking ministry - whether counseling, training, mentoring, shepherding one-one-on, or preaching. But I would like to make an application within your family. If you fathers are to be adequate shepherds of your family, it is imperative that each of these phrases be true of you. Just consider how much children learn by hearing us read, recite, and admonish. I am amazed to hear very small children able to repeat stories in the story books that we read to them because they have heard those stories so many times. Even little Elisheba can tell us what the next page is going to say. When they hear parents and each member of the family reciting Scripture, you will be surprised how much the younger ones pick up and memorize those Scriptures even earlier than the older children did. I'll just share a testimony that I heard from one mother. She said,

We started teaching Amy Bible verses when she was five and a half years old. I compiled 76 passages for her to memorize, and each day at breakfast we worked on memorizing them. About three months into our routine, Amy had memorized 36 verses. One morning, two and a half-year-old Kristi surprised me by reciting one of the memory verses verbatim. I asked her if she knew any other verses, and she quoted 18 verses! We had not taught them to her; she had simply been listening each morning and effortlessly learned the verses. That is when I realized how naïve I had been. Even young children who are just developing language skills can memorize Scripture.

Little children memorize easily. They can recite pages of picture books, jingles, and song lyrics through simple exposure. The key is repetition. What is repeated, they remember. How much more profitable it is for them to memorize the living Word of God than nursery rhymes and songs! Verses learned in childhood are often retained for a lifetime. If we continually share God’s Word with children, they will have a storehouse of memorized verses they could remember for decades. A storehouse the Holy Spirit may use when our children are traveling in a car, playing with friends, when they experience disappointment, and in thousands of other situations they will face in life.⁹

And I say, "Amen! Amen!" Brothers and sisters, take this paragraph seriously.

Seen in others (v. 9d)

And Paul adds "and saw in me..." They witnessed Paul doing this. He didn't just do it in secret. Do your children see you memorizing and quoting Scriptures and meditating on them? As a child I asked my mom what she was doing when she was staring off into space mouthing words but with no sound. She was going over Scripture or praying. If parents aren't memorizing, how on earth can we expect our children to see this as being important to them? But if memorization and meditation upon Scripture is a normal routine for the lives of the parents, it will naturally become a normal part of a child's life. This used to be part and parcel of normal Christianity. It was expected.

Putting into action what you meditate upon (v. 9e)

Of course, meditation is for the purpose of transformation, so Paul ends his admonitions by saying, "these do." We must be implementing the words that we memorize and meditate upon if we are to be transformed by those words. Right? Makes sense.

And how do our children pick up on this and do what they memorize? By reminding them in the routines of daily life with the Scriptures they have memorized that fit the situation. That's how they see the relevance of Scripture. When little Johnny is complaining because he lost a game with his sister, or didn't get a gift like his sister got, you can remind Johnny of Proverbs 14:30 that speaks of envy being as rottenness in the bones. "Do you feel happy when you envy Sally's birthday gift? No. You feel rotten inside, don't you? Isn't that what Proverbs 14:30 says? That verse you memorized tells you how to get rid of that rotten feeling and how to have inward life and joy." And the same is true when Sally is a gossip, or when a child is lazy, destructive of his toys, has just ruined a friendship with harsh words, is acting foolishly, etc. There are powerful Scriptures that speak to every situation that your children are going through. And unless you bring to their attention that they are not living out these Scriptures, they will likely miss the connection. Meditation is for the purpose of doing.

The Transformative Power of Meditation - The God of Peace Will be with You (v. 9ef

And Paul ends with a motivation - "and the God of peace will be with you." It's not just the peace of God, as wonderful as that is. But along with peace, you get the God of peace promising to be with you. Let's break this apart.

The concept of peace

First, peace. The Biblical concept of peace is hard to put into English. Dictionaries point out that it means wholeness of life, harmony with God, completeness, health, welfare, safety, prosperity, fullness, rest, harmony, and the absence of agitation or discord.¹⁰ It's a rich term. Here is how Plantinga tries to capture the meaning. He says,

The webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight is what the Hebrew prophets call shalom. We call it peace, but it means far more than mere peace of mind or a cease-fire between enemies. In the Bible, shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight—a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as its Creator and Savior opens doors and welcomes the creatures in whom he delights. Shalom, in other words, is the way things ought to be.

"The way things ought to be" in its Christian understanding includes the constitution and internal relations of a very large number of entities—the Holy Trinity, the physical world in all its fullness, the human race, particular communities within this race..., families, married couples, groups of friends, individual human beings. In a shalomic state each entity would have its own integrity or structured wholeness, and each would also possess many edifying relations to other entities.¹¹

Butler says,

When applied to families, it refers to contentment, unity, enjoyment, harmony, fellowship, and the family functioning the way God intended the family to function. When applied to an individual, it means rich fellowship with God, wholeness, contentment, joy, fullness, and harmony of soul.¹²

So you can see that just the dictionary definition of peace shows all of the benefits that I started this sermon with. Yes it takes work to meditate, but the benefits are worth it; they are huge. I highly urge you to take on this discipline of meditation if for no other reason than the inward and outward benefits that it produces. Scripture says that there even benefits to our bodies.

The God of peace being with us

But it could not produce those beneifits without the last point. It's not just the peace of God that is promised, but the God of peace being with us. MacDonald's commentary says,

Here the God of peace is the Companion of those who are holy. The thought here is that God will make Himself very near and dear in present experience to all whose lives are embodiments of the truth.¹³

As God said: “I will live in them and walk among them and I will be their God and they will be my people” (2 Cor 6:16).

Well, I don't know about you, but for me this a huge motivation to meditate. I want God with me at all times. His absence should be sad. His presence should make us glad. And so for all of these reasons the elders of this church once again urge you to persevere in the discipline of meditation. Amen.