Alone With the Almighty, Part 6b

Very few people spend time in meditation. What is meditation? I love what Jad Packer says. He records these words. Meditation is the activity of calling to mind and thinking over and dwelling on and applying to oneself the various things that one knows about the works and ways and purposes and promises of God. It is an activity of holy thought consciously performed in the presence of God, under the eye of God, by the help of God, as a means of communion with God. Its purpose is to clear one's mental and spiritual vision of God and to let his truth make its full and proper impact on one's mind and heart.

It is a matter of talking to oneself about God and oneself. It is indeed often a matter of arguing with oneself, reasoning oneself out of moods of doubt and unbelief into a clear apprehension of God's power and grace. Its effect is to ever humble us as we contemplate God's greatness and glory and our own littleness and sinfulness and to encourage and reassure us, to comfort us in the old strong Bible sense of the word as we contemplate the unsearchable riches of divine mercy displayed in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Those are good words. Meditation simply is learning to talk to yourself. That's all it is. Talk to yourself over and over again about that which God has already spoken to you about. That's meditation. God told Joshua, we know the verse, be strong and courageous. Strong and courageous. Do not let this book of the law depart out of thy mouth, right? But you shall meditate on it day and night that thou mayest observe to do all that is written therein. For then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success.

This book of the law is not to depart out of your mouth, Joshua. Why? Because you are to meditate on it on a day and night. You are to audibly speak to yourself about what I have spoken to you throughout the day. And if you do, Joshua, you will be ever mindful of my will, of my direction. You will keep my commands and you will become a very prosperous person. You will become the kind of person that is successful in the world. Because I deem success. You see, the word success is only mentioned once in the Bible.

It's Joshua 1.8. That's it. And it teaches you how to be successful through the meditation upon God's word day and night. And Joshua was a busy man. Two million Jews. He had to lead them to the promised land. A lot of people. Had to give an account for those people. Had to lead them. And yet God said, whatever you do, Joshua, make sure that you meditate upon my word day and night. Don't let my word depart from your mouth. God says to us, meditate upon my word.

Be absorbed in my word. I love what the psalmist said in Psalm 1. How blessed is a man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord. And in his law, he meditates day and night. And he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season. And its leaf does not wither. And in whatever he does, he prospers. So important. We have missed it in modern day Christianity.

We need to spend time talking to ourselves about what God has spoken to us through his word. I love what the Puritan Thomas Watson said. The reason we come away so cold from reading the word is because we do not warm ourselves at the fire of meditation. You ever spend time in the word of God and say, well, that doesn't mean much to me. That's because you don't meditate upon the word of God. The fire of meditation. Let me give you some things you're to meditate upon quickly.

First of all, the word of God. Pretty basic, pretty simple. Psalm 119, verse number 23. Even though princes sit and talk against me, thy servant meditates on thy statutes. The next time somebody ridicules you, the next time someone speaks out against you, you know what you do? You speak to yourself. God's statutes. Meditated upon his word. Psalm 119, verse number 48 says, and I shall lift up my hands to thy commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on thy statutes. Again, the Psalmist says, I'm going to meditate upon the word of God.

Verse number 78 says this, may the arrogant be ashamed, for they subvert me with a lie, but I shall meditate on thy precepts. You know, when you're a meditator, when you meditate upon the word of God, it doesn't make any difference what anybody else says to you. You know why? Because what they say to you means nothing compared to what God says to you, right?

You show me a man who is easily depressed. You show me a man who gets easily downtrodden because someone has spoken out against them. I'll show you a man who doesn't meditate upon the word of God. But you show me a man who meditates upon the word of God. You can say anything you want to him. He don't care. Why? Because God is the one who is speaking to him and his words are preeminent in his life. Look what it says in verse number 97. Oh, how I love thy law. It is my meditation all the day. Thy commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever mine.

You see, no matter what my enemies say, it makes no difference because your words are mine. And I meditate upon them all day anyway. Then he says, 99, I have more insight than all my teachers, for thy testimonies are my meditation. Why? Does he have more insight than his teachers? Because God's word is the supreme element of his life. And he meditates upon it day and night. Psalm 119, verse number 148, my eyes anticipate, the night watches that I may meditate on thy word. Isn't that good? He says, I can't wait to go to bed.

I can't wait to go to bed because when I do, guess what? I meditate upon the word of God. All the things God said to me that day, man, I just go over them again and again in my mind. I speak them to myself. I begin to talk to myself about what God said to me that day. And I can't wait to go to bed. It's just so I can totally focus upon my God. You meditate upon the word of God. Number two, you meditate upon the works of God.

The works of God. Listen to the song 77, verse number 11. I shall remember the deeds of the Lord. Surely I will remember thy wonders of old. I will meditate on all thy work and muse on thy deeds. And then it says, thy way, O God, is holy. What God is great like our God. Thou art the God who workest wonders. Thou hast made known thy strength among the peoples. Thou hast by thy power redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. The psalmist says, when I muse on the doings of God, when I meditate upon the works of God, I realize there is no God like my God.

There is nobody better than my God. He is so great. He is so strong. What do I have to worry about? Because he has spoken to himself the word of God over and over again so that it becomes a part of his life. This is back in Psalm 119, verse number 15. I will meditate on thy precepts and regard thy ways. So not only do I meditate upon the word of God, which allows me to meditate upon the works of God, but allows me to meditate upon the ways of God. So important. Listen to Psalm 103. It says, Psalm 103, verse number 7.

He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the children of Israel. Moses knew the ways of God. The children of Israel didn't. They saw the acts of God. They saw what God did by giving them water in the wilderness, by feeding them manna in the wilderness. They saw the acts of God, but Moses was supremely different because he knew the ways of God. Let me ask you a question.

Do you know the ways of God or do you see him act? Those who are alone with the Almighty, as Moses was, understood the ways of God. You meditate also upon the wonders of God. It says in verse number 27 of Psalm 119, make me understand the way of thy precepts so I will meditate on thy wonders. Psalm, Isaiah 9, verse number 6 says that God's name is wonderful. Those are just some simple things. There's the will of God. There's the worth of God, the ways of God, the work of God, the wonder of God, the word of God.

We look at God's word and talk about God's word because God speaks to us through His holy word. That's why the psalmist said that his prayer would be that the words of his mouth and the meditation of his heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. He knew that if he was meditating upon the word of God, then the words of his mouth would be the words of God and they would be pleasing in the sight of God. The psalmist would only say in Psalm 104, verse number 34, let my meditation be pleasing to him.

Is your meditation pleasing to God? Are the things you speak of pleasing to God? Is God's law that which you meditate upon day and night? Is God's word that thing that doesn't depart from your mouth, from your lips because you have learned to speak audibly to yourself over and over again about the word of God, the work of God, the ways of God, the worth of God, the will of God, the wonderful God? Talk about a changed life. That'll do it. Memorization leads to meditation. Meditation leads to mortification and mortification then leads to a manifestation of God in your life.

And the last two, the mortification and the manifestation fall under the seventh point of our essence with our time with God, the duty of application, the duty of application. And I want you to notice with me 10 key questions.

Listen to me very carefully. People say, you know, could you tell us, pastor, how you study the Bible? How you prepare a sermon? What do you do? This is what I do. I ask and answer 10 questions. You keep this in your Bible. Listen very carefully. And every time you read a verse, every time you read a passage, every time you read a paragraph, you answer these 10 questions. You do that for 30 days and your Bible study will change drastically. It's not that difficult. It's pretty simple. But it's important for us to understand the duty of application.

I've got to be able to apply the things that I've learned. Remember what James said way back in James chapter 1, verse number 25, the one who looks intently, intently with a desire to change, with a desire to put off that which is wrong, that's the principle of mortification, in order that his life might manifest, Jesus Christ himself, any man who looks intently, it says, at the perfect law, the law of liberty, which is the word of God, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer, but an effectual doer, this man shall be blessed in what he does.

You want the blessing of God upon your life? James says, when you look into the perfect law of liberty, you see the blemishes, you remove the blemishes, you get rid of those things that dishonor the Lord, and set your heart on doing those things that God has designed, James says, this man will be blessed in his deeds. In all that he does, he'll be blessed. Not just in some of the aspects of his life, but in every part of his life, this man will be blessed, because he purposes in his heart to do exactly what he read in the perfect law of liberty.

To do that, I think we need to answer some questions. Ask and answer some crucial questions. We read a passage and think of our husband. We hear a sermon and think of our children. We read a text and we think of someone who needs to change, instead of reading the text and saying, that's my sin he's speaking of. That's my life the Lord is bringing to light. These are the things I need to change. The duty and application, putting it into practice. Let me illustrate it for you very simply, by looking at a passage we've already looked at, Matthew 6, verses 9 to 13, and ask and answer these 10 questions and show you how it's done.

I can't get any more practical than this, but remember what I told you. The bookmark and the questions mean nothing if God's word is not the supreme desire of your heart. If you don't want to live by bread alone, then these questions will mean nothing to you. But if that's your heart's desire, then these questions will help you through a process of learning to study the Bible that will enhance a greater understanding of God and give you a desire to go further in your study of God. And folks, I've got to tell you, most of us need to go further, don't we?

We need to get deeper into the text. Because the need for this age is not more, as Foster said, intelligent people or gifted people, but deeper people. The process of depth comes by asking question number one, is there a pattern for me to follow?

Matthew 6, 9 to 13, is there a pattern? Sure there is. What's the pattern? We gave it to you. It's a pattern of adoration. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. There's the pattern of supplication. It tells me exactly what I need to ask God for. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And give us this day our daily bread. It gives me the pattern of supplication. What exactly do I go after when I ask God for something? It gives me a pattern of confession. As I seek to forgive those who have trespassed against me.

It gives me the pattern of protection. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. It gives me the pattern of exaltation. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, amen. Whenever I read a passage of scripture, I ask, what's the pattern I'm to follow? Christ says, here's the pattern.

You want to know the pattern for prayer? This is it. Understand the implications of Matthew 6, 9 to 13, and your whole prayer life will change drastically from where it is today. But there's a pattern that we are to follow. Number two, is there a potential sin to avoid?

Whenever you read the scriptures, you say, what potential sin is there to avoid? Sure there is. Not hallowing God's name in my life. Wanting my will to be done and not God's will to be done. Is that not a potential sin? Sure it is. So I begin to write that down on a piece of paper, on a three by five card, in a journal, wherever I can write it down. You see the difference between reading and studying is a pen and a piece of paper. That's the difference. And you write the ten questions down. You ask, is there a pattern to follow?

Is there a potential sin for me to avoid? Sure there is. And so I say, Lord, help me with this. Help me to understand your will so I don't seek after my will. Help me, Lord, to set you apart as holy in my life, to hallow your name, that people, when they see me, will know that I'm a child of the King. Question number three, is there a purpose to embrace?

Is there a purpose to embrace? Sure there is. God's got a purpose. God's got a plan. Thy kingdom come. God's rule. God's got a purpose. His purpose is to rule in my life supremely, to rule ultimately one day on this earth. But I can't pray thy kingdom come to this earth unless I am willing to pray thy kingdom come in my heart even today, so that God rules and reigns in me, so much so that everyone around me sees that Jesus Christ is a supreme being in my life, that I am subject to his rulership because he's the King.

Sure there's a purpose to embrace. It's God's purpose. It's God's plan. Fourthly, is there a precept to obey? What command has God given? Well, in Matthew 6, very simply this, you've got to pray. Not too hard to figure out? Pray. You've got to learn to pray. God wants me to pray. God has commanded that men pray. Men ought always to pray and not to faint, Luke 18, verse 1. If you don't pray, you'll faint. If you're not fainting, that means you're praying. So what's the pattern for prayer? God tells you.

There's a precept that I need to obey, and that is to pray. Fifth, is there a promise to claim? Oh, you bet there is. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Deliver us from the evil one. Matthew 6, 13 is answered in 1 Corinthians 10, 13, that God will not allow any temptation to come into your life, that he will not provide for you an escape route. That's the promise I claim. God, I claim the promise that you have given to me, that there is an escape route, so that whatever temptation comes my way this day, I know that you have provided a path for me to run from that temptation, that I might flee the grasp of the evil one.

There is a promise for me to claim, and I claim that for me today. See how easy that is? You thought Bible study was hard. It's not that difficult. And then, is there a perspective on the Godhead? Sure there is. Our Father the perspective is on the fatherhood of God, who he is. He's my heavenly father. He's the one I cry to. He's the one that's more concerned about me than my earthly father is. He is the one who becomes the father of the orphan, the husband of the widow. That's my father. Oh, there's a perspective on the Godhead.

I need to grasp that God is my heavenly father. And then, is there a problem for me to explore? Something I don't understand? Something I have difficulty in grasping? Sure. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Why pray thy will be done if God's will is going to be done anyway? Got to start with that. God's decree happens because he has designed it that way. Why pray if God has already, who is sovereign, designed everything to happen already? That's a problem for me to explore. I've got to ask and answer that question.

So it gets me further into Bible study. How is it I, as a Christian, can have unforgiven sins? For Christ says, if you don't forgive your brother his trespasses, neither will I forgive you your trespasses.

Wait a minute, God. I'm a child of yours. You have forgiven me all my sins. So how is it that I, as a Christian, can have unforgiven sins? That's a problem I need to explore, right? So I begin to study that and begin to explore God's answers. Is there a principle for me to share? Sure there is. Simply this, God wants everything that happens in heaven to happen right here on earth. How is it I can best accomplish his purposes? It's a very simple basic principle. How will be thy name on earth as it is in heaven?

Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. God wants everything here done exactly as it is there. Very basic principle. And then, is there a prayer to offer? Sure there is. The whole thing is about prayer. And lastly, is there a praise to be given? Absolutely. Thine is the kingdom. Thine is the power. For thine is the glory forever. It's endless. You're the supreme king. I want to praise you. I want to glorify your name. I want to lift you up on high.

Amen. So be it. I agree with what you have said and I accept what you have said. So I praise you for what you have done in my life. Very simply this, ten basic questions that if you ask and answer every time you open your Bible, the depth and understanding and knowledge of God will increase drastically each and every day you do that. That is the duty of application. That is the essence of my time with him. It begins with the primacy of salvation. I've got to be born again. I've got to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

It moves from the primacy of salvation to the responsibility of preparation. I've got to prepare my heart because I've been cleansed because I've confessed my sin. It moves then to the centrality of revelation that God's Word is the supreme thing. My heart stands in awe at thy words. From the centrality of revelation I move to the necessity of communication. I must commune with my God, which leads to the simplicity of memorization. To sit down and take a verse, a phrase, and memorize it, commit it to my memory so that not only do I grasp the text but the text grasps me.

That moves me to the priority of meditation. To be able to audibly speak back to God the things that he has taught me, to commune with him throughout the day so that God's law never departs from my mouth but I meditate upon it day and night that he might make my way prosperous and my way might be successful because I have observed everything in that law and done exactly as he has said, which leads me to the duty of application. Say, yes Lord, you've spoken. I will do. That's the essence of your time with him.

Let's pray.