Methods of Meditation

Meditation can sound quite mystical to some people. Biblical meditation is, as Don Whitney puts it, "deep thinking on truths and spiritual realities revealed in Scripture for the purposes of understanding, application, and prayer” (Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, 48). The question is, how do we do this deep thinking?

Below is a list of some methods and practices that might help you slow down, read carefully, and think deeply about what you see in God's Word. There is nothing magical in these methods. They are simply ways to help you meditate. Click here for a downloadable pdf version.

Methods of Meditating on Scripture

An adapted summary of the methods of meditation on Scripture taught by Don Whitney

1. Repeat the verse or phrase with emphasis on a different word each time (reflect on what each word adds to the meaning and possible applications).

Whatever He says to you do it (John 2:5).

Whatever He says to you do it.

Whatever He says to you do it.

Whatever He says to you do it.

Whatever He says to you do it.

Whatever He says to you do it.

2. Rewrite the verse or phrase in your own words.

3. Look for applications of this text – what should you do in response to it?

4. Formulate a principle from the text.

5. Pray through the text.

6. Ask the Philippians 4:8 questions.

What is true or what truth does it exemplify?

What is lovely about it?

What is honorable about it?

What is admirable or commendable about it?

What is right about it?

What is excellent about it?

What is pure or how does it exemplify purity?

What is praiseworthy about it?

7. Ask the “Joseph Hall” questions [abbreviated by me].

What is it (define and/or describe what it is)?

What are its qualities and attachments?

What are its divisions or parts?

What is contrary, contradictory or different to it?

What causes it?

What compares to it?

What does it cause (its fruits and effects)?

What are the testimonies or examples of Scripture about it?

8. Discover a minimum number of insights into the text (set the number in advance).

9. Find a link or common thread between all the chapters of paragraphs you’ve read.

A few additional methods I’ve used over the years

1. Write out each phrase of the verse separately and spend time making your own “commentary” on it, including word meanings, logical connections, applications, questions you have, etc.

2. Write a poem reflecting the beautiful truth you observed in the passage (your poem might not be great, but it is an expression of the beauty you see and experience). Ex. You might do this with the “I am” statements of Jesus. Study them in depth. Then write a poem expressing one facet of the reality.

3. Write out the verse in a way that attempts to show its structure (main points and supporting points). You might also use spacing, underlines, capital letters, and various colors to emphasize things.

Isaiah 41:10

FEAR NOT

                For I am with you;

BE NOT DISMAYED

                For I am your God

                I will  strengthen you

                I will  help            you

                I will  uphold       you

                                With my righteous right hand

Warm Yourself at the Fire of Meditation

Why do we often leave our time of Bible reading just as spiritually dull as when we first sat down? I suppose there are several possible answers to that question.* For now, I want to consider one such reason. Thomas Watson captured it well when he wrote, "The reason we come away so cold from reading the word is, because we do not warm ourselves at the fire of meditation” (Quoted by Don Whitney in Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, 49). Let me define meditation and then come back to consider Watson's point.

What is meditation? I found Don Whitney's definition helpful. Meditation is "deep thinking on truths and spiritual realities revealed in Scripture for the purposes of understanding, application, and prayer” (Whitney, 48).  Meditation is not an emptying of the mind but a filling of it with God's thoughts which we find in his Word. And this takes mental effort. We must think deeply about what we read. The goal of all this is being made happy in the Lord as we know more of him and his ways and apply what we read. We don't want to be those who simply glance into the mirror of God's truth and walk away. Instead, we want to stare into it intently and deal with the problems it reveals in us (James 1:22-25).

Watson's illustration of warming ourselves at the fire of meditation is thus an apt illustration. If I read the Bible, I might just walk past what it says. Like a person walking past a blazing fireplace in the winter, I feel the warmth, but I am not warmed by it. I am not defrosted. Meditation is sitting in front of the fireplace on a freezing morning and letting the warmth of God's word penetrate the whole body. It works the warmth of the word into the bones.

So, if you find yourself leaving your Bible reading with a spiritual dullness, perhaps the solution is making time to meditate on the Word. Maybe you add 10 minutes to your morning devotional time to do this. If you can't prioritize an extra 10 minutes, perhaps you substitute 10 minutes of your reading the Bible for 10 minutes of meditating.

The point is, we need to not only read the Bible but to enjoy the sweetness of God's word. We want to say with the happy Psalmist, "How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" (Ps 119:103). And this will only happen as we meditate on Scripture. "Reading Scripture is like collecting pollen. Meditating on it is like making honey" (Bruce Waltke quoted by Kelly Kapic in A Little Book for New Theologians, p 118). To elaborate on this illustration, Thomas Brooks wrote, "It’s not the bee’s touching of the flower which gathers honey—but her abiding for a time upon the flower, which draws out the sweet. It’s not he who reads most—but he who meditates most, who will prove the choicest, sweetest, wisest, and strongest Christian." If we don't make time to meditate, then we won't leave refreshed.

I'll plan to post some suggested methods of meditation (all borrowed of course) to help you get some ideas of how to meditate effectively. So, be on the lookout for that.


*Other reasons for leaving our time of reading the Bible with a spiritual dullness could include things like: Not being a child of God, being physically exhausted, not being a good reader, walking in unrepentant sin, etc.. 

CS Lewis on Pride

In God, you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. Unless you know God as that - and, therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison - you do not know God at all. As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.

CS Lewis in Mere Christianity, quoted by Kelly Kapic in A Little Book for New Theologians, pg. 73.

Prayer to Glorify God in Your Work

Last night we looked at the two ditches of laziness / procrastination and anxious toil. We said God calls us not so much to balance but to faithfulness in all the areas of life he has given us responsibility in. Here is a portion of a prayer from Calvin that you might make your own today as you try to apply what we learned:

O grant that we may bear in mind our office and our calling, and sincerely devote ourselves to Thy service, and so present to Thee our efforts and our labors that they name may be truly glorified in us, and that it may really appear that we have been engrafted into the body of Thine only begotten Son.

Lifting up Our Hearts: 150 Selected Prayers from John Calvin, Ed. by Dusting W. Benge, pg. 211. In the context he is praying that we would fulfill our royal as a "royal priesthood" of believers who represent God and serve him.

"The Culture of Death Lurches Forward..."

The Senate failed to pass a bill that would protect babies born alive after botched abortion attempts. I encourage you to listen to Al Mohler's podcast "the Briefing"  from today (2/26/19). Listen to the section entitled, "The culture of death lurches forward: Senate fails to pass legislation that would protect the lives of children born alive."

He brings up some very good points. I'll summarize one here. Some Democrats argued that the law was unnecessary because, "Its proponents claim it would make something illegal that is already illegal” (Senator Patty Murray, see the Washington Post Article). If that is the case, then why does it matter if the law passes? If we all agree it is wrong to kill a baby who is born alive (infanticide), then what does one more law matter? The truth is that these senators do believe this law is an addition. The evidence is in the rest of Senator Murray's words. After what I quoted above, she goes on to say that the law would "do nothing except help Republicans advance their goal of denying women their constitutionally protected rights.” So which is it? Is it just a redundant law? Or is it something which might limit the right of a woman to end the life of her baby? In a day and age when a governor (of Virginia) publically states that a baby born alive would be made comfortable while the mother and doctor discuss if she wants her baby to receive life-sustaining medical care, laws like this don't seem too redundant.

"The Struggle for Love" Sermon

I taught the "Genesis" Sunday school class this past Sunday. I was talking about it with Beth and she mentioned a good sermon by Tim Keller on the passage which I listened to and benefited from. I referenced it in my handout, but here is a link to it in case you weren't there and want to listen to it.

It deals with Jacob and his messed up relationships. Keller provides keen insight into the desires of the human heart from the Scripture. I hope you'll cue this one up on your list of things to listen to this week.

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Also, I am not sure how you get your podcast or organize what you will listen to, but I have benefited from pocketcast. I got the paid version and can speed up things (which is nice...though you can't speed Keller up too much).

Also part 2, Grace Church has a podcast where we (Larry does it so thank him) post our sermon and some Sunday school media in case you miss a week and want to catch up.  Just search Grace Church of Tallahassee to find it.

Responsibilities of a Church Member: Relate Properly to Your Pastors

This might seem a bit self-serving. A pastor writing to say that members in the church out to relate properly to their pastors. So, is it self-serving? 

It is for Your Advantage

Hebrews 13:7 says,

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

The idea is that there is an advantage to rightly relating to your pastors. Even more specifically, to obeying and submitting to them. If your following them is characterized by godly submission, it will bring them joy rather than frustration and be an advantage to your soul. Pastors that don't have to spend excessive time dealing with unruly sheep can better shepherd the flock so that they thrive rather than merely survive. If all the pastor's work is remedial, it is impossible to build up the body and help you make progress in your knowledge and obedience to God. 

What Does it Mean to Obey and Submit?

To submit is to voluntarily place yourself under their authority and leadership. To be clear, the pastor's authority is the Word of God. So your submission to your pastor is governed by your submission to God. No human authority, which has delegated authority, ever supersedes God's authority in a person's life. So, if you pastor says to lie about something, you say, "You know I can't love you and God if I do that. I must obey God." 

Obeying your pastors doesn't mean

1. You can't ask questions
2. You follow them into sin
3. They have authority over you in areas in which the Bible gives no doctrine or practice to observe. 

Let me give an example of the last point. You do not need to paint your house a specific color because your pastor says you should. Rod might say, "I like salmon for that front door, so paint it that color." You could, and should(?), rightly say, "Thanks for the suggestion, but I'm going to paint it white."  Now, if you decided to spray paint derogatory words towards your neighbor on the side of your house, your pastor rightly has the authority to tell you that Scripture requires you to remove them (of course there would be a further dialogue about what is going on in your heart and how to repent). 

The Goodness of Authority 

In a world that seems to have no concept of good authority, notions of authority and submission are quickly dismissed as power grabs and domination. However, in practice, we all know that authority exercised for the good of others is a great blessing. For example, children receiving the instruction and discipline of a godly parent keeps them from dying young and forms the training grounds which will enable them to grow into mature adulthood rather than out-of-control, self-destructive animals. 

God has designed it so that almost every person will be in positions of both authority and submission. We ought to exercise our authority with humility and the fear of God, knowing we must give an account to him. And we ought to submit to proper authorities with humility and trust in God knowing that we and those in authority will have to answer to God. 

When Authority is Abused

Sadly, in a fallen world authority does get abused. Jesus warned his followers not to be like the ungodly who often exercised power for their own gain (Mark 10:42-43). In addition, the elder qualifications prohibit a man from serving as an elder if he is "arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain," etc. (see Titus 1). 

We are given instructions for how to handle a pastor who is abusing his authority. Matthew 18 outlines church discipline and 1 Timothy 5:20 says that if an elder persists in sin, he should be rebuked in the presence of the church. 

A Church Member Submits to His or Her Pastors

So, as a church member, you are voluntarily placing yourself under a specific set of pastors. You can disagree at times and ask questions. But, be sure to submit to them. They must give an account to God for the state of your soul. Don't resist their leadership when they are godly men who are seeking your spiritual wellbeing and God's glory. If necessary, confront them in biblical ways.