Meditation on the Word

Carrie Pickett Live Bible Study Notes – 5/30/17

Meditation on the Word

(All Scriptures are New King James Version unless otherwise noted.)

 I.} Psalm 1:1‐3

[1] “Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,

 Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 

[2]But his delight is in the law of the LORD,

 And in His law he meditates day and night.

[3]He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That 

brings forth its fruit in its season,

Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall 

prosper.”

A. We can tap into a river so deep and so strong that we are 

planted solid, yielding fruit in every season of our lives

B. Being so nourished and connected to this source of

      life that our leaf never withers and whatever

we do prospers

C. What secret did this man find?

1. We desire a life on the inside of us that always hopes and 

succeeds and is always producing, never giving in or allowing ourselves to wither

2. This man had learned to meditate and take delight in the law

of the Word of God 

II.} Joshua 1:8‐9

[8] “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you

shall meditate in it day and night, that you

may observe to do according to all that is written in it.

 For then you will make your way prosperous, and 

then you will have good success.

[9]Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; 

do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD

your God is with you wherever you go.”

A. God said Joshua would be...

1. Courageous

  2. Bold

3. Prosperous

4 .Successful

5. Led by the Lord in everything he did and everywhere he went

B. These things came because of Joshua’s decision to

meditate upon the Word 

III.} Definition of meditate

A.“Meditates”

(Ps. 1:2) – hagah

1. “To reflect; to moan, to mutter; to ponder, to make a quiet

sound such as sighing,

to meditate or contemplate something as one repeats the words

.

Hagah

represents something quite unlike the English “meditation,” which maybe a mental exercise only. In Hebrew thought, to meditate upon the Scriptures

is to quietly repeat them in a soft, droning sound, while utterly abandoning outside distractions. From this tradition comes a specialized type of Jewish prayer called “davening,” that is, reciting texts,

praying intense prayers, or getting lost in communion with God

while bowing or rocking back and forth. 

Evidently this dynamic form of meditation‐prayer goes back to David’s time” 

(New Spirit‐Filled Life Bible, emphasis added)

B. How do we meditate? What is meditation?

1. It is not some New Age thing we do

a. New Age meditation is emptying your mind to clear it so 

“enlightenment comes”

b. It’s not “enlightenment” that comes, but demonic forces —

 opening yourself for evil

2. Godly meditation is the opposite of New Age meditation —

 instead of emptying our minds, we do  the opposite by

filling our minds with the Word of God 

C. Two expressions/definitions that work together:

1. To mutter, murmur, repeat, to speak, to talk

2. Musing, thinking upon, imagining 

D. It’s simply this:

" saying the Word of God, repeating it, and in doing that, we

dictate to our minds what we think upon 

(beginning the process of transformation – Rom. 12:2) 

E. “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 communication 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. 

“Turning each truth that we learn

about God into a matter for meditation before God, leading to

prayer and praise to God.”

Knowing God, J.I. Packer (p. 23, emphasis added)

IV.} The difference in our Christian walk growing and succeeding

and failing is what we’re speaking out of our lives

A. 

Matthew 15:11–

“Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”

1. What we speak comes directly from what we’re filling ourselves up with and what we’re thinking

B.

Proverbs 4:23–

“Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.”

V.} Your actions are based on the patterns of your thinking 

A. Your imagination “running away with you”—the power of 

daydreaming can be surrendered to the Holy Spirit or led by the passions of the flesh 

B. The things we pursue with our

lives, time, and love are the things that we hunger for

1. We follow our most dominant thought 

2. You don’t do anything that your thoughts haven’t already 

carved out

3. You don’t do what you haven’t already lived out in your

 imagination (you live out in action what

you’ve lived out in your imagination)

C. Knowing these principles, we see that if we allow

the Word to dominate our thoughts, it will have

effect in our lives. It becomes our thought process and

 imagination, becoming our basic and most

dominant way of thinking, which leads to living out the promises of God in our actions and not the dictates of this world

D

 2 Peter 1:3‐4 –

“as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to

life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called

us by glory and virtue, 

[4] by which have been given to us exceedingly

great and precious promises, that through these you may be 

partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in 

the world through lust.”

E.

Colossians 2:8 –

“Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty

 deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.”

1.Philosophy– a system of thinking that leads to a way of living

2. The only way we’re not taken captive by the philosophies of

man is by meditating on the Word

VI.} An illustration

A. When we take the Word of God and couple it with the illumination of the Holy Spirit, that Word then becomes ALIVE and transforming, producing life inside of us

B. The birth of a baby – the miracle of growth inside a woman

1. The parallel of the Word of God being a seed inside of us 

(Mark 4) that is creating life inside of us!

2. When you take the Word, the Holy Spirit, and your decision 

to dwell on that Word...

a. Life is created in you

b. Tangible growth occurs in your life

c. It breaks the “ceilings of mentalities” down (om. 12:1‐2), releasing you to experience growth and maturity in God

d. We experience the good and pleasing and perfect will of God

in our lives

C . Psalm 119:32 –

“I will run the course of Your commandments, For You shall enlarge my heart.”

D. Then you become like Psalm 1:1‐3 —

1. You begin to prosper in every area of your life

2. Not withering but bearing fruit in every season of your life:

a. When you’re married

b. With or without kids

c. In your work and career

d. In the ministry

e. In school or university

f. When your single

g. In your finances

h. In the call and vision of God for your life

E. Every season will bear fruit when we’ve learned the secret of meditating upon the treasure of the

Word, planting it deep in our hearts so that we might not sin against Him!

F. Psalm 119:9‐16 –

“How can a young man cleanse his way?

 By taking heed according to Your word.

[10]With my whole heart I have sought You; 

Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!

[11]Your word I have hidden in my heart, 

That I might not sin against You.

[12]Blessed are You, O LORD! Teach

me Your statutes.

[13]With my lips I have declared All the judgments of Your mouth.

[14]I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, As much as in all riches.

[15]I will meditate on Your precepts,

And contemplate Your ways.

[16]I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your

word.”

VII.}  Prayer and the Word

A. Praying without ceasing seems impossible, yet we can succeed

in worrying without ceasing

B. The same part of us that worries is the same part of us that

prays and meditates

C. Prayer and the Word in partnership

1. Take a verse and think upon it, confess it, and allow the 

Holy Spirit to teach you

2. Look at that verse and ask the Holy Spirit the questions

 that truth brings up

3. Take a verse and look at how it affects your life

4. It will then prompt you to prayer

 (“O Lord, work these things in me”)

5. When you pray, you continue to confess the Word

(“Lord, I thank You that Your Word says...”)

6. Thinking, speaking, and applying together (Josh. 1:8)

VIII.}  Meditation breaks down the strongholds in our lives

A.

Stronghold – a system of thought, empowered

by emotions, process of reasoning, a perception, and

opinion 

B. These systems of thought, these strongholds, create a ceiling in our walk with God

1. Going great with God, then hitting an impasse, a ceiling

2. The Word breaks these down with the Holy Spirit bringing rev

elation 

IX.}  Meditation is not just memorizing the Word 

A. Meditation – understanding that the verse paints a picture in us that then becomes a part of our souls,

which then changes us 

1. It becomes an image that sticks – which memorizing just doesn’t do

2. Through mediation comes revelation and understanding—it is with understanding that a truth will

remain, not fade away

B. We need to receive the Word in the same way it was given — through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit!

C. The Word—a great treasure!

1. Psalm 119:72 –

“The law of Your mouth is better to me, than thousands of coins

of gold and silver.”

2. Psalm 119:127‐28 –

[127] “Therefore I love Your commandments, more than gold, yes, than

fine gold!

[128] Therefore all Your precepts concerning all things I consider 

to be right; I hate every false way.”