S) "2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night."
Psalm 1:2 (NASB)
O) The man described in this verse is defined in verse 1 as the blessed man. The important thing to remember with this verse, is that this is not a prescription to be a blessed man, but it is more accurately a description of what a blessed man is like. It is also important to have a proper understanding of what it means to be blessed. There are certainly connotations in the Old Testament, that being "blessed" had a lot to do with some kind of prosperity in wealth or reputation. However, I don't think we can assume that is the definition in every verse. The very next verse in this chapter shows us (poetically) what that blessing is. While prosperity is mentioned, it almost seems like an afterthought. Instead, there is a thriving that is primarily described. There is a fullness of life that is described. The last contextualizing we need to do, is to remember that this is speaking of a person living with the old covenant. The law of the LORD would simply be understood to be all of the laws of the old covenant. However, that is certainly not to say that today, with the new covenant, a person must observe the old laws in order to be blessed. Instead, we must see why a person under the old covenant would have meditated on the laws. To know the laws was to know the LORD. The laws were what they had in order to understand God's character, His will, His ways. Certainly, under the new covenant in Jesus Christ, that can still be done. The Bible as a whole allows the Christian today to know God's character more fully than at any point before the written, infallible, authoritative word of God.
A) Virtually every day, I am studying the Bible. There are days when that is pushed later into the evening, or late into the night. I regret those days, because it is such a rewarding discipline to study earlier in my day. A big part of that, is being able to meditate on the particular passages I read during that study time, throughout the rest of the day. Having said that, this is a discipline that is still fairly immature in me. I am woefully prone to a type of compartmentalizing, where I devote time to studying the Bible, and then I pack it in a box in my brain. I leave the box open, and visible (so to speak), but I couldn't accurately describe the rest of my day as being spent meditating on what I studied. This discipline is a process, though. I have read a lot of great tips for how practically do this. I'm sure that I have only seen the tip of the iceberg, for the amount of advice exists on the subject. As usual, this still comes down to implementation. I need to test some of those habits, and find what works. I desire to be a man who meditates on the ways of the LORD more often, and more consistently, throughout the day.
P) Father, there is no one, and no things, that are worth my attention throughout my day. But, I confess that I am still undisciplined about this. Help bring about a more disciplined character in my life, with regard to meditating on Your ways throughout my day. Help me develop the discipline to study Your word earlier in my day, even first thing in the morning, so that I am giving myself a better opportunity to meditate on what I study, for the rest of my day. Be glorified by my habits, so that they can be called truly good. In Jesus's name I pray. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment