Pray:
Ask God to orient or reorient you to Himself. Confess any known sin. Thank Him for His forgiveness. Be still and reflect on Jesus and His sacrifice for you. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart and mind to God’s Word. Pray for others in your life that they, too, would know and love God today.
Read:
Psalm 1:1-3
“1 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, 2 but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on His law day and night. 3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.”
Understand:
Psalm 1 compares and contrasts two different kinds of people. There is a stark contrast in the two people; the one who orients themselves toward God is the one who is happy, the one who is blessed.
It’s this blessed person the psalmist focuses on in verses 2-3. He says that this person is one “who delights in the Law.” To delight in something means to find great satisfaction; it’s something that gives a person great pleasure. He says this kind of joy is to be found in God’s instruction. The “law” is the Torah: the first five books of Moses, the Prophets, and the other writings. The writer is telling us that delighting in scripture helps us understand the whole scope of God’s Word to us. The more you know what He has said to us, the more you learn to delight in God!
This knowledge of God doesn’t just happen to us; it takes effort. We have to make sure we’re in a position to listen. It means we have to be in God’s Word if we’re to know Him and hear from Him. We’ve got to wrestle with it, think about what it says, and let it grab ahold of our heart.
To meditate on something means to ponder, to slow down and give serious thought and consideration, and to allow implications and truths to be revealed to us. Meditating on God’s Word is our opportunity to hear from God. The more we do this, the deeper our trust and understanding of God grows. The psalmist describes it by painting a word picture for us of a tree planted by streams of water.
The psalmist wants us to know that being deeply rooted and established in God produces fruit in our life. Regardless of the things that come our way to disorient us, the deeper we are rooted in God, the less dramatic the pendulum swings of disorientation will be.
Apply:
You know that to meditate on something takes work; it takes being intentional. Honestly, this is hard for me at times. I would rather sit back and hope that, somehow, by osmosis, change will take place. Many times we just want a word from God when we go through hard and difficult times. Obviously, God could speak a word to us audibly if He were to choose to do so, but most of the time He speaks through His written word. In it, we find all we need to know about how to live life this side of heaven.
I’m 52 years old now; I’ve learned this truism, “Anything that’s good for you, takes work. There really are no shortcuts!”
The same holds true with meditation. It takes effort, and that’s okay! The psalmist would tell us, “It is all worth it! The more you’re in His Word; the more likely you are to hear from Him. Meditating on God’s Word is the first step to hearing God.
So here’s a thought for you to ponder…If your time with God is made up of you doing all the talking, would you stop and be still before the LORD this week? Would you listen to Him and meditate on His Word? See what He says to you; allow Him to guide your decisions this week. Do the work of meditating on Him and then delight in His leading.
Live:
(Personalize this prayer today; make it specific to the circumstances that face you.)
Ask God to lead you through His Spirit as you go through your day. Ask Him to bring to mind the truth of the gospel and its implications for what you will encounter today. Tell Him “Yes” to His will and ask Him for His power and protection to live this “yes.” Ask God to create and reveal opportunities to proclaim the good news today. KEEP PRAYING THROUGHOUT YOUR DAY.