Stone Soup for Five: Expanded Biblical Meditation -- the first steps

Expanded Biblical Meditation -- the first steps





Earlier I gave you a simple way to start Biblical meditation.  Today I want to introduce a different technique that expands Biblical meditation even further.  This style of meditation is a way to marinate deeply in a specific passage for a longer time.  All of these techniques I'm sharing have been gathered from over a year of research into Biblical meditation.  They are not all my original questions, some have been learned from Puritan greats like Richard Baxter, Isaac Ambrose, and Thomas Watson, and some from the modern teachings of Donald Whitney, and Tim Keller.

After working through books upon books, I've come up with a method that I really enjoy and has helped me glean so much directly from the Word and hope it blesses you too.  We need to be women who are deep in the Word and solid in our faith!  Amen?

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Observation: 
The first crucial aspect for expanded Biblical meditation is distilling a verse or verses down to a main theme through observation.   I do that by writing the verse I want to work on in a journal or on a piece of paper then take a few moments to observe what the verse is saying.

"What do I notice about these verses?" 
Let's take these verses and do that:

You have dealt well with your servant,
    O Lord, according to your word.
Teach me good judgment and knowledge,
    for I believe in your commandments.
-Psalm 119:65-66

For these verses I wrote:  "FACT: God has dealt well with me.  All God does is good because God IS good.  That doesn't mean there won't be pain and suffering, but that He will do what needs to be done to form and shape me into who He needs me to be.  He has and will continue to deal well with me."


Word Study:
After you've written down all you notice, take some time to look up some of the words in the verse and write them out.  Use a regular dictionary, Google, or a Bible dictionary (the Bible dictionary often gives even more insight because it isn't just defining the English word, but the original Greek or Hebrew that the Bible was written in, which often gives even more revelation and insight!  A great website with free Bible dictionaries is blueletterbible.org.

For those verses I would look up good, judgment, knowledge.  Even though I know what those words mean in everyday conversation, looking up the definitions almost always give me more insight and clarity.

Main Theme:
After thinking it through and looking up a few definitions, I distill it down to a single word or phrase.  This can be harder than expected at first, but with practice it gets easier.  Don't get discouraged!  Try it at least five times before you decide if you will use it.

Since this is often the most confusing part, it's easier to see it done than to write about it, so I thought we could practice together.   Start with our example verse:

You have dealt well with your servant,
    Lordaccording to your word.
66 
Teach me good judgment and knowledge,
    for I believe in your commandments.


-Psalm 119:65-66

What do you think?  What would you choose as the main theme?  I ended up settling on "Wisdom and Discernment" because that seems to be the thrust of this passage.  Again, I could have picked good judgment, knowledge, belief, etc.


Okay, let's practice with a few more:
What do you notice?
So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.  By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as He is so also are we in this world.  -1 John 4:16-17

What words would you look up?

What would you narrow that down to?  It could be a word or a phrase or an idea.
I narrowed it down to "God is Love."  But that was kind of an easy one.

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Try this one:

 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
-Luke 14:27  
What do you notice?
What words would you look up?
What would you narrow it down to?

It could be "bearing my own cross" or "following after Jesus."  I chose disciple because both seemed to be summed up in the word disciple.  The shorter your theme, the deeper the meditation can become.

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How about this one?

 At midnight I rise to praise you, because of your righteous rules.
63 
I am a companion of all who fear you, of those who keep your precepts.
64 
The earth, O Lord, is full of your steadfast love;  teach me your statutes!
Psalm 119:62-64  

What do you notice?
What words would you look up?
What would you narrow it down to? Maybe praise, right companionship, steadfast love?  I ended up choosing "Thanks and Praise" because that is what the Psalmist is doing.  All of those choices, however, would make wonderful items to meditate over!



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Great job!  Now go choose your own verses and practice some more!












4 comments:

  1. You gave me a lot to think about - thank you

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  2. Thank you so much for this. I'm looking forward to what else you show us:-)

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  3. Helpful ideas. Thank you. And I love your new header :)

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  4. Finally in Bible study that I'm going to enjoy thank you for your hard work

    ReplyDelete

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