Psalms 119:15, "I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways." --- V. 23, "Princes also did sit [and] speak against me: [but] thy servant did meditate in thy statutes." --- V. 48, "My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes." --- V. 97, {MEM.} "O how love I thy law! it [is] my meditation all the day." --- V. 99, "I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies [are] my meditation." --- V. 148, "Mine eyes prevent the [night] watches, that I might meditate in thy word."

Joshua 1:8, "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."

Psalms 1:1-3, "Blessed [is] the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."

Psalms 63:5-6, "My soul shall be satisfied as [with] marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise [thee] with joyful lips: When I remember thee upon my bed, [and] meditate ON THEE in the [night] watches."

I Timothy 4:15, "Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all."

Introduction:

A. All these Scriptures show us that we should cultivate and practice the habit of meditation.

B. The Bible teaches us that we should:

1. Receive the Word of God with meekness. (James 1:21)

2. Let the Word of God dwell in us richly. (Col. 3:16)

3. Keep the Word of God persistently. (John 17:6)

4. Continue in the Word of God untiringly. (John 8:31)

5. Live out the Word of God faithfully. (2 Cor. 3:3)

6. Hold forth the Word of God boldly. (Phil. 2:16)

7. And, To Meditate On The Word of God Prayerfully And Regularly.

C. To meditate on the Word of God will require:

1. Quietness --- To meditate we must be alone.

2. Time --- We must exclude all sense of hurry.

3. Concentration --- We must be able to give attention.

4. Receptivity --- Our prayer must be:

Psalms 119:18, "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law."

D. If we regularly and habitually meditate in God's Word, the result and the benefits will be enormous --- Consider them:

I. We Will Be Empowered With Spiritual Life And Vitality.

A. One of the most significant statements ever made by our Lord is recorded in --- John 6:63, "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, [they] are spirit, and [they] are life."

1. But WHERE and HOW does He speak to us?

2. The ans. --- In and through His Word --- The Bible.

B. After Christ had opened the Scriptures to the disciples on the Emmaus road:

Luke 24:32, "And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?"

C. What was this "burning heart"? --- What had happened to these two disciples?

1. They had been in the presence of their Lord --- He had revealed Himself to them --- and opened the Scriptures to them.

2. The results was that their hearts burned within them.

D. Do you have a burning heart --- or are you dull and listless?

E. Are you red-hot in your love for Christ? --- or lukewarm?

II. We Will Be Soundly And Thoroughly Converted.

A. Psalms 19:7, "The law of the LORD [is] perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD [is] sure, making wise the simple."

1. When the truth of God is applied to our life --- it is so powerful that it turns our life away from all that is displeasing to the Lord.

2. It turns our life to the Lord Himself.

B. Some Christians are only half-turned to the Lord.

1. They are life Ephraim --- Hosea 7:8, "Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned."

2. This is what the Lord had in mind when He said to Peter:

Luke 22:32, "But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren."

C. Peter had been converted "spiritually" but not "mentally".

Romans 12:1-2, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

D. Begin now to form the habit of meditating in the Word of God --- and you will soon begin to experience the converting power of the Word in your life.

III. We Will Find Our Faith Increasing More And More.

A. Faith is imparted to us and developed in us as we read and meditate in God's Word.

Romans 10:17, "So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

B. There are degrees of faith.

Romans 12:3, "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think [of himself] more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith."

IV. We Will Find The Secret of Living Peacefully In A Chaotic World.

A. Isaiah 26:3, "Thou wilt keep [him] in perfect peace, [whose] mind [is] stayed [on thee]: because he trusteth in thee."

1. The word "stayed" refers to a quiet, unhurried, relaxed waiting in the presence of God.

2. On every hand there is fear and there are alarms --- Sin abounds and God's judgments are surely near.

3. But for the Christian, --- we find confidence in the knowledge that God is working out His purpose for:

a. The World,

b. The Jew,

c. The Church,

B. Before long, Jesus will come again --- Kings of kings, and Lord of lords.

C. You do not feel the power of these great truths --- with a casual reading of Scriptures --- Meditation is needed.

V. We Will Humbly Bow To The Sovereign Will of Our Lord --- In His Dealings With Us.

A. It is only as we really get to know our Lord --- through reading & meditation in His Word --- that we are able to --- trust Him and to lean upon Him in the dark hour.

B. If we will regularly meditate in His Word --- we will never get bitter when God's hand is heavy upon us --- our family --- our friends.

C. We will be able to say as Job:

Job 23:10, "But he knoweth the way that I take: [when] he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold."

D. We will appreciate the truth of --- Psalms 37:23, "The steps of a [good] man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth [him with] his hand."

E. We will be able to rest quietly upon --- John 13:7, "Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter."

VI. We Will Be Filled With Glowing Words of Testimony.

A. Some Christians rarely speak up for their Lord.

B. Is it because they do not really know Him?

Daniel 11:32, "And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do [exploits]."

C. We only get to know Him as we spend time with Him --- and allow His Word to dwell in us.

Colossians 3:16, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord."

VII. We Will Come To Know Him --- Which Is To Become Intimate In Our Relationship With Him.

A. Philippians 3:10, "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;"

B. The greatest blessing that will come to us as we learn to mediate in God's Word --- is the personal and intimate experience we will enjoy with Him.

John 5:39, "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me."

C. As we come to know the Lord in His Word, we will:

1. Become like Him.

II Corinthians 3:18, "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord."

Galatians 4:19, "My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,"

2. Desire to obey and please Him.

John 14:15, "If ye love me, keep my commandments."

II Timothy 2:4, "No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of [this] life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier."

3. Discover that He is "the Chiefest among ten thousand" --- and the One Who is "altogether lovely". --- (Song of Solomon 5:10, 16)

4. Will be able to say with ever deepening conviction:

Song of Solomon 2:16, "My beloved [is] mine, and I [am] his:"

D. Do you truly know the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal saviour?

I John 5:11-13, "And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; [and] he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God."