Ponder Extremes and Be Blessed

August, 2009

by: Jack Hughes

Did you know that the Bible has several hundred references to meditate, ponder, consider, think, reason, and the like? God wants us to mentally chew on the cud of the Word. However, meditation is becoming a lost art. To many meditation seems mystical, even pagan. Maybe it conjures up in your mind a monk sitting on some mountain peak reciting a chant and humming a strange tune. In a biblical sense meditation is to think or consider something in relation to yourself and the world. Face it, the world is running us ragged with urgent tasks that have little or no eternal significance. We might wonder why our spiritual lives are so sickly, but never stop to consider why.

Michael the Archangel, speaking of the end times said to Daniel, “But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase” (Dan. 12:4). While this verse has challenged interpreters as to its specific meaning, it seems clear that Michael was telling Daniel that at the end of the age, before Jesus’ Second Coming, there would be an escalation in travel, searching, learning and knowledge. Surely we are in that age. We have computers, television, radio, and many electronic devices that allow us to access information from all over the globe instantaneously. While our technologies can be a blessing, they are often a curse, especially when they distract us from spending quality time with the Lord and by quality I mean, in part, unhurried.

As soon as we get up in the morning we answer emails, make some phone calls, reply to some text messages, hurry off here and run over there, have the TV playing in the background, the radio on in the car, schedule every moment of our day into our PDA (for those who are older a PDA is a hand-held computer often referred to as a “Personal Data Assistant”). This hyper busyness often leaves us with no time for meditation on the Word of God. We often don’t schedule time for God and if we do, we hurry to “get it over with” so we can do what we want. In fact, many will go for weeks never spending any quality time with the Lord except for Sunday morning church services.

In the last Calvary Review I suggested something radical. I proposed that maybe we should trash our TVs! I want you to consider something even more radical. What if you discontinued your telephone service, got rid of your cell phone, unhooked your computer from the internet, removed all radio, stereo, MP3 and audio devices, shutting down all the “instant access” from the world to you? Relax, I am not saying that you should do this, but I want you to consider what it would be like. We are “meditating.”

Imagine not being interrupted by the telephone, emails, text messages, iPods, radio, stereos, Facebook, or the internet. If you were at home for a day, what would you do without all these devices barking for your time? Surely you would have a lot of time freed up. Second, it would be much more peaceful. Third, you would have to decide what you were going to do with all the time you saved from all the interruptions and distractions you have habitually experienced. And while we are fantasizing, let’s say you made some wise choices and disciplined yourself to get up early, to read, study, and meditate on the Word of God for a couple hours. Then what if you did some chores around the house, got some exercise, went and visited some people, read a good missionary biography instead of watching TV at night? Do you think your life would be worse or better? I think we would all agree our lives would be better.

It is good to consider that for some 5,000 years civilizations have survived without all the distractions that we have today. While it may be unrealistic to become Amish-like in our use of technology, yet it is good to consider what we could do with the time we would gain if we quit letting the world run us. We could ponder the attributes of God, the glories of Christ, the future of the world, the lost souls of men, the state of our own souls. You don’t have to reject all forms of technology, but what God requires is that you pray through, read, study, and meditate on the Scriptures. In order to do this we must make sure the world and its gadgets don’t distract us from higher priorities.

When God spoke to Joshua right before he entered into the promised land in Josh. 1:8 he said, “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.” Do you think this advice is only applicable to Joshua? It is good advice for anyone who wishes to love God and have spiritual success. David in Psa. 1:2-3 speaks of the man who is blessed saying, “his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.” This is the same advice God gave to Joshua. We need to meditate on the Word of God. We must in the words of Col. 3:16, “let the word of Christ richly dwell within us.” This doesn’t happen when the world is tugging at our ears and eyes. We must plan to make spending time in meditation a priority. We must get alone, read the Scriptures, and think about God and His Word. We can do this when driving, at lunch time, on a break, in the evening before bed, or even as we fall asleep. In Psa. 4:4 God says, “Tremble, and do not sin; meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still.” Even as we prepare to fall asleep at night we can sneak in a little thinking, pondering, and meditation on God, His truths, and His glory.

In Psa. 143:1-4 David in distress pours out his heart to God and says, “Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear to my supplications! Answer me in Your faithfulness, in Your righteousness! And do not enter into judgment with Your servant, for in Your sight no man living is righteous. For the enemy has persecuted my soul; he has crushed my life to the ground; he has made me dwell in dark places, like those who have long been dead. Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me; my heart is appalled within me.” Have you ever felt that way? I think we all have at times. Some times our job, our relationships, our families, the situations of life come upon us in a cascade and we feel overwhelmed and desperate. David had people trying to kill him, sons rebelling against him, enemies on every side. How did he survive these pressures? Did he try to distract himself with worldly entertainment? Did he turn to drugs and alcohol? Did he try to keep himself so busy with hobbies so as to not think about reality? No. He meditated on the Lord. David goes on to say, “I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your doings; I muse on the work of Your hands. I stretch out my hands to You; my soul longs for You, as a parched land.” He took time to spend time with the Lord, to meditate on the truth and when he did that he found relief, peace, and comfort.

Look for examples like this as you read your Bible, especially the Psalms. You will encounter them frequently. Work at letting your thoughts run to God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, the promises of God, and the truth of the Scriptures. Schedule times and seize unexpected moments to ponder God and His precious and magnificent promises.

Once you get used to and experience the blessings of meditation I want to encourage you to try a certain kind of meditation. A while back I was reading my Bible. I noticed something I never saw before. Sometimes the authors of Scripture meditate on the worst case scenario. I meditated on their meditation of these things. Why did they do this? Because it is beneficial. For example, when election time comes and people begin to worry about what president will be elected and how that president will affect the nation, it is good to consider the worst case scenario in light of what the Scriptures say. So what if the president is the most wicked president in the history of the United States? What if he is the Antichrist? What if he outlaws Christianity and persecutes Christians? What if our nation’s economy totally disintegrates? What if the United States has a civil war and it no longer remains the United States? As you consider these extremes, do so in light of what Isa. 40 and Rom. 13 say. Who raises up leaders? God. Who removes leaders? God. Who establishes wicked governments? God. Considering other Scriptures you might ask yourself how much persecution it takes for Christians to lose their salvation. It never happens. It can’t happen. What trial, what economic collapse can cause God’s promises to fail? They never fail. Do you see that by considering the worst case in relation to what the Scriptures teach it prepares us and fortifies us for trials that will surely come upon us?

Notice how the authors of Scripture do this. Notice how the Psalmist does this in Psa. 139:7-12, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night,’ even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You.” Did you see how the Psalmist considers the extremes of where one could possibly be? What if you were in Heaven? What if you were in Hell? What if you went to the remotest parts of the east? What if you went to the deepest part of the sea? What if you were in total darkness? It doesn’t matter. God is everywhere. You can’t escape God! Pondering the extremes helps us see the importance and receive comfort from the Word of God. We are reminded that God is always with us.

The Prophet Micah uses this same method of meditation when he considers how to please the Lord. Notice in Micah 6:6-8 how Micah goes from what is normal, to the extreme, “With what shall I come to the Lord and bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, with yearling calves? [normal sacrifice] Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams, [extreme sacrifice] in ten thousand rivers of oil? [very extreme sacrifice] Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? [hyper extreme sacrifice]” And once he has pondered the most extreme forms of sacrifice he reminds himself of the truth in vs. 8, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” A life of justice, kindness and humility is what pleases God.

One more example. When Paul is discussing the use of spiritual gifts and the importance of using them in love he has us ponder extremes. In I Cor. 13:1-3 he says, “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.” No one knows all languages, including angelic ones. No one has a gift of prophecy which enables them to know all mysteries and have all knowledge. Only God is like that. No one has all faith either. Then he switches from spiritual gifts to spiritual acts. What if we gave everything we had to the poor but did not have love? What if we volunteered to be burnt at the stake for Christ but did not have love? The use of the most amazing gifts and the most extreme kinds of devotion would not profit if they were not done in love.

So I encourage and exhort you to spend unrushed time to meditate on God and His words. Also, try meditating on extremes for it will help you respond in a godly way when trials come upon you.