Feb 13
Ear Worms
Ps 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD;
and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
Ever get a song stuck in your head? You find yourself thinking
about or humming or even singing out loud a phrase from a song over and over. Ear worm is the common term for repeating a song phrase. It isn’t a bad
thing, even if we do not understand why it happens. It may be how our heads are
“wired”. Perhaps our brains were
designed to think on the same phrase day and night.
As I was preparing this
devotional/ bible study I was thinking of the word “delight” and an old commercial
popped into my head. “It’s delightful – It’s delovely – It’s Desoto” If you are old enough you probably could sing
that jingle. Or you may be too young to have heard that ad for an
automobile named Desoto. Be careful if
you ask an old guy (like me) about a Desoto because they will tell you car
stories from the past for a couple hours!
The portion of scripture for us today is Psalm 1:2. This psalm starts with the word Blessed (1:1)
and ends with the word perish. The first three verses talk about what a blessed
man does and does not do. The last three verses tell us what an ungodly man
does and that his ways will perish. A
closer look at verse two reminds us that the blessed man loves the Bible. He
delights in the law of Jehovah. The
psalmist did not have the wonderful books of the New Testament, the writings of
Paul, or Peter, or the Gospels. He is
talking about being delighted with the books of Moses etc. I must admit I struggle to be delighted in
parts of books like Leviticus and Numbers. But the psalmist says the man that
is delighted will be blessed. (Blessed is a plural word-I think double happy
when I see the word.)
Now to be practical how do we meditate day and night? Most of us have seen the eastern religions
that practice meditation by sitting cross legged, arms extended over the knees,
thumb and first finger forming a circle and with eyes closed repeating “Oooommmm”
over and over. Nope! Wrong kind of meditation. Instead of emptying our minds
with some meaningless mantra we are to fill our heads with the Word of God. Day
and night, just like an ear worm song.
Is meditating on Scripture simply memorizing and saying it
over and over? Well it might be, if that works for you. But I need to do more
than simply memorizing. Years ago I
found a wonderful key which I wrote in a Bible years ago, and now can’t find.
As I recall the 7 items listed as an aid in meditation were;
A command to obey
A lesson for our day
A sin to avoid
An example to follow
A blessing to secure
A new thing to learn
A link to other Scriptures.
(After my wife read my draft she left and found the Bible where the original list was. It differs from the one I just gave so I will add it and let the reader select whatever seems best for them.
1. An example to follow, 2. A command to obey. 3. A promise to rely on. 4. A warning to be ware of. 5. A prayer I can use. 6. The main lesson. 7. The best verse. 8. Something new.)
If you think this list is missing something
just ad or modify it so it makes sense for you.
As you read the Bible latch onto some significant verse or passage of
Scripture and remember it. Then during the day as you recall the verse(s) apply
one or more of the aids to meditation.
Is there a command to obey, a lesson for the day,etc. If we apply that to our meditation of the day
we can gain more than a simple reading would have given us.
A command? More like good advice. If you want to be
blessed, meditate. It is a command in the book of Joshua.
Jos 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy
mouth;
but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, …
A lesson for the day – We should
meditate on Scripture.
A sin to avoid – Not reading may not
be a sin. But it may be an indicator of a spiritual lapse.
Usually
I use this list or parts of it as I study a portion of scripture. It may also
apply to a single verse. You should be
able to use the aids for meditation you develop to help you with your daily
Bible readings. I will leave you with my last aid. A link to other Scripture.
Ps 119:35 Make me to go in the path of thy commandments;
for therein do I delight.
Ps 119:47 And I will
delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved.
Ps 119:92 Unless thy law had been my delights, I should
then have perished in mine affliction.
Ps 119:7 O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all
the day.
Joshua Jos 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.
Col 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.
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