But his delight is in the Law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night.but his delight is in Yahweh’s law. On his law he meditates day and night.But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.But his delight is in the law of Jehovah; And on his law doth he meditate day and night.
16 sermons cite this verse
… your relationship. First Psalm, blessed is the man who doesn't walk in the counsel of the ungodly, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord. And in his law, does he meditate, ponder, reflect on day and night? He will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth fruit in its season. So you start with the scripture. So set a time, make it a priority, start with scripture. Number four, pray it back. pray it back. Daily devotions is two-way communication. You're having relationship with God. You're not just reading what God has put down. You're not just reading knowledge from the scripture. It's two-way communication. So you read and you pick up thoughts, ideas, promises, principles if you are prompted by what you read and pray that back now it is a two-way communication here's just a little example the other day i was reading in my daily devotions through the book of second samuel and i came upon david fleeing jerusalem do you remember when absalom rebelled against him his son and he had to leave with his entourage and go down into the kidron valley and up the Mount of Olives and out into the wilderness. Well, there was a guy who met him on his journey named Ittai the Gittite. He had just come from his place where he used to live and moved to Jerusalem to hang out with David. Now David's leaving. And David says, you know, go back home. …
… 1, he has become the wicked man. Blessed is the man who doesn't walk in the counsel of the ungodly, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of the scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord. And on his law he meditates day and night. And this individual will be like a tree who is planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season. But the wicked are not so. They are like the chaff which the wind blows away, and the wicked will not stand in the day of judgment. But the individual who has determined that they're going to be rich will be tempted to go places that he shouldn't, with people that he shouldn't, and turn his gaze in a direction that is all wrong. You see, a discontented spirit is peculiarly susceptible to temptation. Now, we could apply that at virtually any level. But we're thinking of money here. And someone who is discontented with their lot, always desiring more, making it their aim to amass as much as they possibly can, such an individual will be tempted constantly to capitulate to that which makes it possible for them, they believe, to attain their goal. So such individuals who desire to get rich are tempted. Secondly, they're trapped. Trapped. They fall into temptation and also into a trap. …
… nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. Okay, so let's ponder, reflect on what this means. So let's, all right, blessed is the man, all right? Blessed, like, seems like a pretty key word from the very beginning. And unfortunately, somewhat of an unfortunate translation. So if you're not a Christian, you may think, what does blessed mean? That sounds like a really Christian word. I'm not really sure what it means. Well, what it really means is happy. …
… nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. But their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He's like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish." In the mail that came most recently during the past week, part of it was a letter that was accompanied by a book, a book that I had never seen, an older book. It was written by Alexander White, who lived in the 19th century into the 20th century. He was the minister of Free St. George's in Edinburgh, and for 40 years or so, he went there as an assistant to a man called Candledge, and eventually he became the senior minister. …
… Glorious time. And then verse 2 says, his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. So he's murmuring it to himself over and over again, every day, every night. And the other two words for meditate in the Bible are actually a part of our Bible reading from this last week in Psalm 119. So Psalm 119 verse 14 describes meditation as repeating God's word even musically in a way that we delight in it. Just an enjoyable picture. And then the other is Psalm 119 verse 99. where the psalmist says, I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. And the word there for meditation is talking about reflecting quietly with deep devotion. So notice the difference here. Reading the Bible is good. And it's necessary as a starting point for meditation, but it's not where it stops, because we don't just read the Bible like we're reading a novel for entertainment or a non-fiction book for information. …
… or sit in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the word of the Lord, and in it does he meditate day and night. The psalmist said in Psalm 119, how I love your commandments, Lord. They give my life back to me because your unfailing love and your words are true. So this is something we need to understand. You have to open up this book. Heard about a woman that wasn't feeling well, so her husband took her to see her doctor and she went into his office. A little time passed and the doctor comes rushing out and he says, is there anybody here that is a screwdriver? Someone happened to have one. They gave it to the doctor. He goes back in the office where this man's wife is. Another moment passes. The doctor comes out again and says, does anyone have a pair of pliers? Someone gives the doctor a pair of pliers. He goes back in the office. He returns again. …
… when we talk about meditation think about the first psalm this is the way the psalter opens and that the key word in psalm 1 verse 2 blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of the lord and on his law he meditates day and night so biblical meditation involves fixing the mind's attention on God through his revealed word that we might stir up God honoring affections. So this thing's terminating on the heart. That's where it's going. And that focus on the heart, on the affections and enjoying God in Jesus Christ is very important. I don't think it's Christian meditation without it. And that's what distinguishes meditation from Bible reading and Bible study and part of what distinguishes it from prayer and from external application of the Bible to our lives. Scott read how Mueller commended not the simple reading of the word, he said so that it only passes through our minds just as water runs through a pipe but considering what we read pondering over it and applying it to the heart he wasn't applying it yet to the external life it wasn't a to-do list coming out of his quiet time yet first it was applying it to the heart so to summarize an older voice do you know father brockle he's not catholic Don't worry. Father Brockle, Wilhelmus Abrockle, Dutch Reformed minister, pastor theologian. …
… nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord. And in his law does he meditate day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, but are like the shaft with the wind. Y'all excuse me, I feel like running around the building. Then. you keep wondering why your life keeps falling down you keep wondering while ain't nothing succeeding you keep wondering why God does open up a door for you because you so busy focuses on everything but him obeying everybody but him you've got everybody else calling the shots on your life why don't you give God, give Jesus a chance to order your life. So the word is success. Put those words back up there. The word is success. This is how I remember these principles. I didn't learn them this way, but I organized them this way. …
… and it's gonna pull you in. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, the word of God, and in his law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth fruit in its own season. This is beautiful. If I was a dictator in education, I would make this like the commencement service for every high school or college. Wow, look at that. Whose leaf also shall not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, the way of the ungodly, shall perish. That's David. Listen, that's Psalm 1, and it begins to go proverb-like at verse 6. You're going to hear a lot of this. Proverbs are the teachings, and I'll give you more of the exact definition in a moment. Proverbs are like teaching by what's contrary, or the opposites. There is the godly, they shall prosper. The wicked will come to destruction. …
… nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord. And on his law, he meditates day and night. So if you delight in God, you're gonna wanna linger in his word. And as you linger in his word, seeking enjoyment of him, it's going to increase your delight in him. This is an amazing relationship here between delighting in Jesus, lingering in his word, and having your delight reinforced, deepened, focused, made solid through meditation. In the New Testament, the language is often set your mind. Maybe you've heard some of these texts, like Colossians chapter three, verses one and two. You can look that up. Romans chapter eight, verses five to nine, where the apostle Paul talks about, hey, your mind can be set on things. You're not an animal. Animals just respond to stimuli. Humans have this amazing capacity to think, I'm gonna put my thoughts on that. I'm gonna put my mind, I'm gonna set my mind somewhere. and your mind is going to, as you drive through university, all the advertisements all around town, you got the billboards, you got stuff on your phone, the ads are popping up. …
… the path of the sinners, cowboys, nor sits in the seat of the scornful angel fans, but his delight is in the law of the Lord. And in his law, he meditates day and what's the last word? Day and night. So God doesn't just want you to read the Bible in the morning. God wants you to read the Bible day and night. So in the morning time, I wake up and I set my agenda. Good morning, Holy Spirit. Teach me, lead me. I'm going to die to my stupid agenda and my dumb dream. Your way's better. Your will's better. And as I read God's word in the morning and the night, it teaches me. It leads me. In fact, put on the screen, it's not just about reading the Bible in the morning. It's about letting it rest in your mind and letting it shape your decisions all day long. It's not just about just going like, I did my reading, done. Well, you know, I did my reading today. Yeah, I did my reading. Do you even read the Bible? For sure. I read it every day. And I read, I just read it. No, the point of Bible reading is so that this thing governs our decisions and teaches me what to do. Uh-uh, I ain't going there. I'm not spending that. …
… blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked nor stands in the way of sinners nor sits in the seat of scoffers but his delight is in the law of the lord and on his law he meditates day and night he is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in season and its leaf does not wither, in all he does, he prospers. Blessed, happy is the man who walks not in the ways of the wicked, of sinners, of scoffers, but who meditates on his law day and night. Why is he so happy? Why? you could say it's because life is going so well in all that he does he prospers who wouldn't be happy if everything was going that well might be part of the answer you could say it's because he's avoided the foolishness and the misery of sinners the consequences that inevitably come for people who live a lifestyle of sinning he's not bearing those consequences? That might be another part of the answer. …
… nor sits in the seat of the scornful but his delight is in the law of the Lord. And in his law, he meditates day and night. Somebody holler out and say day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither. And whatever he does shall prosper. I wish I had an amen. Whatever he does, wherever he goes, whatever he touches, whatever he begins, wherever path he takes, whatever he does shall cross. That devil wants you to think something different. But I got great news. You can win. Go ahead. Tell that person sitting next to you. You can win. You can pass that class. You can win that race. You can build that business. You can win. Y'all got those seven? What's number one? Number two Number three Number four Number five Number six Number seven Now here's how I try to teach people to easily remember this Is the word success The first S is self-acceptance The U is under authority The first C is character The second C is change. …
… Blessed is the man who walks not in the path of the wicked, nor sits in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. They will bear fruit in season. You will bear fruit in season. You will bear fruit in season. Do not eliminate in a season of frustration what God intends to use to bless you in the season of your favor. So then, we have a question to ask. What am I attacking that God has actually called me to embrace? That's why I looked at you the other day. I said, it happened for a reason. because I don't know why yet, but I'm not cutting down that tree. I'm going to let God do what God wants to do. When I saw the picture, Holly, I was like, well, it makes sense if I tell them, stop chopping down trees that are going to bear your fruit for the future. And I was like, you know what? They'll know exactly what that tree is for them because the whole Bible started when somebody didn't know what to do with a tree. …
… path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree planted firmly by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf doesn't wither, and in whatever he does he prospers." That's one kind of worshiper coming through the gate. Here's another kind. The wicked are not so, but they're like chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish." God is saying to the worshipers as they enter the temple, I know who you are. You can't fool me. I know you. You don't belong in the assembly of the righteous because you're going to perish. You're among the perishing. This is the gate to worship. God expects worshipers to be true worshipers. …
… so many scriptures on meditation. Just jot a few of them down. Psalm 1 verses 1 and 2, I talked about that. Psalm 19, 14, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. Psalm 104 and verse 34, my meditation of Him shall be sweet. I will be glad in the Lord. Psalm 119 verse 15, I in thy precepts and have respect unto thy ways. Do you know what's wrong with most of us? We don't lie down in the green grass and meditate. Even those of us who study the Word of God, how much time do we take to really, really digest and assimilate what God has given us? I mean most of us think we've done God a wild favor if we get to church on Sunday, right? And if we can halfway understand what the pastor is saying, fine. When you get home, do you really meditate on what you've heard? When you study God's Word in the morning, do you really have a quiet time? Do you keep a spiritual journal? Do you write down the thoughts that God gives you? Did you know that many of the things that I preach to you are things that God gives me after I've read the Word of God and sit back and think about it. You say, how do people know what's in the Word of God? Where do you get that? Well, one way to get it is to sit back and chew the cut. …