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Good morning everyone. Today I’d like us to look into Psalm 1. And I want to talk on the importance of proper meditation of the scriptures and why a simple reading of the word is not sufficient, is not enough. You know, if we examine an average Christian life we see that many of us are content with mere reading of the word, but your life and the history can testify that will take us nowhere. We will just remain weak Christians. As weak Christians, the
only pathway to grow is the hard and sincere study and meditation of God’s Word. Before that we will look into Psalm 1. Let’s read it together. Psalm 1. “How blessed is a man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the 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 firmly planted by streams of water, which yields his fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither, and whatever he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but they are like chaff which the wind drives away. 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.” Let’s pray. Father, we thank you for your goodness and your mercies in our lives. Lord, we, as we look at your word, God, we pray for the work of your Spirit in our hearts, that we may see the importance and the necessity of your word and meditation upon it in our lives with God. We pray that you would grant us the grace to see that and submit, Lord, to this important aspect, Lord, Father, Lord, for our Christian growth, Lord, Father. We commit ourselves in your hands.
In Jesus Christ’s name we pray. Amen. The main problem in the Christian world is that Christians neglect the Bible. Some people read the word but don’t get deep enough or don’t seek to go deep. They don’t seek to understand the word, they don’t seek to apply the word. And others read but miss it in the bread, and as a result misapply the word. And we should understand that from very early on, from very early on in our Christian journey, that we cannot do whatever we like and still call ourselves as Christians. John Calvin rightly said, “It is not left to every man to frame a system of religion according to his own judgment, but the standard of godliness is to be taken from
the word of God. God is only rightly served when his word is obeyed. And according to this psalm, the righteous people are characterized by, if you look at this psalm, you see that there are two kinds of people, righteous and the wicked. it but and the righteous people here are characterized by one quality what is that you look at verse 2 and our major focus today will be on verse 2 his delight is in the law of the lord and his law he meditates day and night some one represents or presents two kinds of people two behaviors two descriptions of their lives and their two destinies the first group is a wicked here and the second group is a righteous the wicked are those who scoff at God's words God's ways and his word while the righteous delight in God's word their lives are described as no as a
righteous being tree planted by the stream of waters, or it’s like a fruitful tree. And the wicked, like the chaff, are blown away by the wind. And finally, the, their destinies are contrasted here. The destinies are contrasted. One will stand on the day of judgment, and the, and the right, and the righteous
And the right, sorry, the one will perish and the righteous will stand, will be saved. So I want to focus on verse two this morning. “His delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law he meditates day and night.” What is the law of the Lord here? And it refers primarily to Torah, that is the Old Testament, or primarily the law of the Moses, which encompasses the entire scriptural instructions as well. Later, we see that in the New Testament, Peter equates the writings of the apostles with those of the holy prophets in 2 Peter 3, verses 1 and 2.
equates the writings of Paul with the rest of the scriptures in 2 Peter 3, verses 15 and 16. So to us Christians, it implies the entire word of God, the entirety of the word of God, both the Old and the New Testaments are equally important for our lives. And we must pay close attention to God’s word. 2 Timothy 3, verse 16, a very familiar verse. We learn from that the scriptures are breathed out by God. They are useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, training in righteousness. And they are sufficient to equip us for every good work.
And therefore, we must pay very close attention to God's word. alone as we heed to it as we submit to it we grow we mature our character is shaped by God's word we are saying you know to begin with we are we are firstly saved by God's word look at first Peter chapter 1 verse 23 Peter says that for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable what not of seed which is perishable but imperishable that is through the living and enduring word of god so we are firstly saved by the word of god and as soon as we are born again do you know what we must do or what must
have been done by us. We must have been given, we must have given ourselves to the word of God. The point is that if we have neglected God’s word all our Christian life, the point is we won’t grow, we didn’t grow. If your Christian life is character by, characterized by a negligence towards God’s Word, it means that you haven’t grown. Many people who are saved initially are very passionate, right? And very emotional. They want to win the world for the Lord. And but eventually that emotion dies down as they encounter sin, temptation, rejection, persecution, and so on. And but, you know, just as we grow systematically, step by step in our physical life, we must also grow step by step in our spiritual lives.
May I tell you that if you haven't given yourselves to the word of God, it means that you haven't grown. You're not maturing. All the knowledge that you have accumulated from the YouTube or the books that you read won't help you. Won't help you. They will only help you accumulate knowledge.
It won't train your personality or help you become Christ-like. There are no shortcuts for growth for growth or maturity in Christian life if you're not systematically and regularly studying God's word. And up and your and your prayers, if they are not shaped by God's word, God's will, God's truth, and if you're not praying according to God's truth regularly, you are not growing. The word is not going deep into your heart, it is not doing the work in your lives. So and we will remain spiritually immature Christians, because it is only through the word of God that we grow. First Peter chapter 2 verse 2, Peter says this, the
word of God so that you grow by the word of God. Any relationship for it to be vibrant, brothers and sisters, you know that, there should be communication, right? And to relate with our God, we, and the channel is through the word of God and prayer. I learn God's mind through the study of God's word, and then I pray according to what I read or what I learn, and that is praying according to God's will. Do you diligently study the word? Is Scripture authoritative over your life? Do you tremble at God's word? Do you seek God's face to conform yourselves to the standard of God's word? Brothers and sisters, I want you to look into your devotional lives, so-called quiet times, right? How does it look like? What is your time in
the word? How are you seeking God? Are you earnest in knowing God? Now today the church is filled with different types of Christians, right? Number one, there are these namesake Christians. They believe that they follow Jesus, but they live like the world. They attend the church, they sing along with the church, but they do not heed to the word of God. They do not care what God says. They only live according to their own desires. They don't have a desire to please God, and they live in the mask of Christianity, and they are essentially unbelievers. And there are weak Christians.
They are weak because God didn't call them to be weak. They are weak because they are lazy. They don't put any effort into studying God's word. They don't put any effort in seeking God's face. When they struggle, they don't pour out at the throne of grace. Therefore, they remain weak because they are lazy Christians. They hear the word, they sing with others, and they rarely read the word. And if they read, they just simply read for the sake of reading. And they don't apply, they don't think, they don't contemplate on the word. They pray, but they pray only in times of need.
When sickness knocks at the door, when trouble knocks at the door, they only pray at the time. But God is gracious to hear their prayers too. They don't examine their lives in the light of God's word. They remain weak. They — and they are the people who are easily offended. You say a word, they're easily offended. They, they are over, they're on it for days, they're for months, they think over it, and after a long time they burst out, right? They're easily offended. They fall into every other temptation. Knocks at your door and you are at the feet of the temptation.
And there are these strong Christians. They're strong Christians not because of their resilience. They're not strong because of their personality. They're strong Christians because they recognize their weaknesses. They have realized that apart from God's grace, they cannot live in this world. Therefore they give themselves to the word of God. They diligently study God's word. They meditate upon God's word. They seek to understand the meaning of God's word and examine their lives in the light of God's word. They pray for God's help and allow God to shape their lives by the truth that they hear or study, which makes them grow stronger and stronger. They are the resilient Christians. Look at verse two once again. The psalmist says, “his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night.” I want to focus on this aspect this morning. What is delighting
in God's Word? It properly means to take pleasure, taking pleasure in God's Word. How many Christians can testify to that? It's great pleasure to sit with the word and look into the word. And if it is a great pleasure, why don't you have time for it? Why do you just run over it?
Why do you simply read and say hurried prayers? Yes, you're busy people, I know that. You have, you have great jobs, you have busy careers. But you don't, you have time for your mobiles. Don't you have time for the movies? Don't you have time for other things, to scroll, doom scroll, binge watch, whatever no you want to do, don't you have time for? But if you say that God's word gives you pleasure, you should, you should give yourselves to it. Is to take pleasure. Here a godly person or the righteous man, his chief pleasure is in God's Word. This delight stems from
the belief that God's Word is his revelation. He has revealed his word to his people, and that word is sufficient for life and godliness. They have realized that it's only through this word we grow and we are made acceptable unto the Lord, our lives are made pleasing unto the Lord. It's only through this word we are shaped, nothing else. And the, and the Bible's truths are as seen as God's gift to his people. Therefore they are treasured as his revealed will. And approaching, and therefore we approach the word joyfully, and we are eager to obey it to show progress in our Christian life in a
Christian walk. Though we stumble, we raise again. We fall at the throne of grace, we seek His grace and mercies and we press on and therefore grow in godliness and glorify God. We honor Him by living in obedience to Scriptures. Look at what the psalmist says in Psalm 119:11. It’s — it says that the psalmist says that “your word I have treasured in my heart, you I have treasured in my heart.” Does this resonate with your Christian life, brothers and sisters? “Your word I have treasured in you in my hearts.” Why? “That I may not sin against you, that
I may not sin against you.” And look at what Job says in Job chapter 23 verse 12. He says that “I have not departed from the command of his lips.” Why? Because “I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my necessary food,” more than my necessary food. You think that preparing meals is more important because my kids, my family will go hungry? Yes, it’s important, but to Job, he says that treasuring God’s Word in his heart is more important than his regular food. Look at Psalm 112:1, “How blessed is a man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights
in his commandments delighting in God's Word is necessary to grow in the fear of God and a person who delights in God's Word can only rightfully respect God honor God I want you to briefly look at Psalm 19 verses 17 7 till 10. 7 till 10. I want you to stay there for some time.
Psalm 19, verses 7 till 10. If you have opened your Bibles there, the psalmist is so delighted in God’s word that one phrase isn’t enough for him. He finds six different ways to say word, law here. Look at verse 7. He says the law of the Lord, and this in verse 7 he also says the testimony of the Lord. The law of the Lord is also the testimony of the Lord. Verse 8, he says that they are the precepts of the Lord. Verse 8 again, he says the commandment of the Lord. Verse 9, he says that it is the fear of the Lord. And verse 9 again, they are the judgments of the Lord. So the law is expressed in different ways.
They are the law of the Lord. The law of the Lord is the testimony of the Lord. They are the precepts of the Lord. They are the commandment of the Lord. They are the fear of the Lord. They are the judgments of the Lord. And the psalmist uses six different adjectives and six ways to describe the work of the law that does in a person's heart. Look here, again from verse 7. He says, the precepts of the Lord.
are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure — they are the adjectives — right, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true, they’re righteous altogether. They’re more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey, and the drippings of the honeycomb.
Brothers and sisters, this is the testimony of the ages. Kings wrote psalms, but their treasure was in the word of God. They saw more worth in the Word of God than all the riches of this world. How much time do we spend to earn money? Right? How much do we endeavor? It’s important because we have to survive. But how much time do we give to the Word of God which shapes us, which prepares us to live rightly in this world and prepares us for eternity? How much time do we give to it? And how do we delight in God’s Word here? How do we delight in God’s Word? Look at
verse 2 again. His delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night. The love for the word, the delight in the word naturally needs to leads to next step, that is meditation, constant meditation upon the word. No, we have — we may have heard the word meditation, right? And it’s not emptying your mind, right? The worldly way of meditation is emptying your mind, but here the way of meditation is filling your mind with the word and dwelling on it. The word meditate comes from the Hebrew word hagah, which means to ponder or to imagine. To
meditate on God’s Word means to focus our minds on God’s word and reflect upon it so that our thoughts and actions are shaped by God’s word and causing us to live according to God’s word. And we must do it day and night, the psalmist says, which is a metaphor for doing it consistently and diligently.
Christopher Ash says that to meditate suggests a low audible reading. Low audible reading. This includes memorization, consideration to develop understanding, responsive prayer and self-exhortation based on what we have read. Meditation is low audible reading which includes memorization, consideration to develop understanding, responsive prayer and self-exhortation.
Richard Baxter described meditation as the act of the soul where it exercises itself in sincere contemplation of a spiritual object until our affections are somewhat influenced. I tweaked it a little bit and said meditation is the act of the mind where it exercises itself in sincere contemplation of the things that you hear or read until our affections are influenced by what we have read or hear.
Matthew Henry said, “To meditate in God’s word is to discourse with ourselves, reason with ourselves, concerning the great things contained in it, with a close application of mind, a fixedness of thought, till we be suitably affected by those things and experience the savor and power of them in our hearts.” Brothers and sisters, we haven’t made it enough if we haven’t, if the word is not influencing our lives, if proper judgments are formed in our minds. This contemplation of the word is necessary, and it is the act of the mind. The Puritans believe that the scripture required vigorous mental engagement, much like a skilled craftsman working with precious metal or materials, and meditation should be done in an introspective, soul-searching manner, with an effort to store the things that you read or hear in your
heart. As you store these contemplations of the scriptures in your heart, and ask the Lord to influence your ambitions and feelings, we will then begin to live by the word. Otherwise, brothers and sisters, a simple reading of the word or study won’t help us bear fruit. There is a, there is a place for simple reading, a thorough reading of the Bible, but that’s not enough. You should give yourselves to proper meditation of God’s Word. We must recognize the effects of sin on the mind and the heart, and therefore see meditation as a means of grace through which God works to sanctify our hearts, our minds
and thoughts and affections. We must so also acknowledge that because of sin in us, we tend towards spiritual lethargy and worldliness. Thus, we must be disciplined. We must make disciplined meditation essential for maintaining our spiritual vitality. And to understand the method of meditation of the scriptures, we need a few sessions on that.
But let me mention that briefly. First, you must select a book of the Bible and stay with it until you finish it. Don’t think that, “Okay, this is not so interesting. This is not exciting me. Let me go to some other book.” Don’t do that. Pick a book. Stay there. Finish it.
Secondly, pray earnestly to God to put in you a desire to know him, to understand the word and be willing to obey it. Third, you must carefully read and observe the passage or the text. Choose a passage, observe the text, read slowly, carefully, repeatedly. Pay close attention to important words, verbs, commandments, phrases, indicators, grammar, context, historical background and culture. Make those observations, have a journal for that.
Fourth, interpret carefully, understand the flow of thought, the author’s intention, comprehend the meaning of the passage in the light of all the observations and the context. Make sure your interpretation aligns with the broader teachings of God’s word and is doctrinally right, correct. And fifthly, apply the scriptural truths that you understand to your life through deliberate obedience and prayer.
Scripture meditation, brothers and sisters, is not merely an intellectual effort. It is also an act of the soul, where you seek God’s grace earnestly to understand and to make sense of the word that you are reading. The Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit who illuminates the scriptures. He helps us understand the scriptures. If you are not able to get it, don’t stop there.
Seek God’s grace. Ask the Lord to work in your heart to understand. Understand, contemplate that scripture with other brothers and sisters. Refer other good commentaries to understand. True understanding of the word comes from the spirit of God. He will lead us into all truth as the Lord said.
And as you can read and contemplate the word, you pray and seek God’s grace to understand the word. Psalmist prays here. He prays in some Psalm 119 verse 18. I used to joke that, you know, it’s not enough to memorize Psalm 119. I understand why people memorize Psalm 119. You, the Psalm 119 shows the importance of God’s word.
Psalm 119 verse 18. The psalmist prays, “Open my eyes that I may behold wonderful things from your law.” Brothers and sisters, unless the Lord opens our eyes, we cannot see. We cannot see the real meaning there. Right? Understand, so you must pray, you must pray. Psalm 119 verse 12, the psalmist prays, “Blessed are you, O Lord; teach me your statutes.” He’s asking the Lord, teach me your word. When was the last time you opened the word and prayed, “Lord, teach me your word. Teach me your word. Help me understand your word. Open my eyes to see, to behold wonderful truths from your word which can shape my life and my character. O Lord, please help me understand.” Are you struggling with sin, brother? What do you see? What do you, what do you do when you, when you struggle with sin? Do you
give in to sin do we give in to temptation look at what the psalmist how's the psalmist praise Psalm 119 verse 9 he says how can a young man keep his way pure by keeping it according to your word psalm 119 37 it says turn away my eyes from looking at vanity and revive me in your ways brothers and sisters the word of god transforms us seek the lord are you prone to wander from the god you love Psalmist prays in 1.19 verse 10, With all my heart I have sought you. Do not let me wander from your commandments.
Do not let me wander from your commandments. Are you discouraged or struck by grief? Watching a movie won't heal. Talking to a friend may not heal. You may feel better, but I'll bet you that sorrow returns in the morning. Look at what the psalmist prays in 1.19.28. He says, my soul weeps because of grief.
And he says, “Strengthen me according to your word.” When you’re grief stricken, brother and sister, what really strengthens you is the word of God. Look at verse 25. “Soul cleaves to the dust, revive me according to your word.” If you’re not feeling life in you, within you, brothers and sisters, it’s the word of God that revives you. Nothing else. Nothing else. The word of God produces the fear of God in us. Look at how psalmist prays in Psalm 119 verse 38: “Establish your word to your servant, as that which produces reverence for you.”
It is the word of God. All these qualities are formed in us, brothers and sisters. So we must approach the word of God with much diligence. We must pray whenever we study the scriptures and ask the Lord to work in our hearts according to the word so that we will be willing to live by the word. Third, you should think about the passage or the scriptural truths throughout the day whenever you have time.
And Puritans call this as the practice of chewing the cud. Chewing the cud. Which means repeatedly revisiting the same passage or the scriptural truth over several days or weeks. Allowing his truth to sink deeply into your consciousness. They believe that scriptural truths like food needed to be fully digested to nourish the soul. Another method that assists meditation is continuously thinking about it.
Another important thing is memorization as well. Brothers and sisters, if a person doesn’t delight in God’s word, it means that he does not love the word. It means that he does not hold on to God’s word and eventually he cannot withstand life’s afflictions.
What happens when one meditates upon God’s word? What happens? Firstly, the scriptures call him blessed. I like the way the NASB puts it. He said, it says, “How blessed is a man.” How blessed is a man. He’s truly blessed. He says verse one, “How blessed is a man.” Is truly blessed or happy because he has fellowship with God through the meditation of the scriptures. And such a person develops a rich understanding of God’s character and his ways. And as a person and as you persist in such a discipline of meditating on God’s word, God will shape your character and he will strengthen you to do what, to do what. He says, how blessed is
a man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of the sinners, nor sit in. The main trait of a godly person is to flee from worldliness. And this worldly system includes all sinful and evil ways. We are surrounded by it. And in verse 1, the counsel of the wicked, the way of the sinners, or the seat of the scoffers, all refer to the same sinful, evil lifestyle. Instead of being carried away by the ungodliness around us, or the multitude around us, we must detest that lifestyle. How will that happen? It doesn’t happen automatically.
Brothers and sisters, we are naturally wired to do sin. We are naturally wired to be enticed by sin. Do not be surprised that you are, you’re naturally drawn to sin, or to lust after a person, to do things that everyone does it. And don’t simply justify because it’s okay because everyone is doing it. No, we are naturally wired to do that. What, and what will really help us undo those things is the word of God alone. As you give yourselves to the word, as you look deep into the word, as you allow the word of God to work, as you pray, “Lord, open my eyes to behold wonderful truths in your word. Teach me from your word. Revive me,” only then brothers and
sisters, you will be shaped by God's word. Godly values will be formed in you. Convictions will be formed in you. Strength to persevere in those godly values will be strengthened in you, so that you will resist all kinds of wickedness. Everything that displeases God, dishonors God, will be detestable to you. Anything that is contrary to God's Word or the principles of God's word is worldly.
Such are the godly people who reject and despise the way of the wicked and renounce the lifestyle of the sinners. They constantly and deliberately renounce the way of evil. Our sinful nature has trained us to think in sinful ways. We are often tempted by our own sinful desires and by the world. So it should be the deliberate duty of a godly person to reject the counsel, the thoughts, thought patterns, imaginations, etc. of the flesh and of the enemy.
Titus chapter 2 verses 11 and 12, one of my favorite verses. It says that, “for the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to pray—it, sorry, it teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-control upright godly lives in this present age.” I'm reading it from the NIV, and the NIV puts it in the best way, most—in the most powerful way. It says that it teaches us to say no, to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions. The grace, brothers and sisters, we received at the salvation, for salvation, that free unmerited grace which saved us, is also necessary for
our. We need to approach the throne of grace daily, bringing our weaknesses to the Lord and our Savior, pleading with him for grace to overcome sin. And the Spirit of God will enable us to reject the ways of sin. Galatians 5 verse 16, seen. So as you meditate on the scriptures and seek God's favor according to God's word, you will receive grace to overcome sin and the world. That's the first benefit. You will live a victorious life. It's only by the word of God, as the word of God works in you. And then the second benefit from a life devoted to God's word is a fruitful life in the world.
One aspect is you will be able to face temptations, overcome temptations. You will be able to face all the life's afflictions. You will remain strong even when you are persecuted, when you are in deep trials. No, you will look to the Lord, and you and you will know that the God's grace will sustain you. The second benefit from devoting to God's word is being fruitful to God's will. Look at verse 3: “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.” A godly person who lives by the word of God is not only a happy person, it is not only a victorious person, he's also a fruitful person.
The psalmist confirms the characteristic of a godly person to be fruitful by using the metaphor of a tree planted by the streams of water. A godly person is a fruitful person. He bears fruit in every season—good times, bad times, difficult times, worst times. He rejoices in the grace of the Lord. He can—he is with Paul, he knows to rejoice in good times, he knows to live in contentment even in bad times, right? I think I said it the other way. He, yeah, I think you got your point, got the point. So the tree that is planted by the side of the streams of water will always flourish, will always flourish. The godly people are like trees planted by the side of waters. Imagine those trees which are, which
are always touched by the rivers of waters or streams of waters. They are fruitful. They will always bear fruit, right? And those trees, any tree that bears fruit, it does not bear fruit for themselves. It bears fruit for others, right? So when a righteous person bears fruit according to God's word, yes, he is benefited from God's word, but the fruit is for the glory of the Lord. God is glorified, is honored. Not only that, even people who come in touch with them are blessed, are edified, are built up, because they walk with the Lord, because their hearts are filled with the Word of God
and the way when they communicate with others, they communicate the Word of God, they speak the Word of God, they give the wisdom from the word of God. So people who come in touch with you will be blessed because of the word of God, because you will be overflowing with the meditations of God's word. You will have wisdom for every occasion, because you are made—you have a life of meditation and the scriptures are stored in your heart. And when people come to you with different situations, you—the wisdom flows from you. Brothers and sisters, that life is a blessed life, because you will be
pointing them to the word, you will be pointing them to the—to Christ. God is glorified, God is glorified. So they, and the psalmist says, so they prosper. Again, don't get this wrong, he's not talking of material prosperity. They prosper in God's word. They prosper in God's wisdom. They prosper in God's ways. The children of God constantly flourish and are always watered with secret influences of divine grace. Since their hearts are devoted to God, they prosper in the purposes of God towards them. Their aim is not prosperity. Their aim is to glorify their creator. They're deeply devoted to God, and being a blessing to others is inevitable.
The one who executed this perfectly, the one who delighted in the law of the Lord perfectly, one who meditated upon the word of the Lord day and night, one who is perfectly righteous and flourished and was a great blessing to others, was our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. While he was on this earth, he always pleased the Father. He was that righteous man. He was that righteous man. Jesus was strong in the word, and he was a man of prayer. He fasted for many days and he prayed regularly. Remember in the wilderness how he fought off the tempter and the lies of the enemy. He
countered them with the word of God. When the enemy or the world sows doubt in your heart, what should counter you? What should counter that? The word of God in you. Jesus did the same thing because his life is filled with the word of God. Brother and sister, if you are a weak Christian who keeps struggling, let me tell you that you are not meant to live that way.
You can overcome it and walk in the prop, in the, uh, you can walk in the power of the risen Savior. It doesn't mean that strong Christians will not struggle. There will be struggles and many distractions. There will be times, brothers and sisters, as you know, that you will feel that meditating on the scriptures becomes routine and uninspiring and spiritually dry. And the, and the wisdom from the ages is to persist even in those times in the practice of meditation of the scriptures. Whether you feel for it or not, you do it. But over time you will be showered with grace from
above. Be disciplined in this practice, and God will bring grace. Whether you feel like praying or not, pray. Tell the Lord, “I don't feel like praying. I don't feel like studying the word.” Will he not give you grace? And the nominal Christians here are those who think you are Christian, but you were born because you think you are Christian because you're born in a Christian family. Or for some other reason. If you don't see that God's grace is working in your life, or if God is not helping you to know him, or to love him, or to obey his word, then maybe you're not truly a believer.
If there is no desire in you, brothers and sisters, friends, if there's no desire in you to love God, no desire in you to study God's word, to shape your life, fashion your life according to God's word, maybe you're not a believer. You're not a believer. You might be like the wicked in this psalm who will perish someday.
But there is hope for you. There is hope for you. The righteous are not righteous because of their deeds, but because they have come to a place of honesty and realize that there is nothing good in themselves. And they're righteous only by trusting in the one who is truly righteous. The way to become righteous, or to be saved, is by humbling yourself and trusting in God our Savior King Jesus, who suffered and died for sinners on the cross. He endured God's holy anger, which was burning hot against all sinners. He is, he's the only one who lived without sin for you.
He died on the cross to fully pay for your sins. All the past, present, and future sins. And he rose again in victory. And is now seated at God's right hand as an eternal God-man. Having defeated sin and death and the enemy. He can save everyone who looks to him. If you trust and have faith in him. You will not stand before God's judgment with the wicked. You can be saved. So brothers and sisters, this is a small exhortation to you. To examine your own life with the Lord, your own life in the word. Don't take it for granted.
Don't take it for granted. Because your life is busy doesn't mean that you are exempted from looking into the word. Because you have busy job, busy families? No. Doesn't mean that you're exempted from meditating on God's scriptures. No, that's not an excuse. That's not an excuse. Cut down other things, but don't cut down on this is the source of all life and godliness. You are shaped by the word of God.
Only by the word. And your prayers should be shaped by the word of God. The things that you read should be turned as prayers and requests at the throne of grace. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you for your word. Help us see the importance and the necessity of meditating on the scriptures. Please, Father, in Jesus Christ's name we pray. Amen.