MEDITATION, the Biblical Way

 

MEDITATION
It is a subject that can stir uncertainty, mystery, and apprehension in the minds of some Christians. It can usher in thoughts of something strange and mystical, linked to eastern religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism. But meditation is mentioned in the Bible about 30 times (depending on the translation). Followers of Christ are advised and encouraged to meditate. However Biblical-based Christian meditation differs from eastern religion meditations. In those, a person is guided to empty the mind and then focus on breathing, their body, objects, or chanting mantras. Biblical meditation has the person quiet their surroundings and focus on the Word of God and nature of God, and how God’s Word applies to them. Bible-based meditation should be based solely on the Word of God and what it reveals about Him and His works.

A general definition of meditating is to focus thought on; reflect or ponder. Biblical meditation directs us to focus on scripture and the nature of God. Following are a few verses discussing meditation.

Psalm 119:15 I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways.
Psalm 119:27 Help me understand the meaning of your commandments, and I will meditate on your wonderful deeds.
Psalm 1:2 But they delight in the law of the Lord meditating on it day and night.
Psalm 19:14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you O Lord

Biblical meditation actively engages the mind for the purpose of understanding God’s Word and His nature. It is a way to internalize God’s Word… to take it into our hearts.

Meditation takes time and effort. It cannot be rushed. You must plan to withdraw from distractions so that you can fix your thoughts on God and His Word. Here are some ways to get started:

1. Carve out a time and place free from distractions
2. Begin by thinking about one or more verses of scripture
3. Ask for God to give you understanding
4. Ponder. Reflect. Let it weigh on your mind.
Sometimes you may find it difficult to narrow down or figure out what to meditate on. Let me respond by ending this lesson with one of my favorite scriptures, from the Apostle Paul:

Philippians 4:8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

 

 

Nehemiah: Building Walls & Gates part 8

 

FINISHING THE WALL

The enemies of the Israelites continued to use threatening and intimidation to stop the work on the wall.
Nehemiah 4:11 … our enemies said, “Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work.”

Nehemiah placed guards armed with bows, spears, and swords where the wall was low or had exposed places. He had half the men do work, while the other half stood guard. The workers who carried supplies would carry materials in one hand, and a weapon in the other. Their enemies were frustrated over and over again. Nehemiah encouraged and strengthened the Israelites.

Nehemiah 4:14 After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.”

Work on the wall went on each day from the break of dawn till the stars came out at night (verse 22). Then during the night guards were stationed all along the wall. They were workers by day and guards by night. Nehemiah, himself, was always ready for action.
Nehemiah 4:23 Neither I nor my brothers nor my men nor the guards with me took off our clothes; each had his weapon, even when he went for water.

In the opening verses of chapter 6 of Nehemiah, we find that the wall around Jerusalem was nearing completion. The work had progressed to where the wall no longer had any breaks in it. The entire wall was joined together though the doors had not yet been hung at the gates. The progress was reported to Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem, the enemies of Nehemiah and opponents of the wall. Everything these men tried to stop the wall had failed up to this point. The wall was almost finished. It was “now or never time” to try to stop the building. They needed a different tactic.

Nehemiah 6:2 Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: “Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono.”
They demanded that Nehemiah meet with them in one of the nearby villages to discuss things with them. Four times the enemies sent messengers to Nehemiah saying they wanted to meet with him. Nehemiah did not allow himself to get distracted from what God had called him to do. He was not there to smooth things over with Sanballat and Tobiah. He was not there to negotiate with them. He was there to build the wall. Nehemiah knew they were scheming to get him away from the other Jews so they could harm him. All four times that the messengers came, Nehemiah sent them back the same reply.

Nehemiah 6:3 I sent messengers to them with this reply: “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?”
Nehemiah knew that they were enemies of the work and would do anything to stop it. He had discernment, a gift that comes with experience and spiritual maturity. Meeting with the enemy would not accomplish anything good, and they would likely try to capture or kill him to stop the work.

So the enemies tried another tactic. They sent an accusing letter to Nehemiah:
Nehemiah 6:6 “It is reported among the nations—and Geshem says it is true—that you and the Jews are plotting to revolt, and therefore you are building the wall. Moreover, according to these reports you are about to become their king. …Now this report will get back to the king; so come, let us meet together.”

Nehemiah did not take the bait. He did not stop the work to go address these false charges. He simply dealt with the lie by stating the truth.
Nehemiah 6:7 I sent him this reply: “Nothing like what you are saying is happening; you are just making it up out of your head.”
The best way to deal with a lie is with the truth.

Desperate people do desperate things; Sanballat and Tobiah were desperate to stop the work on the walls and gates. A final desperate attempt is recorded in chapter 6, verses 10-13. A prophet named Shemaiah met with Nehemiah.
6:10 He said, “Let us meet in the house of God, inside the temple, and let us close the temple doors, because men are coming to kill you—by night they are coming to kill you.”

This prophet claimed he knew Nehemiah would be killed that night unless he went into hiding. He was suggesting Nehemiah hide in the temple. Only priests were allowed in the temple. For Nehemiah to hide there would be a sin. Nehemiah, once again, used discernment and what God revealed to him about the heart of this prophet, Shemaiah.

Nehemiah 6:11-13 But I said, “Should a man like me run away? Or should someone like me go into the temple to save his life? I will not go!” I realized that God had not sent him, but that he had prophesied against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. He had been hired to intimidate me so that I would commit a sin by doing this, and then they would give me a bad name to discredit me.

The work on the wall continued, despite all the opposition. On October 2nd, 445 BC the wall was completed, just fifty-two days after it had begun. It was an amazing accomplishment to be done is such a short period of time. It was completed so fast, that even if on the first day, Sanballat and Tobiah had sent messengers to the King in Persia to try to persuade him to stop what was going on, that those messengers would only have been halfway to the king’s palace. It was so amazing that even the enemies and surrounding nations had to believe that God had His hand on it.
Nehemiah 6:16 When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.

Indeed, God did have his hand in it. He used the willing vessel, Nehemiah, and the people of Jerusalem that had a mind to work, to accomplish His will. No opposition was able to stop it. God’s favor and blessing were on it from the start.

——  The End  ——

Nehemiah: Building Walls & Gates part 7

 

Posted on June 8, 2020

DEALING WITH OPPOSITION

When you start doing a work for God, the first thing you will have to do is fight off opposition.
Nehemiah 4:1 Sanballat was very angry when he learned that we were rebuilding the wall. He flew into a rage and mocked the Jews,…
The Hebrew word for “angry” in the verse is charah, and it means burning hot with anger. He was furious and indignant. He flew into a rage and mocked and ridiculed the Jews.

Nehemiah 4:2 “What does this bunch of poor, feeble Jews think they’re doing? Do they think they can build the wall in a single day by just offering a few sacrifices? Do they actually think they can make something of stones from a rubbish heap—and charred ones at that?”

Sanballat had no authority to actually stop the work. Nehemiah and the workers had the legal protection from the king (refer to letters mentioned in Nehemiah 2:7). All he could legally do was to try to discourage the Jews so much they would stop. He discouraged by criticism and mocking.

In calling the Jews poor and feeble he was saying they were unfit for the task. By mockingly asking “can they build the wall in a single day by just offering a few sacrifices” he was asking if the Jews thought that by offering sacrifices to their God, the wall would magically be built. Then he points out they do not even have real stones to build with, but have to use rubbish to build the wall.

As noted before in this study series, many events in the Book of Nehemiah have parallels to ministry today. Here is another. The enemy will attack a ministry by discouraging the leaders and workers. The enemy will tell them the task is too big, and that they are not able to do it. Sanballat wanted the Jews to get discouraged and quit. The enemy wants anyone involved in ministry to get discouraged and quit.

Nehemiah 4:3 Tobiah the Ammonite, who was standing beside him, remarked, “That stone wall would collapse if even a fox walked along the top of it!”
Tobiah piles on by criticizing the quality of the work on the wall. Critics like to hang together. They feed off of each other’s negativity.

Sanballat and Tobiah were not having a private conversation. It was a very public discussion with a lot of people around. Their words and mocking were meant to be heard and to get back to the Jews and Nehemiah. What would Nehemiah do? Would he hold a public meeting and give a speech? Would he mock them because they mocked him? No and no again. Nehemiah did what he knew was the right thing to do. He prayed earnestly.

Nehemiah 4:4 Then I prayed, “Hear us, our God, for we are being mocked. May their scoffing fall back on their own heads, and may they themselves become captives in a foreign land! Do not ignore their guilt. Do not blot out their sins, for they have provoked you to anger here in front of the builders.”

This was no feel-good Sunday School prayer! Nehemiah was angry, and the tone and words of his prayer showed it. But he did not lash out on his own. He turned over the situation and his enemies to God. He asked God to turn their shame back onto them and to remember their sins committed against the children of Israel. Once again, Nehemiah provides a valuable lesson in ministry. When you feel ridiculed or discouraged, turn it over to God in prayer. “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord in Romans 12:19.

Nehemiah and the Israelites did not stop and focus on the opposition. They focused on the building of the wall. They were united in their purpose and their work.
Nehemiah 4:6 At last the wall was completed to half its height around the entire city, for the people had a mind to work.

Nehemiah 4:7-9 But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites heard that the work was going ahead and that the gaps in the wall of Jerusalem were being repaired, direction. they were furious. They all made plans to come and fight against Jerusalem and throw us into confusion. But we prayed to our God and guarded the city day and night to protect ourselves.

The opposition found they could not overcome the Israelites with discouragement and mocking. So they were coming together to plan on attacking and disrupting the builders. Nehemiah and the Israelites did what they knew to do – they prayed for God’s direction.

Coming in the 8th and final part of this study series, Nehemiah and the Israelites face threats and intimidation as the wall nears completion. 

—  END  —