Sermon Notes – Tim Keller / David Bisgrove – “Practicing the Christian Life–Walking” Series – Sermon #4

Tim Keller / David Bisgrove

“Practicing the Christian Life–Walking” series

4/27/08 “The Bridge to Prayer” sermon #4
Teaching is based on Psalm 1:1-6

Introduction: Intellectual belief in itself doesn’t contain change in character.

• I know these things, and yet I struggle with behavior in all of these things. Ex: I know I’m not supposed to lust, and yet my eyes grope women.
• Thinking that intellectual belief itself will change our character is like saying we belong to the gym and expecting to get in shape without going there and working out.

Outline

I. The promise of meditation

II. The practice of meditation
III. The passion of meditation

I. The promise of meditation

• “Blessed”=happiness, but much deeper than our common usage. It’s interesting that this word “blessed” starts off Psalm 1:1; the beginning of the book of Psalms–a book of prayers–is this deep happiness.
  • Many people out of a deep yearning in their hearts come to New York City
    • Yet nothing will satisfy the fundamental restlessness of our hearts
      • Jobs and careers are wonderful, but they just won’t do it.
    • We’re all meditating (walking, standing, sitting as the Psalmist writes) on something, and that something (whatever it is) is shaping who we are.
      • If we walk, stand, and sit (meditate) on success, success will shape who we are, and we’ll do anything for it. It will shape our character.
  • Unless we put our roots deeply into the God who made us, we’ll never find that answer to this deep yearning.
    • If we’re cold to God, we need to acknowledge that we’re not so good at meditation.
• The tree, the Christian with roots deeply into God, walking, standing, and sitting, meditating on God
  • Stability (by streams of water)
    • Ability to thrive not dependent on circumstances
    • “Joy is not the absence of conflict but the presence of God.” Elizabeth Elliott?
  • Productive (bearing fruit)
    • Stick your roots into His story, connect it with your story, and you’ll be reaching your full human potential. You were made for this story.
  • Wise (bearing fruit in season though leave doesn’t wither)
    • In times like winter when no fruit is forthcoming but you’re growing
    • A wise person understands the purpose of suffering and God saying no

II. The practice of meditation (vs. 2)

• To love being told what to do by God
  • • We value freedom, this idea of loving being told what to do is alien to us (we came to NYC to get away from that!)
  • The degree to which we do this…
    • Ex: His three year old daughter who wants to pull away from Dad and do things her own way would have a life expectancy of thirty minutes in downtown Manhattan.
    • The gap in loving authority between child and father is infinitely smaller than that between us and God
• The essence of meditation is listening to God
  • Meditation is sort of the opposite of prayer. Prayer is us talking to God (which isn’t bad!). Meditation is us listening to God.
    • The dominant communication paradigm should be: He talks, we listen.
    • Ex: in Psalm 103, David is talking to his heart
    • Ex2: J. I. Packer (theologian): Meditation is arguing with oneself until information becomes sensation in our lives.
• Do it day and night: don’t stop doing it
  • Wife didn’t train for NY marathon by watching inspirational videos and reading books about it; she practiced.
  • Meditation takes time–it’s not magic. Practical advice: as a minimum, do 30 minutes.

III. The passion of meditation

• Here’s the problem with all this on meditation: who really does it like this?
• The sermon on the mount is basically Jesus’ meditation on the law (He listens to God’s command about adultery, and hears that lust actually is the same concept, etc.)
• Vs. 5 and 6 of this Psalm describe a standard of righteousness that is terrifying; they will fill you with guilt.
• Jesus is the stream of living water in this psalm
  • On the cross, He knew that He was being poured out like water; He quoted Psalm 22; at the well, He knew
  • Eternal life is knowing Him and knowing He knows us.
• Jesus filled verses 5 and 6; He gave us the fulfillment of this

Close: One way to approach meditation

• First, ask: what does this passage teach?
• Then, use ACTS naturally, as they come, in whatever order:
  • Adoration
  • Confession
  • Thanksgiving
  • Supplication (asking for things)

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