In Christian meditation, we are re-aligning ourselves vertically. We're remapping our horizontal realities with a vertical view/perspective. Enabling us to embody that vertical perspective replaces anxiety and tension with a calm confidence.
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Jesus viewed the Psalms in the Hebrew Scriptures (what we call the Old Testament) as ultimately written by God’s Spirit (see Mark 12:36). He quoted from the Psalm more than from any other Old Testament book. He obviously immersed himself in the Psalm because he quoted them verbatim from memory. So I want to have the same view of the Psalms that Jesus had, and use them in my own meditation as Jesus did so often.
Psalm 150:1–6 ESV
1 Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens!
2 Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!
6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!
With your breath given to you by God, praise him. Lift up – elevate – him in your mind and heart. Worship him. With each in-breath focus your mind on your life given to you by the I AM. With each outbreath focus your mind on submitting your life to him. Submitting your body to him. Submitting your anxieties, your concerns, your regrets, your insecurities, your successes, your hopes – your past, present, and future – to him. And feel the sensation of that submission to God – the I AM – into your body. Feel God’s Shalom flowing throughout your entire body.
And say quietly: “God is present. He is in this moment with me. And I can trust him.”
“The LORD” in our English Bibles is indicating that in Hebrew God’s name, Yahweh, is used. Yahweh is the ancient Hebrew verb form for “HE IS.” God’s name in the Hebrew scriptures is used more than any other term for God. More than “God” is used.
When we survey the various truths associated with God’s name, HE IS, in the Hebrew scriptures (what we call the Old Testament), four important aspects of God are emphasized.
- HE IS the Creator and Sustainer of ALL that exists, including this entire universe.
- HE IS the Giver and Sustainer of ALL life everywhere always.
- HE IS Eternally God.
- HE IS ALWAYS 100% present with you and focused on you in every present moment (without being any less present or focused anywhere else in the universe, because HE IS infinite).
These four realities of what God’s name means are easy to memorize, and so to remember them when you “Praise the LORD” will help you replace anxieties and self-protective guarding with a calm confidence and peace.
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This podcast is a ministry of The Crossing, a church in Columbia, Missouri, a college town where the flagship campus of the University of Missouri is located.