Christian Meditation By Edmund P. Clowney - 942 Words

Christian Meditation by Edmund P. Clowney - 2002 (page 19) Meditation is spoken of most often in the poetry and wisdom saying of the old testament. Psalms and Proverbs not only speak of meditation, they are written meditations. If psalm 119 is read as though it were lyrical or epic poetry, the reader is sure to be disappointed. For every letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the psalmist has written eight verses beginning with the letter. the letters change, bu the subject remains the same! with seemingly monotonous insistence the psalmist keeps praising the law of the lord. The key to understanding the psalm is to enter into the kind of meditation that produced it. The pattern of the psalm is similar to the method that has been called †¦show more content†¦Because God is the source of all wisdom, man looks in vain for wisdom apart from him. Job describes man s search for understanding as a mining expedition. He may dig out rubies, sapphires, and gold, but no mine will yield the ore of wisdom (Job 28). No, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom (v.28). This text is often repeated in the wisdom literature (Prov. 1:7; 9:10; 15:33;Ps.111:10). God who possesses all wisdom, can alone give wisdom to men. But if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him (James 1:5). God s wisdom is revealed in what he has done and continues to do in the world. The heavens declare the glory of God (Ps. 19:1). The Psalms continually celebrate God s power and wisdom in bringing the world into being and directing its season: summer and winter, seedtime, and harvest (e.g. Ps 33). The same Psalms go on to rejoice in Gods wisdom in directing the course of human history. The plans of the nations are brought to nothing, but the counsel of the Lord standeth fast for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations (Ps. 33:11). But above all, the wisdom of God appears in his work of redemption. God promises the salvation of his people, and God s mighty acts accomplished that salvation. (page 21) Apostle Paul, ministering to those Gentiles in the fulfillment of God s plan, O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the