BiblicalMeditation

This is a teaching about biblical meditation. It explores who should meditate, what biblical meditation is, how to meditate, when and where to meditate, and why believers should meditate. Biblical meditation focuses on Yahweh and connecting with Him spiritually. It is not about clearing the mind, but about focusing thoughts on God's words, works, and ways. It is a time to pause and think calmly about Yahweh. Biblical meditation is a commandment and a way to connect with the spiritual realm. It helps to relax the mind and tap into the Creator's will. It is a concentrated contemplation on the Scriptures and a service of the heart. Meditation is a daily practice and helps us see the message behind events in life. It is a method for attaining spirituality and is helpful to the soul. Biblical meditation is not just an action, but a state of being and awareness. Hello, this is Daniel Rendleman with Emet Ministries and welcome to our teaching today about biblical meditation. We're going to have an exciting time as we look into this subject and we look at a different way to connect with the Creator spiritually. And there are many biblical ways that we can grow in spirituality. There's study, you know, there's worship, obedience, prayer. So today we're going to look at exploring the joy of biblical meditation in simple down to earth terms. We're going to discover who, what, when, why, and how. Who should meditate? What is biblical meditation? How does a person meditate? When should a person meditate? Where should meditation take place? And finally, why? Why should a believer need to meditate? And today as we look at this subject, we're going to be using the sacred name of Yahweh, Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh. It's the name of the Creator revealed to Moses, the burning bush. It's the name hidden in our Bibles behind the capitalized L-O-R-D or G-O-D used over 8,000 times in our scriptures. We're also going to refer to the Savior, the Messiah, to his real name, the true name of Yahshua. Perhaps you heard this name during the Mel Gibson video, The Passion of the Christ. We'll be using those terms today. And to begin, let's just let our minds go back a little and think about when we were children. Think about the last time you played hide-and-seek. You know, it's a fun children's game where one person counts, maybe counts down to ten, and everybody else hides. Everyone is given a chance to find a good hiding space. And then that person, who is it? They say, ready or not, here I come. And they run and try to find everyone. I enjoy playing the game with my children even today. It's an amazing, you know, it's a fun game. It's an amazing principle, though, that we can find by just examining this game. You see, friend, we have actually hidden the Creator, Yahweh, in our world. And so meditation, biblical meditation, is one way that we can find Him. Now, when I say that we have hidden Him, what I mean is because of sin, because of our soulish nature, the sinful animal nature that is within everyone, we have actually put a veil upon the light of the Creator, Yahweh, of Elohim. That's what we've done. And because of that, we have hidden Him. We have veiled Him. And so in a classic game of hide-and-seek, our goal in life is to unveil Him. It's to find the Creator. Our sins have hidden the Divine, and so through meditation, through these different acts of connecting spiritually, we can see Yahweh in all and through all, and we can experience Him. You know, we believe that He is omnipresent. We believe that He is everywhere. Well, as we look to biblical meditation, it's going to help us live that awareness out. There's a few things I'd like to start out by addressing with this issue. The first thing is what biblical meditation is not, if that's okay. And the first thing I'd like to say is that biblical meditation, excuse me, is not a clearing of the mind. It's not the transcendental meditation that New Agers do. It is not a time where we just zone out. Biblical meditation, as we find it in the Scriptures, is a time that we focus our thoughts on Yahweh. When we look to Him, we focus our thoughts on His words, His works, and His ways. In Hebrew, the word for meditate is tziak, and there's another word called dagah. Dagah and tziak, and it means to imagine, to speak, to mourn, to think calmly on. We've all read in the Psalms the word selah, S-E-L-A-H, and this word here used throughout the Psalms. You know, the Psalms will be saying some great praises to Yahweh, and then it'll stop and say selah. Well, that word selah means to do just that. It means to stop and to think calmly about what has just been read. It means to pause, to exalt, to lift up. And so biblical meditation is just that. It's a time of pausing, a time of stopping, a time to think just about Yahweh, just about Him. And so as we begin our study today, the first thing to answer is what is biblical meditation? We've looked at the Hebrew words of dagah and tziak, and it means to imagine, to speak, to mourn, and it's focusing our thoughts upon Yahweh. So when we look to why one person would want to meditate, we're actually going to see that it is one of the 613 commandments in the scriptures that are given to mankind for living. To meditate upon Yahweh is one of the 613 mitzvot given in the Torah. So what is biblical meditation? It's a direct way to connect to the spiritual world. It's the way that we can stop connecting with this world and connect with the mystical, the spiritual realm. I mean, just think about it. There's no way that you can connect to anyone or anything in this world without thoughts, without thinking. We might think that, you know, in the blink of an eye, just like that, our reflexes can do something in this world, but our mind works that fast, that fast, as fast as you just blink right there. That's how fast your mind works. And all day long, our minds are on so many things. We wake up and our mind is on catching up with the alarm clock and jumping out of the bed, taking a shower, getting the kids off to school, getting dressed, brushing our teeth, going off to work, working all day, a friend of mine calls work Babylon, but working all day for different reasons to make money, working all day in a society that's all about money, all about satisfaction, working, what, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 hours, coming home, having dinner, watching some TV, spending some time with the kids, and then, what, going to bed and starting all over. You know, sometimes, sometimes we do throw the spirit in there. Sometimes we stop and we have Bible study or we worship or we sing or we read the scriptures, we have a quiet time. But many days, our life just goes on, busy, busy, busy, and we never stop to think about Yahweh. That is exactly what Biblical meditation is. It is a time consecrated, a time dedicated to center our thoughts on Him, focusing our mind and our attention on Yahweh. It is a type of prayer, of tefillah. And yet also, Biblical meditation is a time to relax, to bring our soul to rest and to tap into the Creator's will. I don't know about you, but personally, I have a problem relaxing. I'm just kind of high-strung and I like to bounce off the walls and, you know, I'm always busy. My mind is always whirling. I'm always thinking about what to do next, what to say, what direction to go in, how I could do a better job at work, how I could be a better father, how I could be a better husband, how I can take care of my family better, my loved ones. I'm always thinking. Biblical meditation is a time to bring our soul to rest and to take all these thoughts and condense them and to think about Yahweh. It's concentrated contemplation on the Scriptures, and I like to call it the service of the heart. The service of the heart. In Psalm 119, verse 97, Tehillim 119, verse 97, it says, Oh, how I love the Torah! It is my meditation all day. Oh, how I love the Torah! It is my meditation all day. That's just one of the many times that the word meditation or meditate or thinking is found in the Scriptures. Many of us are familiar with the verse in the New Testament or the Newer Testament that says to think on these things, and it lists all these great attributes. Well, the psalmist tells us, Oh, how I love the Torah! It, the Torah, is my meditation all day. You see, instead of the psalmist thinking about work and thinking about what he was going to eat for dinner and what was going to be on the next edition of Lost on TV, the Torah, the living instructions, the way we connect with Yahweh, was his meditation. And so what we're going to learn today is that meditation is a biblical concept. We're going to look at who in the Bible meditated, how we can meditate, and as we do so, we're going to see that meditation and the techniques we're going to discuss today were not originally considered special. You see, many people, when we think of the word meditation, we think of New Age gurus, you know, humming and doing this thing and meditating out of their body and things like that. That's biblical meditation. Yet, however, these techniques of meditating that we're going to talk about today, they weren't considered special to the early believers because they were and are intended for daily practice. The way that we get to ordinary piety, the way that we become spiritual, one of the ways that we do that is through daily meditation. You see, friend, each event in our life has a message. Meditation, a dedicated, excuse me, time of meditation, of thinking, of focusing our thoughts will help us to see the message behind the events in life. Think about it. When John the Immerser, or Yochanan, excuse me, Yochanan, was on the Isle of Patmos, when he received the vision of Messiah, when he received the book we call Revelation, it says it was while he was in the spirit. Could be while he was meditating. It's a method for attaining spirituality. One rabbi says that meditation is helpful to the soul seven times more than study. Now, we've all been taught to study. We all know how to study. We look at the scripture and we see the Pardes, the Pashat, the Ramez, the Drash, the Sod. We are all learning how to have a Hebraic understanding and a renewed mind, yet this rabbi, Moshe Cordevo, says that meditation is helpful to the soul seven times more than study. Through meditation we connect to Yahweh through our soul and through our minds. So what is biblical meditation? It's a type of prayer. It's a way that we see Him. It's actually a mitzvah, actually a commandment, one of the 613 commandments. And I'd like to say this, as we begin to look in the scriptures, biblical meditation is not just an action, but a state of being. It's not something that you do 20 or 30 minutes a day, but it's a state of being and a state of awareness that you stay in. And you see, the problem is our minds are full of junk. There's an old saying, garbage in, garbage out. Well, our minds have been the garbage cans to our society. And our minds are filled with so much during the day. Everywhere we turn, advertisers are trying to reach us. People are trying to grab our attention. You know, we ride down the road, there's a billboard, there's a commercial on the radio station, there's magazines, there's newspapers, there's so much media, there's so much advertising out there. Someone's always trying to get our attention. We get postcards in the mail and so many different ways that our attention span is taken away from the Torah. We're not like that psalmist. Because, well, one reason is because we work. We live in a society where we have to work, or maybe we live in a society where we stay at home and you're a stay-at-home mom. Well, biblical meditation is a way that you can take all of what happens in your life, you can have greater understanding of what is happening in your life, and you can help yourself gain control. Have you ever said to yourself, life is just out of control? Have you ever wondered what it means to have a renewed mind, as it says in Romans chapters 1 and 2? It says, My dear brothers, I exhort you therefore, by Elohim's mercies, to present yourselves to Yahweh, a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to Him. It says, Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. You see, our mind has to be made new to Yahweh, to the Hebraic mindset. Biblical meditation is one way that we can do that. Because I hate to say this, but we've all been brainwashed. Yes, I'm not talking about Jim Jones here or some crazy cult, but we have all been brainwashed into thinking certain patterns. When many people look at the idea of biblical meditation, they just stay away from it. Because they've got this idea in their mind and already a picture in their mind of what it is or what it is not. In all actuality, in reality, biblical meditation is a way that you can gain control of your mind. You see, your mind right now and my mind, it's like a wild horse that just goes and does whatever it wants to do. Through studies of scriptures, through acts of spirituality, including biblical meditation, we can control our mind. We can yield our mind to Messiah and take on the mind of Messiah. It helps us calm our nerves and take control. So why would a person want to meditate biblically? Well, number one, it is a commandment of the scriptures. Out of the 613 mitzvot that have been found to be in the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, the very first commandment, the very first one out of the numbering that's been done, is to know Yahweh. The biblical reference for this is Exodus 20 verse 2 or Deuteronomy chapter 5 verse 6. I am Yahweh your Elohim who brought you out of the land of Egypt. And the rabbis have said that the way that a person can fulfill this mitzvot to know him is through meditation, through thinking calmly on Yahweh. It's a way to cleanse our thoughts and think about him. We're actually fulfilling a mitzvot right now by learning about this in just a little while by meditating on him. It's a way that we learn from him. We connect to him and we gain some control over our mind. It's a way also that we follow the example of those that have been left behind. It's a way that those in the faith have actually told us to meditate. Where is that in the scriptures? Well turn out your Bible and turn to 1 Timothy chapter 4 verse 15. It says meditate upon these things, give yourself wholly to them that you may prosper. So prosperity or growing in spirituality is directly connected to meditation upon the Bible. Meditation upon the scriptures. You see it's a way that we gain wisdom from Yahweh. In Tehillim 119 verse 95, in Psalm 119 verse 95 it says I have more understanding than all my teachers for your testimonies are my meditation. Let me read that again because you really need to grasp this. The way that Solomon became the wisest person in all the world is because he meditated upon the scriptures. It says here I have more understanding than all my teachers for your testimonies are my meditation. Wow. The way you can gain in wisdom is not just by looking at the scriptures, it's not just by studying the scriptures, it's not just by learning to speak Hebrew and learning all the details of the Pashat, the Ramez, the Drash, and the Sod, it's not just about learning about Moshe's belly button lint, it's meditating, thinking about Yahweh. I have more understanding than all my teachers. Wow. Sounds to me just like Yahshua. Remember when he was 13 years old and he was in the temple teaching the rabbis, teaching the teachers? His parents had left the town yet he was remaining there in the synagogue teaching. Possibly, and I believe because, Yahshua meditated regularly upon the scriptures. And why else would we meditate? Number one, it's a commandment of scriptures. Number two, it's a way that we follow after the examples left in the Bible of Yahshua of Timothy of Thessalmus. It's also a way that we can grow in our awareness and descend into the heavenlies. I'd like to talk for a few minutes about this term, awareness. Think right now about where you are. Just look straight ahead. I'm not asking you to close your eyes and do anything crazy, but just look straight ahead and picture something or put your mind on something in front of you. Maybe it's a tree, maybe it's a computer, maybe it's a steering wheel as you're driving down the road. Now, your peripheral vision allows you to see other things while your direct vision allows you to see straight ahead. What colors do you see? What shapes do you see? What sounds do you hear? What shadows do you see? This is awareness. So many times we are so busy we lose awareness. We forget where we are, who we are. We forget whose we are. So by meditating throughout the day and at certain times of the day, we're able to gain awareness. We're able to stop and think calmly, selah, about our position in the heavenlies, about our mission in life. Think about it. If you had a timer that went off every 15 minutes and you cut that timer off every 15 minutes and you took 20 seconds to think about Yahweh, to say a blessing to Yahweh, to remember why you're here on this earth, it would change your life. Rabbi HaCohen of Loveland, he describes religious life as a process of growth along a sliding scale in which one integrates ever greater parts of consciousness towards divine unity. What that means is as we begin to grow in spirituality, our consciousness will be more focused upon Yahweh. Friend, really that's one reason why the Torah was given to renew our mind. That's one reason why we have different spiritual reminders like the mezuzah on our doorposts or maybe we wear a tefillin or maybe we have a tawid or a prayer shawl. Maybe why we wear the tzitzit or a head covering or why a person would surround themselves with different religious artifacts is to take your mind off of this world and back upon Yahweh. Another reason why we would meditate would be to help us renew our minds and control our thoughts. In all reality, our thoughts are out of control. Yes, I said it and you can believe me or you can argue with me, but arguing with that statement is like arguing with a stop sign. Your thoughts, my thoughts, are out of control. Just like that. As fast as I can snap my fingers, your mind snaps. I call them mind snaps. That's how our mind works. Every minute, our mind goes from subject to subject. Our attention span is very short. All of these thoughts just jump into us. We think about what's for dinner. We think about what we're going to do next. We think about how someone hurt our feelings. We think about the different stresses in our lives and our mind jumps around. Friend, surely when you've been in prayer, you've struggled just to focus on Yahweh. You've struggled to say those words. Maybe you've been in prayer at night and you fall asleep. Maybe you're in worship service and you're distracted by a baby crying or children running around. Our mind snaps. I call them mind snaps. Part of biblical meditation is going to help you control those mind snaps, deal with those mind snaps, and put them away. It's not the idea of clearing your mind, but dealing with the mind snaps or the thoughts as they occur. Tehillim 4 verse 4, Tehillim 4 verse 4 says, Tremble and do not sin. Meditate in your heart upon your bed and be still. Meditate in your heart upon your bed and be still. Notice that meditation, being still, is directly connected to trembling or being fearful of Yahweh or respecting Yahweh, having you sorry Yahweh, and not sinning. It says, Tremble and do not sin. Meditate in your heart. Friend, if you want to sin less, if you want to stop those sinful habits in your life, I'm going to encourage you to incorporate biblical meditation into your life. Biblical meditation into your life. I'd like to read you a few verses right now from Proverbs. Now we've already looked at what is biblical meditation and why a person should meditate. Let's just further back up what I'm saying so far, but let me read you these few verses from Proverbs 24. And friend, I've never understood this passage, why it was in the scriptures, what sense it made until just recently. It says, I went by the field of the lazy man and by the vineyard of a man devoid of understanding. And there it was, all overgrown with thorns. Its surface was covered with nettles. Its stone wall was broken down. When I saw it, I considered it well. I looked on it and received instruction. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest. So shall your poverty come like a prowler and your need like an armed man. That's Proverbs 24, 30 through 34. You see, this is very similar to our mind. You see, our mind is just like this garden that's become overgrown with thorns and thistles and broken nettles. Our minds have become overgrown. And so what's happened to us is that we've become impoverished in our thinking. We don't know how to think about Yahweh. We don't know when to think about Yahweh. And so our needs come to us like an armed man, like a person not able to have his needs met because we don't seek him as we should. You see, if we do not engage in regular study, in building concentration and awareness and mindfulness, then our mind, our brains will become overgrown with the thorns of thoughts. And our foundation of the Torah, of the Scriptures will collapse. We will become impoverished in thought and uncontrolled desire. And it's going to spiral down. That's one reason why we need concentrated time of biblical meditation to think about Yahweh. It says in Proverbs 28, 14, blessed is the man who fears always. Who fears always. And so one way you fear is you have that fear in mind when you think about Yahweh. And again, Psalm 4, 4, tremble and do not sin, meditate in your heart upon your bed and be still. So number one, what is biblical meditation? Number two, why should a person meditate? And now number three, if I turn my page, who? You might be thinking right now, well, Daniel, that's great for you, you're a rabbi, you're a teacher of the Torah, of the Scriptures, that's not for me, I'm too busy. Or that's not for me, my brain just works too fast, or I don't have time, or I don't do this, I don't do that. Friend, the mitzvah for meditation is for everyone. In fact, the Scriptures say that the wicked are those who do not meditate. Wow. It says in Job, chapter 15, verse 4, you do away with reverence and hinder meditation before Yahweh. He's speaking to the wicked. Job is speaking to them, he says, you do away with reverence and you hinder meditation before Yahweh. You see, Job was a person that meditated. He thought about Yahweh, he considered Him, and those who taught him not to, he considered to be wicked. Wow. This is a confession that we might need to make right now, that we've all maybe considered meditation to be evil or wicked, and yet, when we think that, when we don't meditate, we are actually joining with the wicked by doing away with fear and reverence of Yahweh and hindering meditation. I don't want to be guilty of that anymore, friend. I don't want you to be guilty of that sin anymore. Go look it up. Job 15, verse 4. So who should meditate? Number one, everyone. It says in Genesis 24, verse 63, that Yaakov, or Jacob, went and he meditated. Jacob, the father of our faith, the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. He went and he meditated, it said, and Jacob went out to meditate in the field in the evening and lifted up his eyes, and he saw. When we meditate, we can see the spiritual realms. When we meditate, we can see Yahweh. It says in Psalm 1, verse 2, that the righteous meditate. The righteous person is a person who meditates, and this is one of my favorite psalms in the whole Bible. It's Tehillim 1, and I encourage you to go and read it. I'd like to read you just a few verses from that right now, because it will really speak to you about this topic and about the righteous and meditation. Meditation is a man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers, but his delight is in the Torah of Yahweh, and on his Torah he does meditate day and night. You want to be blessed? Meditate. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season, and whose leaf does not wither, whenever he does, prospers. They are not so like the wicked, they are like chaff, that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners, in the assembly of the zarakim, the righteous. For Yahweh watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. There it is, friend, Tehillim 1. In Tehillim 63, Psalm 63, verse 6, it says that King David, King Dawid, was a man after Yahweh's own heart, and it says in 63, 6, that he meditated upon the scripture. So if that's your desire, to be a person after Yahweh's own heart, or live, then you need to begin a daily practice. Yes, I said daily practice of meditation. In Mark chapter 6, verse 31, it says, Yahshua, the Messiah, the Savior, the sinless one, went alone to pray, and we could say meditate. Many times we see Him going to be by Himself, going alone. We know about the Garden of Gethsemane, where He went and He prayed in such earnestness, and He just prayed. And to begin to do that, of course, I believe He was meditating. And in 1 Timothy, we're told, Timothy tells us to meditate upon these things. Now who's to meditate? You are. We are to reclaim the power of meditation. Yahshua often went by Himself to pray. Today is a day that your life can change, where you can draw closer to Yahweh through meditation. It's now time to look at when and where should a person meditate. Friend, my encouragement is, again, to remember the scriptures. What did we just read? It says in the scriptures, very clearly, it tells us, oh, how I love the Torah. It is my meditation all day, in Psalm 119.97. So when should you meditate? Well, all day. It should be a frame of mind, yet that you should set aside, and I believe that we should set aside just a few minutes every day, a few minutes of quiet time every day to meditate upon Yahweh. Now I'm not talking about the concept of quiet time, of just having a little Bible study, or reading a few verses, reading your Billy Graham devotional. I'm talking about stopping what you're doing, focusing directly on Him and listening. Friend, how much time do you spend in prayer? Think about that for a few minutes. How much time a day do you spend in prayer? Now how much time a day do you spend listening to Yahweh, listening and waiting, be still and know that I am Yahweh? So many times we're so busy ranting and raving our prayer requests, our petitions and our thanksgivings, that we forget to wait for an answer. You see, friend, I really believe that Yahweh wants to speak to us. He wants to speak to our neshama, our divine soul, and He wants to speak to us, yet many times we tell Him what we want, we tell Him how we see it, and we slam the door shut, we end our prayer time, and we're done. So when should we meditate? I believe we should take a few minutes every day, 10, 15, 20, 30 minutes a day to spend in meditation. You probably spend more time listening to the radio and watching TV or reading emails than you do right now meditating. That's okay, because that's going to stop. So daily, which means weekly, Psalm 119.97 says all the day, literally throughout the day, and I encourage you once an hour to just stop. Look at where you are. Gain some awareness. Say a blessing in a prayer to Yahweh. There are many ways to do this. There are many times in the Scriptures where it talks about meditation, and most of the times that you're going to see meditation taking place is actually at night. Now, I've been taught to have a quiet time in the morning when you get up and have some time and spend your whole day thinking about what you learned. Well, in the Scriptures, it actually says, more times than not, that meditation takes place at the night watch or at night, and in different sects of Judaism, there are those who stay up all night and study Scripture sometimes. It's considered a mitzvah to stay up late at night and to study the Scriptures. Psalm 119, verse 14, it says to meditate during the night watches. Psalm 1-2, what we just read, it says day and night. Psalm 77, verse 6, says to meditate in the night. Now, friend, biblically, when does the day start? Ah, at night. That's right. Hebraically, biblically, the day starts at night. That's right. When the sun is down, when the sun is setting, that's the end of one day, the beginning of another. In creation, it says there was evening and there was morning, the first day. There was evening and there was morning, the second day. There was evening and there was morning, the third day, and so on and so forth. So, biblically, the day starts at night. Shabbat, the Sabbath, begins Friday night. When are we to begin our meditation? When are we to meditate? At night, the beginning of the Hebrew day. Isn't that interesting? In Psalm, verse 16, excuse me, chapter 16, verse 8, it's a verse I would encourage you to memorize. It says, I have set Yahweh always before me. Always before me. It's the idea, and the mystics tell us, that this verse actually is explaining to the believer to envision the name, Yod-Heh-Wav-Heh, the Tetragrammaton, the sacred name of Yahweh, to envision it, to close your eyes and to see His name. To maybe look at a piece of paper with His name on it, in Hebrew, and then envision that into your mind. I have set Yahweh always before me. And the Shema, the greatest mitzvah, they came to Yahshua and said, you know, what's the greatest in the whole scriptures? And He said, Hero Israel, Yahweh Eloheinu, Yahweh Echad. Hero Israel, Yahweh is our Elohim, Yahweh is one. And you are to love Yahweh, your Elohim, with all your heart, with all your soul, and all your being, and all your resources. And these words, which I am ordering you today, are to be on your heart. And you are to teach them carefully to your children. And you are to talk about them when you sit at home, and when you are traveling on the road. And when you lie down, and when you get up. Tie them on your hand as a sign. And put them at the front of a headband around your forehead. And write them on the door frames of your house, and on your gates. Devarim 6 When should we meditate? When should we think about our love to Yahweh? Day and night. All during the day. During the good times, during the bad, when we are traveling on the road to set Yahweh before us. And during the Hebraic worship service, Amidah, during that Shemone Esra, which is the 18 blessings, they are normally said silently. The Shemone Esra, or the Amidah, is a time of silent devotion. Think about this. One thing have I asked from Yahweh. That shall I seek. That I may dwell in the house of Yahweh all the days of my life. To behold the beauty of Yahweh. And to meditate in His temple. It's from the Psalms. Friend, that was King David's prayer. Oh, that would be our prayer today. Oh, that we would just desire Yahweh. That one thing that we would ask. Notice what happens here. Notice what his request is. It's not to have riches. It's not to have fame. It's not to have knowledge of Torah. It's to be in the temple and to meditate. Let me read it again. And maybe repeat this after me. Maybe just cry this out to Yahweh. One thing have I asked from Yahweh. That shall I seek. That I may dwell in the house of Yahweh all the days of my life. To behold the beauty of Yahweh. And to meditate in His temple. Friend, this explains to us what biblical meditation is. It's to behold the beauty, the tiferet, the glory of Yahweh. So when? All day. Any day. Especially at night. When the day is beginning at night. On our beds, it says. In the temple, it says. During prayers, it says. Yahshua went to be alone to meditate. And so now we get to the idea of how. How to meditate. And there are many ways. There are many different ideas here. For those that teach it, biblical meditation is just thinking about Yahweh. But it's something greater than that. When we look at biblical meditation and how. One thing that we really need to look at. Is the idea of what we're doing. Number one, we're fulfilling the mitzvah of Exodus 22. We are knowing Him. So it's a way that we connect to Him. How do you meditate? Well, let me ask you this, friend. Did someone have to teach you how to pray? Yeah, they did, right? Didn't they come to Yahshua and say, teach us how to pray? Did someone have to teach you how to talk? Yes. Did someone teach you how to walk? Yes. We have to learn how to meditate. Don't think that just by listening to this CD that you're going to know everything there is about meditation. And start meditating 30 minutes a day or an hour a day. It's going to take some time to learn this art of the stillness of heart. Of the devotion of the heart. Of being still. One way that we can do that is what the rabbis have taught us. It's called the six constant mitzvot. The six constant mitzvot. Now, mitzvot is commandment or ruling of Yahweh. And it's a matter of being, not doing. In the scriptures there are 613 commandments in the Torah that's been given. These are principles for living. They're guidelines for living life here on this earth. They're ways that we connect to Yahweh. Well, the rabbis have found that there are six of these mitzvot that you are. You don't do. You follow me here? There are six mitzvot of being and not doing. And so the first one of these. This isn't a big teaching on this. But this will give you an idea. Maybe you can go back and study this yourself. But the first of these mitzvot is believing in Yahweh. Trusting in Him. Believing that He is. The first part of meditation is believing that He is. We're not meditating upon trees. We're meditating upon Yahweh. The second constant mitzvot is to renounce idolatry. Or to stay away from Yahweh. There is one Yahweh. There are no other gods. So, number one of the six constant mitzvot is to believe in Yahweh. Number two is to renounce idolatry. To stay away from it. This is something that you do. Something that you are. Excuse me. Number three is to recognize that Yahweh echad. Yahweh is one. He is the one and only. He is special. The fourth is to love Yahweh. To love Yahweh. The idea of ahava as Yahweh. To cleave to Him. To long for Him. The fifth is to yisar Yahweh. To fear Yahweh. To walk in constant awareness. Remember it says the lesson is the man that fears always. In Proverbs 28, 19. And I have a CD teaching on the fear of Yahweh. That you can find at www.emetministries.com That explains more about this. And finally, the sixth constant mitzvot is to guard your eyes and your heart. To avoid temptation to sin. These are six mitzvot that you are. You are to believe in Yahweh. To renounce idolatry. To believe He is echad. He is one. To love Him. To fear Him. And to guard your eyes. And by, first of all, doing these six constant mitzvot. This is one way that you can meditate throughout your day. This is one way because by meditating or by having these six constant mitzvot in mind. Before you, you are building, you are creating divine space. Where you walk is holy ground. Because Yahweh is with you everywhere you go. Think about it. Yahshua went places. And everywhere He went. To cemetery. Or to synagogue. Or to the market. People came to Him and they were healed. And demons, Shadim, were cast out. Just because He was there and they recognized His power. Yahshua lived in divine space. He never sinned. He believed in Yahweh. He renounced idolatry. He knew Yahweh is echad. He loved Him. He feared Him. And He guarded His eyes and His heart from sin. He lived in divine space. And actually by keeping these constant mitzvot in mind. By meditating on these. Not only are you building and creating divine space. But you are also building and creating your own sukkah. Yah, the sukkah. You know, it's the tent that we live in or we dwell in. During the Feast of Tabernacles, Feast of Booths, or Sukkot. You see, when you have these six constant mitzvot. They are symbolic of the six areas of awareness. The six walls and sides of that sukkah. Of a cube. To believe in Yahweh is to create a hedge of holiness above you. To renounce idolatry is to create a hedge of holiness. Kadoshim. Below you. So you have above and below. When you know that Yahweh is echad. In front of you. There is protection. When you love Yahweh to your right. Or to the east. You are creating divine space. When you fear Yisrael Yahweh. To the west or to your left. The side of Gevurah. Aha. You are creating divine space. When you guard your heart and your eyes. Your nefesh and your ruach. And you avoid temptation to sin. It's the south. It's the back. When you guard your heart and your eyes. Yahweh has your back. You are creating divine space in your back. So by believing in him. We create divine space above. By renouncing idolatry. It's below. We step on those idols. We tear down those high places. In front of us or to the north. Is by believing Yahweh is echad. He is one. To the right or to the east. It's to love him. Where chesed is. To the left or to the west. It's fear of Yahweh. It's to guard our heart and our minds. We are creating divine space. So how do you meditate? Number one. There's the six constant mitzvah. Number two. It is the time of stopping and selah. Thinking about Yahweh. There are a few things to consider here. What I'm going to give you right now. Is suggestions. I've been doing this for a while. And this is some ways that you can learn. The scriptures tell us to meditate. And they tell us where to meditate. And when to meditate. It doesn't tell us a lot about how to meditate. So we learn this from others. We learn this from the scriptures. Where it says to think upon the Torah. To think upon Yahweh. To place his name always before you. First thing to think about is relaxation. To close your eyes. And meditate. To take a few minutes of your day. Let's say you're going to take ten minutes today. And what I want to encourage you to do. Is to maybe find a straight back chair. And just sit back straight. And relax. We think we're relaxed when we're lying down. Or maybe when we're humped over. But we're straightest when our back is straight. And erect. And so relax. Maybe take a deep breath. Let out some of that stress. Close your eyes. When it comes to meditation. It really varies. I encourage you to try breathing deep first. Or breathing regular. Or irregular. Whatever is comfortable to you. It's comfortable to me to breathe deep. And then move into regular breathing. To let go of stress. Relax those shoulders. Think about what you're doing. Think about what you're doing. And I encourage you. You might want to put on some praise and worship music. I encourage you to use instrumental music. You might want to wear a head covering. You might want to wear a head covering. A talit. When I meditate I like to have a talit over my head. I like to sit in a straight back chair. Maybe have some instrumental music on. Many times I like to do it silently. And I begin by just taking some deep breaths. And I close my eyes. And I try to relax. And I just think about Yahweh. And that's the next thing to think about. First of all you've got to think about breathing and posture. But second of all is your thoughts. Everything in the world is going to hit you when you go to pray. Everything in the world is going to come to mind when you go to meditate. Don't dwell on yourself but Yahweh. Biblical meditation is not about our problems. It's not about our pain. It's not about the trees. It's not about being one with creation. It is about Yahweh. So dwell on Him. Yet there is a time to scrutinize your actions and thoughts during biblical meditation. But that shouldn't be all of our biblical meditation. It's not about you. It's not about me. It's all about Yahweh. So as you begin to meditate, as you begin to learn this art thoughts are going to come to mind. You're going to think about that noise you just heard. You're going to think about what's for dinner. You're going to think crazy thoughts. These are called those mind snaps. Remember? They're going to keep coming to mind. Push them away. They're going to happen. You're not clearing your mind here. You're just going to push those thoughts down and just think about Yahweh. How do you do that? One way to do that is to say His name. One way to do that is maybe to sing a praise song. Think about the Hebrew letters. Meditate upon different Hebrew terms. I like to meditate sometimes about the Shema. Shema Yisrael, Yahweh Eloheinu, Yahweh Akkad. So when I begin my meditation sometimes I close my eyes and I relax my shoulders and I sit up and I breathe deep and then I begin to breathe Shema. Shema. Shema. Shema. It means to hear and obey. Maybe repeat a word. I'm not talking about vain repetition here folks. I'm talking about repeat it to help you think about it. It is natural for our mind to wonder. It is not natural for our mind to be concentrated. Now let me ask you real quick. Why would you do crossword puzzles? Why would you play a game or watch a TV show? You're wanting to either entertain yourself or concentrate your mind. That's what biblical meditation is. But instead of thinking about a TV show or a six letter word that has something to do with a cat you're thinking about Yahweh. You're letting your thoughts be focused on Him. So breathing and posture is important. Our thoughts, kick out those thoughts. Another thing is awareness. Your surroundings. Be still and know that I am Yahweh. Notice the colors and the shapes around you. You might not even want to close your eyes at the beginning and I encourage you. There are different ways to do this. Maybe just look straight ahead and think about Him. Why don't we close our eyes when we pray? So we can focus. We're not distracted. To begin your meditation just gently thinking about your breath. In and out. Deep breaths. Watch the rise of your abdomen, of your chest. Think about your breathing. Think about Yahweh breathing life into you with creation. Think about the Ruach HaKodesh within you and the spirit moving within you. Think about your awareness and your surroundings. That Yahweh is here with you right now. That as you meditate you are building divine space above you, below you, to your right, to your left, in front of you and behind you. Devarim 439 Let this minister to your heart. It says, You shall know this day and take to heart that Yahweh is Elohim in the heavens above and on the earth below There is no other. Yahweh is Elohim. He is king in the heavens above and in the earth below. There is no other. So think about that. Yahweh is Melech HaOlam. It's the little things. Yet Yahweh is in all and through all and above all, around all. So think about it. Think. Have that awareness of your surroundings. Then as you begin to do so, as you begin to close your eyes, you've got your posture, your thinking, you're just letting your thoughts focus on Yahweh. Maybe there's a verse in the scriptures that ministers to you. You're breathing. Close your eyes. There's colors when we close our eyes. Maybe try to envision His name. Maybe try to envision different Hebrew letters. Have that awareness. Cry out to Him. Cleave to Him. When your mind begins to wander, draw it back. When your mind has those snaps, draw it back. And as you begin to do that, seek Him. Repeat His name. Say a phrase. Pray. Be still. Wait. Visualize. Thank Him. You will go deeper. The more you do this, the deeper you will go. I'd like to share with you a time that I was in meditation and I began just with the shema and with the deep breaths and I just began just crying out to Yahweh and just began meditating upon His name and upon that He is a God. And it's like my eyes were closed and my breathing was there. I forgot my breathing. I forgot where I was. I was just enwrapped and enthralled within His love and I could just experience it just like, you know, there are times when you're in worship and maybe you're singing and lifting your hands and it's like you're there before the throne. Friend, I was there. And I didn't want to open my eyes. I didn't want to stop. I didn't want to stop. So I just began to cry out to Him and cling to Him and cry out His name. And slowly I just began to give Him every bit of me and to thank Him and it was the most wonderful experience. Yet our biblical meditation should begin in a special way and that should be in teshuva and repentance. Before you even go and think about your breathing and your posture, I want you to take a few minutes and contemplate your life. When you gather for prayer, clear the path of communication. Confess your sins to Yahweh. Think about it. If you have a sin against another person, confess it. Offer it to Yahweh and start here. If you confess your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive you of your sins and cleanse you of all unrighteousness. You see, you need to be cleansed from unrighteousness to connect to His righteousness during prayer and meditation. So, here's a few ideas. The six constant myths of all day. And then take a few minutes every day. Repent and pray. Number two, open up to what He has for you. Number three, start with noticing your breath the surroundings, awareness. Attain a sense of comfort. Number four, take out any thoughts and replace them with holy thoughts. Don't think about anything else but Yahweh and His Word. Number five, seek Him. Seek Him. And number six, I would say end with prayer. How do you seek Him? One of the greatest ways to meditate is to visualize the name of Yahweh. It's said that the divine name of Yahweh, Yod-Heh-Vah-Teh, is the highest concentration of divine power. That the letters of Yahweh were first given black on white. We're first given the Scriptures were first given that way. White on black. White fire. And upon black fire. And so you can even think of His name that way. Don't say His name is just a word. Take it directly to Him. Call upon His name. Cry out to Him. Cleave to Him. Sense His presence. And in the words, just do it. The blessings are there for you to experience. Here are some ideas for you. This is just the start. This is not the end. But a beginning for you. Friend, it's a direct command of the Scriptures to meditate upon Him, to think upon Him. It will minister to your heart, to your neshamah, to your soul. And it will bring prosperity and blessing and spirituality to your life. Oh, how I love the Torah. It is my meditation all day, says the Scriptures. Yahshua did it. It says in Timothy, meditate upon these things. Give yourself wholly to them that you may prosper. It's the way that we know Him. It's the way that we can gain control of our thoughts because the more we meditate, the more we think about Him, the more during the day we can learn to kick out those evil sinful thoughts. We can kick out those things that come to mind. We can do battle against this worldly Greek mindset and we can attain that Hebraic mindset. Tremble and do not sin. Meditate in your heart, upon your bed and be still. Psalm 4-4. And friend, again, memorize this verse. Psalm 16 verse 8. I have set Yahweh always before me. The desire of worship to meditate upon Him in this temple. And you are the temple of the Ruach HaKodesh, the temple of the Holy Spirit. And so, it is only right that you behold His Tiferet, His beauty and you meditate upon Him. The next track on this CD is going to be a guided meditation where I show you how to meditate upon the divine name of Yahweh and I lead you to do so. Use it as a start. Share this CD with your friends and family. If you have the permission to copy this, give it to as many people as you can that they may attain this aspect. That they may attain spirituality by connecting to Yahweh. It is His heart's desire. I thank you for listening. I thank you for opening up your heart and your mind that we may be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Yahweh has great things in store for us. It is time now that we cleave to Him. One thing have I asked from Yahweh that shall I seek that I may dwell in the house of Yahweh all the days of my life to behold the beauty of Yahweh and to meditate in His temple.