1.      What comes to mind when I hear the word meditate/meditation.

a.       Legs crossed, hands folded, diffuser up and running, complete silence, and absence from all distraction.  Pursuing inner peace through the clearing of the mind.

2.      Preface

a.       Meditation should be done with your Bible open!

b.      For biblical meditation, one must believe the Bible is in fact the inerrant Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17, John 17:17, 1 Thessalonians 2:13). 

3.      Psalm 104:34 (English Standard Version).

a.       Siyach – meditation, complaining, musing.

b.      Littered throughout the book of Job and Psalms

         i.  Most use complaint.

4.      Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Readingby Eugene H. Peterson.

5.      Isaiah 31:4 

a.       Hagah – to moan, growl, utter, muse, mutter, meditate.

b.      Joshua 1:8 and littered throughout the Psalms (Psalm 34:8, “Oh taste and see..”)

6.      When you take a holistic look at the usage of Hagah/Siyach in the Scriptures, its not pretty.  It is rough, its passionate, its in the words of Eugene H. Peterson, “a dog-with-a bone” kind of act.

7.      Questions & So What…

a.       How does this shift the believer’s perception toward meditation/meditating?

b.      Is there too much pressure we as Christians put on ourselves in hopes of cultivating the “perfect” environment to “feel the presence of God”?

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