Scripture (Psalm 119)
SERMON NOTES
Sermon Series: Spiritual Rhythms of the Psalms
Sermon Title: Scripture
Sermon Text: Psalm 119:97-104
Spiritual Rhythms guide us in regular participation in the deepening of our awareness of God and our affection for God.
A. What God’s Word Is (v97)
B. What spending time in God’s Word does (v98-104)
1. Spending time with God in His Word changes the way we THINK - gaining both wisdom and understanding (v98-100)
by memorizing God’s Word (v98)
by meditating on God’s Word (v99)
by living out God’s Word (v100)
2. Spending time with God in His Word changes the way we LIVE - guiding our lives (v101-102)
3. Spending time with God in His Word changes the way we VIEW SCRIPTURE (v103-104)
Putting This Into Practice
READ Paul’s letter to the Philippians in it's entirety, preferably with a reader’s edition (without chapter and verse markings). You can download either the ESV translation or The Message here:
If you would like to listen to a reading of Philippians 2 as you read, try one of these:
Dwell: [Website] - [Apple App Store]
Bible.is: [Website] - [Apple App Store]
Bible Study Tools: [Website]
MEMORIZE the Christ Hymn in Philippians 2:5-11, memorizing one additional verse each day over the course of the week, as we did in service together memorizing verse 5.
[5] Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, [6] who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, [7] but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. [8] And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. [9] Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, [10] so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
MEDITATE on the Christ Hymn, using our version of the ancient practice of Lectio Divina consisting of 5 steps
OPENING - Open yourself to God, positioning your body, preparing your heart, and praying this simple breath prayer of young Samuel from 1 Samuel 3: “Here I am, Lord - speak to me - I am ready to listen.”
LISTENING - Read the passage the first time, asking yourself, “What word or phrase is the Spirit drawing me to in this passage?” Then spend the next minute in silence with that word, savoring that phrase for the next minute, listening as the Spirit continues leading.
REFLECTING - Read the passage a second time, asking yourself, “What is God saying to me through this passage about who He is, what He has done, or what He has promised to do?” Then spend the next minute in silence as the Spirit continues stirring.
RESPONDING - Read the passage a third time, asking yourself, “How is God inviting me to respond to what He has said in this passage?” Then spend the next minute in silence as the Spirit reveals a step of faithfulness and obedience in living this out.
THANKING - Close your time in prayer, thanking God for this time, for His Word, for His presence with you, and His love for you.
SERMON FOOTNOTES
“The Bible is unique among books because it is written from God's point of view...That claim could not be made if it were not for one conviction: that God has truly revealed himself in his Word.” - Fleming Rutledge, Means of Grace (p53)
“[E]xegesis is an act of love. It loves the one who speaks the words enough to want to get the words right. It respects the words enough to use every means we have to get the words right. Exegesis is loving God enough to stop and listen carefully to what he says.” - Eugene Peterson, Eat This Book (p97)
Spiritual reading is a type of “reading that enters our souls as food enters our stomachs, spreads through our blood, and becomes holiness and love and wisdom.” - Eugene Peterson, Eat This Book (p99)
“A simple act of obedience will open up our lives to this text far more quickly than any number of Bible studies and dictionaries and concordances.” - Eugene Peterson, Eat This Book (p71)
“Reading is an immense gift, but only if the words are assimilated, taken into the soul - eaten, chewed, gnawed, received in unhurried delight.” (p11) - “Christians don’t simply learn or study or use Scripture; we assimilate it, take it into our lives in such a way that it gets metabolized into acts of love.” (p18) - Eugene Peterson, Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading
Additional Resources
The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible by Scot McKnight
Chapters 1-2 of The Deeply Formed Life by Rich VIllodas
Chapter 9 of Invitation to a Journey by Robert Mulholland
The Message by Eugene Peterson
Chapter 3 of Sacred Rhythms by Ruth Haley Barton
