The Muttering Mind: Sermon Series 106A

What if the way we have always understood meditation has been quietly robbing us of one of the most powerful spiritual practices available to us? In this message, we dig into Joshua 1:8, where God instructs Joshua to keep the book of the law in his mouth and meditate on it day and night. The word translated as meditate in our English Bibles comes from the Hebrew word hagah, which means to mutter, to growl, to say something low and over and over under your breath. This is not the practice of emptying the mind and sitting in silence. This is the practice of filling ourselves with the word of God until it overflows from our mouths without us even trying. The spiritual insight here is both humbling and exciting: we already know how to do this. Every time we replay an argument in our heads, hum a song we heard on the radio, or talk ourselves into worry, we are muttering. God is not asking us to learn a new skill. He is asking us to change the material. What we allow to take up residence in our hearts will inevitably leak out of our mouths, and that overflow shapes the direction of our lives.