Muttering Scripture
This blog is a call to begin muttering if you aren’t already doing so.
If you had been walking up Heald Street on Monday afternoon and had looked to your left, you would have seen a strange sight: a pastor doing laps in Woodlawn Cemetery and muttering to himself. Do you mutter Scripture? According to Psalm 1.1-2, muttering is the path to blessing. These verses say that the one who is blessed is the one who delights in the law of the Lord and ‘meditates’ day and night on that law. According to my Hebrew dictionary, the Hebrew word for ‘meditate’ can also be translated ‘read in an undertone’ or ‘ponder (by talking to oneself)’ or ‘mutter.’
What does it actually look like to ‘mutter’ Scripture? Well, I’ll just tell you how I do it.
First, you need some promise or warning or truth from Scripture that you can mutter – something upon which to meditate. On Sunday morning, I was struck in my Bible reading by Psalm 59.17. So I wrote it down in my little notebook – otherwise, I wouldn’t remember it. ‘O my strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love.’
Now, the way I like to meditate upon, muse over, and mutter Scripture is by focusing on one word at a time. I learned this method years ago while doing my job reading electric meters outside for hours on end. As I walked from house to house, I’d memorize a verse and then repeat it over and over, focusing on each word, one at a time. This slows me down so I can get the maximum benefit from the verse.
That’s how I meditated on Psalm 59.17 on Monday afternoon. I reflected upon it word by word.
‘O my strength…’ Amazing! To be able to say that God is my strength! ‘My’ is a word of intimacy, of relationship. A deeply personal word. God isn’t just strong, or strength in general, or strength for other people. That is all true, but it is not necessarily good news for me. But here is good news indeed: God is my strength.
‘O my strength…’ God is many things for me. He is my portion, my wisdom, my righteousness, my provider. But the psalmist focuses here on God as the source of his strength. When do we especially need to focus on God this way? When we are weak. I have been feeling weak recently, so this is exactly what I needed to hear. God is my strength. I can turn things I’m worried about over to him. He will carry me.
‘…I will sing praises to you…’ There is personal engagement here. I won’t wait for someone else to sing praises to God. I’m going to do it. Even if no one else joins in, I will sing praises.
‘…I will sing praises to you…’ I won’t just speak praises, or tell praises, or think praises, or drone praises. I will sing praises. We sing out of an abundance of joy. Singing expresses and engages our affections. I will sing praises.
‘…I will sing praises to you…’ There is a time for crying out to God, for lamenting, for thanking, for requesting. But there is also a time for praising. So I will praise God.
‘…I will sing praises to you …’ The world is filled with people praising many, many things. Recently, at the Academy Awards, some movies and actors garnered a lot of praise. I love to praise my wife and my child. But I will not neglect the praise of God. I will praise him above all other things.
I could go on, but you get the idea. Muttering a verse means slowing down. Slowing way down. S-l-o-w-i-n-g w-a-y d-o-o-o-o-w-w-w-n-n-n. Pausing. Reflecting. Unless you have a lot more time on your hands than I do, you probably won’t be able to do that for a whole chapter of the Bible at one go. This kind of muttering can easily linger on one verse for half an hour.
Have you ever tried this? If not, try it. Make sure it’s a time of the day when you’re alert and not sleepy. Otherwise, your muttering will become incoherent mumbling. But if you enter into this meditation with prayer, and if you linger on God’s Word, you’ll benefit immensely from muttering Scripture. According to Psalm 1.1-2, a life built on this humble approach to God’s Word will be blessed by God.
Posted by Stephen Witmer on Mar 11, 01:57 PM