MEDITATION MONDAY

“I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.” Psalm 119:15

Thinking has fallen into ill repute in our time and culture. We want everything to be quick and painless. You see this in social media. On Facebook, people will read a headline and post a comment on it without reading the article. People like Twitter because the comments are no more than 140 characters long. Some would rather have a photograph with a hashtag.

You cannot grow in your walk with the Lord this way. You cannot get to know him through his word by reading one verse and going on your way.

The Psalmist of Psalm 119 understood this. He meditated on God’s words, delighted in them and memorized them.

Meditation is not magical. It is not the meditation that comes from eastern religions where you empty your mind to relax. The purpose is not to relax, but to know and understand God.

Meditation is, in simplest terms, thinking about God as revealed in his word. The Psalmist may only have had the Law, the first five books of the Bible on which to reflect. He certainly did not have the whole Bible as we do. Yet, he meditated on the things the Lord said to do and he delighted in them.

It may be hard for us to imagine meditating on the law, much less delighting in it. We would rather meditate on God’s love, or on verses that speak to our peace or joy. Yet, the Psalmist found joy in his meditation because it God’s law revealed God’s character. It also showed a person the best way to live.

The Psalmist’s meditations allowed him to fix his eyes on the ways of God. He pursued holiness because God is holy. His pursuit was not onerous, but joyful, because his meditations have brought him to see the excellence of the God and his ways.

You can do this. You will need to do it deliberately, though. It will not happen without a plan. So, set aside some time for this. Pick a book of the Bible, read a passage, and meditate on it. Think about what it says about God. Think about what it says about you. Praise God for the things it says about him. Pray for help with the things it says about you. Confess sin, be thankful and enjoy the presence of the Lord. 

You will soon find that you delight in the Lord and in his word.