Meditation

Modern philosophers and new age enthusiasts have tainted the word “meditation,” As a result, many Christians have shied away from it because of its association. What a shame that so many old words have been ruined in our time.

The dictionary describes meditation as pondering, reflecting, thinking deeply about something. And I am convinced that we should be practicing the prayer of Psalm 19:14. “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.” Psalm 1:3 describes a godly person as one who “meditates day and night” on the Word of God.

Mmmm. Day and night. How much time have you spent lately in such a way? Sometimes I think there is virtue in reading a lot of chapters at one sitting. And other times I realize that it is just as profitable to concentrate on one or two verses at a time.

For example, here’s how I meditate on Psalm 23, thinking about the meaning of every word. “The Lord”: “the,” as contrasted with “a,” means God is the one and only. “Lord” means He is over all. Over all creation. Over governments. Over me. “Is” marks the present tense. Now. Right now He is what I need. “My” makes it very personal. Amazingly enough, the Lord cares for me in a personal way. How He can do that for so many people, I don’t understand. But over and over in Scripture I am assured that God takes specific interest in me and all aspects of my life. “Shepherd” is not an occupation that we a too familiar with. So I’ve enjoyed learning about what that title means by reading John 10. Also I’ve learned a lot from A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 by Phillip Keller.

Anyway, you get the point. There’s a lot to think about in the Scriptures. And even though we cannot fathom the depths of some truths, we need to spend more time stretching our minds as far as they will go in absorbing the meaning of God’s Word.

So how about sitting still and taking some quiet time to meditate on a verse or two today? How do you think that can change you? Or change how you encounter life right now?