To meditate upon the Law of God is a crucial building block for Christian growth and personal happiness which seems to be almost totally overlooked. Yet, God assures us in Psalm 1:1-3 that meditation is a road upon which one must travel in order to obtain true human blessedness—true contented peace and joy.
Since meditating upon the Word of God is such a priceless benefit, we need to be sure to understand what God means by meditating. A word which He chose to convey what He meant as He inspired the writers of the O.T. in the Hebrew language was suach. This word means to “muse” —to consider something at length. In the N.T., God used the word meletao (μελεταω), which means: “to care for, attend to carefully, practice;” “to attend to, practice…to practice is the prevalent sense of the word;” “practice, cultivate, take pains with.” Thus, meletao is the attending to the Scriptures carefully which leads to the practicing of them. Thus, the child of God is to take time to focus his thoughts upon the Law of the Lord. It is more than a casual reading of chapters or the gaining of knowledge. Rather, it is a pondering, a musing, a reflecting upon that which one has read or gained knowledge of.
Having now ascertained what God means by meditation, what then, does the Bible teach about meditating? First, the Christian is to meditate upon God’s Word. We read: “…in his law doth he meditate;” “… meditate in thy word;” “…meditate in thy statutes” (Psa. 1:2; 119:48,148). Christians may ponder upon various desires and concerns of this life, but he must not overlook the pondering upon the Word of God.
Second, the Christian is to meditate upon the Word of the Lord day and night. Isaac “went out to meditate in the field at eventide” (Gen. 24:63). The Psalmist meditated in the night watches, both night and day, yea, all the day (Psa. 63:6; 1:2; 119:97). If we find ourselves reflecting upon various interests of this life, we certainly should do no less to reflect upon our communication from God.
Third, the one who loves God’s Word, is the one who will meditate upon its contents. Why do we, throughout the day, think upon our spouse, child, grandchild or friend?—because we are rather fond of them; we like them; we love them. So then, should it be with God’s Word. The Psalmist meditated because “his delight is in the law of the Lord” “which [he] loved” (Psa. 1:2; 119:48,97).
Last, meditation upon God’s Word produces spiritual growth. Obviously, since we become what we think (Prov. 23:7), then, if we think upon the Scriptures, we grow in the way it teaches (Prov. 4:23). Thus, the way of the meditating Psalmist (as well as Joshua) became prosperous and he greatly increased in understanding (Psa. 1:3; 119:99; Jos. 1:8). Timothy (yea, any Christian) would profit to the extent to where others would easily notice the improvement in life and character. Yes, meditating upon the Word of God is a crucial building block for Christian growth and personal happiness.
May we be wise to live a life of meditating upon the Word of God. If we do so, we perhaps cannot even imagine the blessings awaiting us.
Gary Henson
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1 Brown, Driver, Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Hebrew Old Testament, p. 967.
2 Thayer, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, p. 396.
3 Vine, Expository Dictionary of N.T. Words, p.55.
4 Arndt & Gingrinch, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, p. 500.