I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways (Psa 119.15).
Biblical godliness includes a life of reverent contemplation or meditation with your attention fixed upon the very words of Scripture. God calls you to this, whatever your intelligence or personality or particular circumstances.
Some communities like the urban poor or Southern poor generally tend to disdain the importance of education. Strong social pressure works against individuals who would become good students, make high grades, go to college, and earn advanced degrees, and this general disapproval discourages many from breaking out of their community mold.
Could it not also be that within some Christian circles, meditation gets only a grudging nod as a biblical duty, but it is widely despised as a near waste of time? “According to the A. C. Nielson Co., the average American watches more than 4 hours of TV each day (or 28 hours/week, or 2 months of non-stop TV-watching per year). In a 65-year life, that person will have spent 9 years glued to the tube.”1 My guess is that the statistics are not that much different in our families. Rarely does anyone express much concern about this, but what would you think if you met a lady who told you she was spending four hours a day in Bible study and meditation? No doubt many would think, if not say, “She must not have enough to do!” Yet in the light of biblical teaching, surely we should rather admire this kind of spiritual discipline if it is joined to faithfulness in other responsibilities. Psa 119.15 teaches us that Christians ought to meditate on God’s Word
for obedience.
MEDITATION NEEDS A PRAYERFUL, FIRM RESOLVE
The psalmist has been prayerfully testifying to the Lord of his past. “With my whole heart I have sought thee” (119.10). “Thy word have I hid in mine heart” (119.11). “With my lips I have declared all the judgments of thy mouth” (119.13). “I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies” (119.14). Now there is a shift from testimony about the past to an expression of resolve for the future. “I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect to thy ways” (119.15). “I will delight myself in thy statutes; I will not forget thy word” (119.16). The Hebrew verb for “will meditate” is in a grammatical mood which expresses “plea, insistence, self-encouragement, wish, desire, intent, command, purpose, or consequence.”2 Meditation is his deliberate, principled intention, solemnly affirmed to the Lord in prayer.
Are you willing to pray this way? Many professing Christians hearing my appeal would no doubt just brush this off. Many others would say the words without heart, continuing their previous neglect of meditation. Is this any way to respond to God’s Word? How can anyone think he is a believer if he treats our text with such contempt?
MEDITATION REQUIRES SUSTAINED, FOCUSED ATTENTION
To meditate means “to focus one’s thoughts on.”3 The original here also means to “ponder and so give serious consideration to information.”4 It has the idea of going over something repeatedly in one’s mind—here, silent reflection on God’s precepts, statutes, or commandments.5
The second line of this psalm couplet seems to be essentially reiteration of the first, and I would interpret it that way. The Hebrew verb is graphic, literally meaning “to gaze,” and by figurative extension, “to regard, pay attention to.”6 It means “to think about an object, implying an appropriate, caring response.”7 It is used in Psalm 10.14 of God, “Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest (same word) mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless.” The word in both contexts is not just a passing glance, but a taking of an earnest interest in the situation with resolve to do something about it.
The object of the psalmist’s attention in the second line is God’s ways. Some take it that the psalmist is affirming his careful consideration of what God Himself does (e.g., “and focus on your behavior,” NET Bible), but more consistent with this context are the ways God prescribes for the psalmist (cf. 119.15a, 16). They are called God’s ways because they are expressions of His will, and contrary to our ways which are foolish and sinful by nature (cf. Isa 53.6; cf. Gen 18.19; Judges 2.22; Job 23.11; Psa 18.21; Hos 14.9).
We see therefore that the psalmist is vowing to God that he will give sustained, focused attention on His Word, and particularly the directive, commanding parts, to discover the ways of wisdom and righteousness with the deliberate intention of putting them into practice.
THIS IS CERTAINLY FOR YOU
Even the Christians who spend daily, disciplined time in the Word need this exhortation and reminder. The point is not to check off the next day’s assignment on our Bible reading calendar. I heard a seminary professor refer to this as doing your “Bible laps,” and I have been convicted ever since. We must get into Scripture to know God more accurately, to deepen our communion with Him, and to detect more perfectly how we may please Him in the way we conduct our lives. Is there a sin for me to forsake or a command for me to obey?
Remember Joshua 1.8, how that meditation is so closely connected with obedience? So it is here also.
Meditation is not to store the head with notions, but to better the heart. We meditate of God that we may love him and fear him; of sin that we may abhor it; of hell that we may avoid it; of heaven that we may pursue it. Still the end is practical, to quicken us to greater diligence and care in the heavenly life.8
No spiritual exercise is more profitable to the soul than that of devout meditation; why are many of us so exceeding slack in it? It is worthy of observation that the preceptory part of God’s word was David’s special subject of meditation, and this was the more natural because the question was still upon his mind as to how a young man should cleanse his way. Practical godliness is vital godliness.9
Brethren, these things are not hard to understand. We lag in them only because of our remaining hard-heartedness towards God and our lust for this world and the things of the world. We may have been subject, without even realizing it, to peer pressure, even in the church, against giving serious, daily, sustained attention to Scripture instead of other things that distract us from the welfare of our souls.
So what will you do with all this? Will you respond like a sincere Christian believer, repenting of sin and embracing duty? Will you vow in prayer to God that you will meditate more consistently in His Word with a purpose to obey His commands? Will you, for example, choose to open your Bible in a quiet corner for a while instead of flicking on the TV? Just think ho much we would benefit spiritually if instead of 9 years in front of that glowing rectangle we could look back at 65 years old (if you are not there yet) and know that we spent nine years beholding God’s radiant glory in His Word, preparing us for the beatific vision in heaven? If you habitually neglect meditation altogether, you cannot expect to begin at such a level. Try starting with 15 minutes every day, and if you are really saved you will begin to find enjoyment in it and want to increase it to much longer.
I know; this kind of devotion to meditation is only for fanatics, like David, Israel’s greatest king, for example—not to mention Moses and Joshua and Paul and Peter . . . not your run of the mill church members and the sinners of this world.
To which group would you rather belong on Judgment Day?
Notes:
1. http://www.csun.edu/science/health/docs/tv&health.html#tv_stats
2. NET Bible notes, Wikipedia on “cohortative mood.”
3. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary.
4. Dictionary of Biblical Languages (DBL) #8488.
5. TWOT #2255, #1802e.
6. Enhanced Strong’s #5027.
7. DBL #5564.
8. Manton, Works VI.144.
9. Spurgeon, Treasury of David.
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