Let
my meditation be pleasing to Him;
As for me, I shall be glad in the Lord.
Let sinners be consumed from the earth
And let the wicked be no more.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.
Praise the Lord!
As for me, I shall be glad in the Lord.
Let sinners be consumed from the earth
And let the wicked be no more.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.
Praise the Lord!
Psalms
104:34-35
Introduction
When the word meditation
is used what do you think about? Do you
think about a person who sets with their legs crossed and arms spread straight
out touching their knees with their middle finger touching their thumb while
humming? Or maybe you think about
someone in another position with an instructor repeatedly telling them to empty
their minds while focusing on nirvana.
If any of these or a variation of them is what you think about you are
not thinking about what the Psalmist meant, or what any other Biblical writer
meant by the use of the term “meditation.”
What you are attributing to the Scriptures is Hindu, Yoga, Buddhist and
other forms of Asian cultist thoughts.
The
Biblical View of Meditation
So what is Biblical
meditation? And how can it affect our lives in the year 2017 or at any time in
our lives? The term “meditation” is used
twelve times in the book of Psalms.[i] The word “meditation” used here and in other
places in the Psalms is שִׂיחִי
(siyach {see'-akh}) which means to contemplate[ii] or to repeatedly think about. In other words there is a deep contrast
between the idea of emptying yourself of something as Yoga teaches and thinking
repeatedly or contemplating something over and over as the Biblical writers are
encouraging.
So how important is it to
meditate and what are we as Christians to meditate on? First, since this term is brought up more
than once in the Psalms I would say it’s pretty important. And given the number of writers in the Psalms
would make this even more pronounced. Right
from the start the Psalmist notes the need for meditation, “How blessed is the
man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of
sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day
and night.” (1:1-2). The importance is
declare at the very first.
But this meditation is
not just about anything! Look at the
passage, “Let my meditation be pleasing
to Him…” The word used for “pleasing”
in the NASB is translated as “sweet” in the KJV. It “…is usually rendered ‘pledge’ or surety’
and carries the idea of a mortgage.”[iii] In other words this meditation is a
commitment not just something that is randomly done when the moment strikes.
A hard look at this Psalm
gives us a very strong indication of what the writer was contemplating. It also gives us some very good insight that
while Eastern meditation habits teaches us to get rid of the negative in our
lives, the Bible teaches us not to ignore the negative. Rather to deal with the crisis by meditating
on the Person and work of God in our lives.
Let’s look and see what the Psalmist meditated on:
- 1He meditated on the majesty of God (vv. 1-4)
- He meditated on the creation of the world by God (vv. 5-9)
- He meditated on the provision of God to every part of creation (vv. 10-23)
- He meditated on the work of God in creation (vv. 24-30)
It was meditation that
was pleasing to God, because it was committed to thinking about what God had
done in light of properly think about who He is.
This leads us to our
final thought:
What
Should We Meditate On?
I reiterate that Biblical
meditation does not mean to ignore the negative that maybe going on in our
lives. Rather it seeks to find the
answer to three key questions while concentrating on the Person and work of God
through Jesus Christ in our lives. Over
the last several years, while going through one situation after another, I lost
track of my purpose in what I was going through. I forgot about these questions. I began to ignore God’s purposes and allowed
myself to start to move toward the dark places in my mind and heart. Through thinking about this Psalm, God opened
my heart back up to Him. Those questions
are:
- · How is God going to receive the glory in this situation?
- · How can God use me in this situation to make a difference for His kingdom?
- · Can God’s majesty be seen in my life as I walk through this moment in time?
In the meantime here are
some things we may want to put to the forefront of our mind as we are walking
through difficult circumstances. In fact
if we are not going through the fires of life, we may be walking through an event
with someone.
- God has not abandoned us (Isaiah 41:10);
- God’s love for us can be seen through the wrath that He poured out on His Son Jesus Christ while He suffered on the cross for our sins (Romans 3:25);
- God did not stop by just allowing His Son to die for us, but raised Him from the dead (physically) three days later, giving all who believe eternal life (Romans 10:9-10);
- God gives us His Holy Spirit so that we have both a guarantee into eternal life and the power to live for Him in this present life (Ephesians 1:13-14, 5:18);
- The Lord is constantly praying for us (Romans 8:26; Hebrews 7:25);
- Nothing can separate us from Him (Romans 8:26-38);
- God gives us others to help us through His local churches (Hebrews 10:24);
- The Lord Jesus will return for us someday (John 14:1-6).
I am certain there are
many, many other things that could be added to this list. The key importance is that as we walk through
difficulty we do so by being committed to meditating on Him from the
scriptures. This should be our utmost
desire. With this we will glorify Him,
be used for the purpose of building His kingdom, and other’s will see God’s majesty
in our lives!
NEXT WEEK: BEING GLAD IN THE LORD
His Servant with You,
Steven
Swaim
President & Founder,
Be Devoted Ministries
If you have any speaking
engagements in which you would like for me to speak, feel free and contact me
at StevenSwaim@BeDevotedMinistries.com. Please place “Speaking Engagement” in the
subject line. I will need a contact
phone number, date of the event, and the place in which I will be speaking. All other arrangements will be made when
contact is initiated by me.
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