Meditation is “to consider thoughtfully . . . deeply . . . to revolve in the mind”. The need for meditation and the part it plays in our spiritual life does not always receive the consideration it justifies.
By thinking and reasoning, research and experiment, men have discovered laws and principles established by the Great Creator Himself. This is why we see so many wonderful things taking place around us. Solomon said, “There is nothing new under the sun”, and men today are only harnessing forces already in existence. Men are enjoying the facilities of modern living because of their reasoning powers.
What does this mean in terms of our spiritual life? Our ability to meditate is just as significant for us in our spiritual life as the ability to think in the natural life.
What should we meditate upon? Psalm 104 provides us with an excellent basis of subject matter for meditation. The Psalmist takes us to the realm of nature and from these wonderful things known to us illustrates the glory, power, wisdom, and goodness of God. He speaks of the glories of the sky, but it is God “who covereth Himself with light, who makes the clouds His chariot, and walketh upon the wings of the wind”. The wonders of nature express even greater wonders. He saw the hand of God in all creation: “The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth His handiwork”. No doubt he saw the hand of God in the flowers of the field. Emerson in his essay, “Nature”, said, “The day is not wholly profane if we have given heed to some natural object”.
All these wonderful visible works of God are food for thought, but we, who were blind, have been made to see the Glory, Power, Wisdom and Goodness of God in His plan of salvation. This aspect should be the principal subject of our meditation. We are especially privileged because our knowledge of the Truth creates a personal relationship between us and the Creator, and we can see a purpose behind it all. We do not wonder at the Psalmist concluding thus: “I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. My meditation of Him shall be sweet; I will be glad in the Lord.”
We did think on these things before we accepted the Truth. The first principles of the truth are factual, but understanding their personal implications is the result of contemplation, consideration and reasoning. This is why we accept the Truth and desire baptism.
Deep contemplation of spiritual things will take us to the threshold of direct contact with our Heavenly Father in prayer, and we will be moved like the Apostle to bow our knees “unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . that He would grant, according to the riches of His glory, strength with might by His spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in our hearts . . . that we may be able to comprehend (by meditation) what is the breadth, and length, and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ”.
What Will Meditation Do For Us?
“My meditation of Him shall be sweet.” These words of the Psalmist sum up all the many benefits of meditation. The calm and confident thoughts which come to us when we “think on these things” will give us “peace of mind”, because we recognize the personal relationship we have with this wonderful, infinite and ever-loving God. The apostle had this in mind when he said, “Whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report; if there be any virtue and praise, think on these things. Those things which ye have both learned and received and heard and seen in me, do; and the God of peace shall be with you”.
Meditation gives strength of character and spiritual steadfastness. The more we think about these things, the more reasons we will discover why we should trust Him. Contemplation of the solid foundation upon which our lives are built moves us to say with fervour (Psalm 27. 1), “The Lord is my light and salvation: whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” or (Psalm 29), “The Lord will give strength unto His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace”.
One of the necessary qualities of a follower of Christ is courage. Meditation will give us this because our convictions will be strengthened, our fears dissipated, and we will be “strong in the Lord”.
Meditation will give us great pleasure and joy. What could possibly give us more pleasure than the thought of our Heavenly Father’s works and grace towards us? This pleasure is the reward of all His children, irrespective of their present circumstances. If rich in this world’s goods, or poor, in sickness or in health, whether we be prominent in the ecclesia or otherwise, this pleasure is enjoyed only in proportion to the relationship we hold with God. Nothing else influences it. This is confirmed by the apostle’s words, “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in distresses for Christ’s sake, for when I am weak, then am I made stronger”.
Meditation will help us to forget our cares, and give us faith. If we adopt the right frame of mind we can relegate to the background of our lives these matters which should not concern us as they do. Many of the things temporal receive too much of our attention and affection and we become anxious or covetous because we lack faith. We should (and, if we think about it, we will) take heed to the apostle Peter’s exhortation, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time; casting all your cares upon Him; for He careth for you”.
The Difficulties Of Meditating
It is not easy to meditate on spiritual things continuously. We must give attention to our daily responsibilities, and the activities involved in doing so tend to take us away from thoughts of things concerning our spiritual life. The danger lies in allowing the affairs of this life to dominate our lives. This is exactly what happens when we fail to keep in mind those things “with which we have to do”. This requires effort because we are tempted to “place our affections on things beneath and not on things above”. Paul puts it another way: “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the spirit.” The Apostle himself confesses to the difficulties encountered in being spiritually minded: “For the good that I would I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do.” We require to develop within ourselves a contemplative habit of mind and be able to maintain a recollection of spiritual things always. We would then see God in everything and all our actions would be to the Glory of God. This is the task before us.
The difficulty of meditating arises because it requires self control and concentration. We must discipline ourselves to think steadily and intently. The process of deterioration to the carnal mind and outlook is automatic, and results simply as a result of forgetting to think on heavenly things. “How can we escape (spiritual death) if we neglect such great salvation?” (not “we cannot escape” but “how can we escape?”) The spiritual mind comes as a result of prayer and meditation and this requires great effort, because we are naturally prone to do otherwise. If we really believe in the need for meditating about the things we know, and resolve to do so, we can overcome the difficulties.
The Psalmist said, “I remember Thee in my bed, I meditate on Thee in the night watches” . . . “Meditate on all His works and muse on the work of His hands” . . . “Oh, how I love Thy law, it is my meditation all the day.” Joshua was exhorted by the Lord, “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night”. The intensity of our meditation will depend on the time and the occasion, eg. in solitude our meditation will be deep, whereas in the midst of the worldly environment we may only manage to pause for a fleeting moment to hear the “still small voice” of God.
We can prompt ourselves to meditate each day by saying, for example, each morning, “This is the day the Lord hath made; I will rejoice and be glad in it”. Consider the inspiration we would receive with this thought in the back of our mind. If in everything we see around us we can say, “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes”, we will be guided to live our lives as it becometh children of God.
When we think of our Heavenly Father as the mighty power of the Universe, and the fact that He has taken notice of us at all, we are lost in the wonder of it all. We try to comprehend His immensity and eternity and we are filled with fear and awe and reverence. His power and truthfulness assures us of protection: “Who can separate us from the love of God?” When we consider His wisdom as seen in all His works, we are filled with praise and adoration. When we consider His Son, as being in the likeness of His Father, then His holiness inspires us to live better in our attempt to imitate Him. His truth as revealed to us gives us understanding and conviction concerning His promises. On meditating about His justice we are confident of forgiveness, if we repent and forsake our evil ways.
Like the Psalmist, then, “Our meditation will be sweet and we will be glad in the Lord”.
Reflections on the Potter and the Clay