Prosperous and successful meditation—The LORD, who said, “I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go” (Isaiah 48:17), has established and prescribed a very wonderful and prosperous meditation for his people. All forms of the word ‘meditate’ appear twenty times in fourteen chapters of six books in the entire Holy Bible. However, there are at least fifteen different Bible synonyms for the word ‘meditation.’ They are: “muse” (Psalm 143:5), “imagine” (Genesis 6:5), “study” (2Timothy 2:15), “ponder” (Proverbs 4:26, “HIGGAION” (Psalm 9:16), “Selah” (Psalm 3:2), “plot” (Psalm 37:12), “care” (1Samuel 10:2), “commune” (Psalm 4:4), “consider” (Deuteronomy 4:39), “think” (Proverbs 23:6-7), “devise” (1Kings 12:33), “learn” (Proverbs 16:23), “examine” (Psalm 26:2), “weigh” (Isaiah 26:7), and “cogitations” (Daniel 7:28).
God’s remarkable command and promise to Joshua—After the death of Moses, the LORD spoke to Joshua, and said: “Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success” (Joshua 1:6-8). These words are not limited to Joshua, but are true for all redeemed men who meditate on and walk in the light of the words of God.
WHO MEDITATES?
God commands all Christians—The Lord Jesus Christ declared: “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). Therefore, in his letter “To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse” (Colossians 1:2), Paul the apostle commanded: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16); and “to the saints which are at Ephesus” (Ephesians 1:1), the apostle commanded:
“And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God” (Ephesians 5:15-21). The apostle Paul commanded Timothy: “Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine… Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all” (1Timothy 4:12-15).
The blessed man—The psalmist declares: “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night” (Psalm 1:1-2).
The fruit of his meditation—“And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper” (Psalm 1:3).
God demonstrated his great love for all ungodly sinners—“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly…God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8). In God’s kindness the gospel of salvation—“how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1Corinthians 15:3-4), is recommended and presented as worthy to be noticed and regarded by all sinners.
The results of God’s love—“We love him, because he first loved us” (1John 4:19). When we repent and believe the gospel of Christ, we are “born of the Spirit” (John 3:8), and “the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Romans 5:5). The Lord Jesus Christ “gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father” (Galatians 1:4); “that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:14).
Therefore, the apostle Paul wrote to the believers at Rome: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:1-2). The will of God is found in the word of God.
The demonstration of our love—The believer demonstrates his love for God by obeying God’s commandments. Jesus told his apostles: “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15): “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him…If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (John 14:21-23): “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love” (John 15:10): “But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him” (1John 2:5): “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous” (1John 5:3).
God shows mercy to the obedient—Moses declared God’s word to Israel: “And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:6; Deuteronomy 5:10): “Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations” (Deuteronomy 7:9; 11:22-23). Nehemiah prayed to the LORD God of heaven, “the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments” (Nehemiah 1:5): Daniel prayed to the LORD, and said, “O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments” (Daniel 9:4).
THE TESTIMONY OF THE psalmists
All obedient believers love God’s commandments—The psalmists proclaimed: “…I delight in thy law” (Psalm 119:70, 77, 92, 174), and “in thy commandments” (Psalm 112:1; 119:35, 47, 143), and “in thy statutes…thy word” (Psalm 119:16), and: “Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors” (Psalm 119:24).
Acceptable meditation—David prayed: “Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation” (Psalm 5:1), “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 19:14).
Understanding through meditation—One psalmist declared: “My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding” (Psalm 49:3; Proverbs 2:1-5). The wise man who meditates on God’s law “day and night” (Psalm 1:2) and keeps the word of God can rejoice and declare: “I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts” (Psalm 119:99-100).
The subjects of their meditation
The LORD—David told the LORD: “My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches” (Psalm 63:5-6). Another psalmist declared: “My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD” (Psalm 104:34).
The words of the LORD—The psalmist declared: “Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in thy word” (Psalm 119:148); and: “I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways” (Psalm 119:15, 78); and: “thy servant did meditate in thy statutes” (Psalm 119:23, 48); and: “O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day” (Psalm 119:97). The word of God will be a lamp unto the feet, and a light unto the path (Psalm 119:105) of the just man who meditates on it; and his path will be “as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day” (Proverbs 4:18; Isaiah 26:7) David wrote: “Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer” (Psalm 17:4; Proverbs 4:14-15).
The work of the LORD—Asaph declared: “I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings” (Psalm 77:12); and David testified: “I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands” (Psalm 143:5).
BELIEVERS WHO LOVE GOD
Know that Jesus is our peace—“But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one [Both Jew and Gentile are made one in “the body, the church” (Colossians 1:18)], and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity [that which causes men and God to be enemies], even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh” (Ephesians 2:13-22).
After explaining how God justifies sinners by faith, and how the righteousness of Jesus Christ is imputed [put on their account] to them through believing (Romans 4), the apostle concluded: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:1-2). God has made Christ Jesus “unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord” (1Corinthians 1:30-31). The children of God who love and trust the Lord according to his word receive from “the God of peace” (Romans 15:33; 16:20) an everlasting peace (Ezekiel 37:26)—a peace that far exceeds the peace given by the world.
The Lord Jesus told his apostles: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). The psalmist declared: “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them” (Psalm 119:165); Isaiah wrote: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee” (Isaiah 26:3); and the apostle declared to the saints at Philippi: “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).
Delight in the law of God—The apostle Paul wrote: “For I delight in the law of God after the inward man” (Romans 7:22).
Bear fruit to the glory of God—The word of Christ will dwell richly in the saint of God who reads (Revelation 1:3), studies (2Timothy 2:15), meditates on (Psalm 119:148), and obeys (Deuteronomy 11:27) his word—being a doer of the word and not a hearer only (James 1:23-25). And because Christ’s “words…are Spirit” (John 6:63), this saint will also be “filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18)! This explains why both the fruit of the obedient man who is indwelt by “the word of Christ” (Colossians 3:16) and the wise man who is “filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18) is essentially the same. Compare Ephesians 5:19-20 with Colossians 3:16-17. Such a man will be “rich in faith” (James 2:5).
Look for world peace—Isaiah prophesied: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). At his second coming “the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power” (2Thessalonians 1:7-9). Then the “kingdoms of this world” will “become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 11:15).
And until God destroys the present heaven and earth (2Peter 3:10), and creates “new heavens and a new earth” (Isaiah 65:17; Revelation 21:1), “wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2Peter 3:13), the Lord Jesus Christ, who is “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS” (Revelation 19:16), will sit as “a great King over all the earth” (Psalm 47:2, 7) on his throne in Jerusalem, “the city of the great King” (Matthew 5:35). During his thousand-year reign he will rule all the people on earth with “a rod of iron” (Revelation 19:15; 12:5; 2:27; Psalm 2:9). He will “execute judgment and justice in the earth” (Jeremiah 23:5).
Look for eternal peace—I hope you have been “born again” (John 3:3-8), and that you are looking for “new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2Peter 3:13).
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).
The previous article, “Empty-Minded Meditation,” can be found at this link.