January 18
“But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. And he will be like a tree, firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and in whatever he does, he prospers.” Psalm 1:2-3
Meditating on the Word of God is distinct from studying the Word and memorizing the Word. Studying the Word gets us into the details and helps us make observations we have not seen before. It helps us see things that we cannot discern just reading the words. Memorizing the Word is just that, memorization. Memorization does not confer understanding, necessarily. Meditation is deep thinking about a verse, really pondering it and letting it sink in. Asking the Lord to show us new insights and get more out of it than we thought possible. Meditation is trying to move the verse from facts and abstract ideas to insights that can change my life. It is moving the verse from my head to my heart.
This concept of meditation is not like the meditation that is popular in our culture today. It is the opposite of emptying the mind or zoning out. It is nothing like repeating a phrase over and over again. Biblical meditation on scripture has been likened to a cow chewing the cud. Did you know that a cow has three stomachs? So I am told. And after they chew the food the first time and swallow it to the first stomach, they bring it up later and chew it again, swallowing it to the second stomach. Then still later they bring it up again, chew it some more, and swallow it to the third stomach where it then continues on. This is likened to how we should meditate on scripture: think about it and ponder it, go our way, then think about it some more, then take care of our business, then bring it to mind again, to think about it yet again.
How do we do this? Writing the verse on a card and carrying it with us or putting it on our desk in front of us is one way to keep it in mind. But we have to consciously work at doing this and deliberately bring our minds back to the verse. This does not come automatically, and it is not easy, but it is a habit that God wants us to develop and says He will bless. And it is one more tool in our arsenal to defeat temptation.