Meditate on the Word

Joshua 1:8 – “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night.”

According to James Hamilton, there are two kinds of Bible readers--those who skim the surface and those who dig deep. He describes them by comparing them to two common insects. He writes, "One is remarkable for its imposing plumage, which shows in the sunbeams like the dust of gems; as you watch its jaunty gyrations over the fields and its minuet dance from flower to flower, you cannot help admiring its graceful activity, for it is plainly getting over a great deal of ground.  But in the same field there is another worker, whose brown vest and businesslike, straightforward flight may not have arrested your eye. His fluttering neighbor darts down here and there, and sips elegantly wherever he can find a drop of ready nectar; but this dingy plodder makes a point of alighting everywhere, and wherever he alights he either finds honey or makes it. If the flower-cup be deep, he goes down to the bottom; if its dragon- mouth be shut, he thrusts its lips asunder; and if the nectar be peculiar, he explores all about till he discovers it. . . His rival of the painted velvet wing has no patience for such dull and long-winded details. . . The one died last October. The other is warm in his hive, amidst the fragrant stores he has gathered." Which type of Bible reader are you? Butterfly or bee?

Which indeed? Are you one who flits about the task of Bible reading – skimming here and skimming there – touching the surface as you go?  Or are you one who digs deep as Alexander Pope suggests in his “Essay on Criticism?” He says, “A little Learning is a dang'rous Thing / Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian Spring / There shallow Draughts intoxicate the Brain / And drinking largely sobers us again.”  Now Pope was speaking of intellectualism, but let’s apply it to our Bible reading habits.  “Drink deep,” he says.  The Word is often referred to in the Scriptures as water – so, friend, when you read, drink deep – mull it over – meditate on it.  Many times in the Psalms, a passage ends with the word Selah.  Scholars vary on the meaning of this little word, but the consensus is that it means “pause and reflect” or “meditate on this.”

There are many scriptures that teach us the importance of meditating on what you’re reading in God’s Word.  Oh, most of us agree that reading His Word is important to the Christian life, but meditating on it is just as important.  2 Timothy 2:7 says, “Consider (or think about) what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.”  Psalm 119, the great psalm in which every verse extols the precious Word of God, tells us several times to meditate on it – v. 15, “I will meditate in thy precepts;” v. 23, “Meditate in thy statutes;” v. 48, “I will meditate in thy statutes;” v. 97, “Oh how I love thy law! It is my meditation all the day;” v. 99, “Thy testimonies are my meditation;” v. 148, “That I might meditate in thy word.”  It’s only through a consistent meditation on the Word of God, that the Christian can learn to eat the meat of God’s Word that Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians 3:2, “I have fed you with milk, and not with meat.”  Dig deep and pull out those gems and precious stones.  Ask yourself, “What is God saying to me in particular?”  He has a message just for you every time you open the pages of Scripture – so, dig deep to find out what it is. Selah – Meditate on this!

Quote – “God’s Word is a song to give me joy, gold to make me rich, food to make me strong, light to make me sure, God’s heritage to make me whole.” – Dr. Ed Nelson

"Lord, Help us to dig deep into your Word. Help us to memorize - to study - to show ourselves approved.  Help us to love it and meditate on it.  Amen."