A Short Meditation on the Word 'Meditation'

Some people might associate the word meditation with yoga, mystical mind exercises, or something related. In a word, techniques that people use to attain a type of “inner peace.” 

It’s rubbish. 
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Before the word meditation, and the practice thereof, was ransacked by the culture, God had something to say about it. When the Bible speaks of meditation, as it often does, it is not the kind of meditation that seeks to disengage, silence, or empty the mind, as in Transcendental or Buddhist forms of meditation. The Scriptures teach meditation that actively engages the mind for the purpose of understanding God’s Word and putting it into practice.

Biblical meditation is carefully reflecting on God’s Word and trusting the Holy Spirit to work in you through those words.

In the Old Testament, one of the key words translated as meditate is the Hebrew word hâgâh. It is used in Joshua 1:8, where God told Joshua to “meditate” on his law, day and night. The word is also used in Psalm 1:2, where we are told of the blessed person whose “delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law, day and night.” In his commentary on Psalm 1, Allan Harmon writes, 

The Hebrew word translated meditates (hâgâh) implies something more than silent reflection. It means “to whisper or murmur”— a use that may point to the fact that reading was usually done aloud in biblical times.

Thomas Watson, a seventeenth-century Puritan minister, devoted much of his life to biblical meditation, both practicing it and teaching about it. He defined the discipline in his book, Heaven Taken by Storm, as “a holy exercise of the mind, whereby we bring the truths of God to remembrance, and do seriously ponder upon them, and apply them to ourselves."

Today, make time for Biblical meditation. It has nothing to do with breathing techniques, taking yourself to your 'quiet' place, or escaping the realities of life.

It has everything to do with drawing near to a loving Father and Creator who knows everything about you, and wants to reveal more of Himself to you, through His Word.

Keep the Fire Burning,
Danny