The Necessity of Meditating on Scripture (part one)
By Jay Wegter Trust is the very heartbeat of our walk with God. Faith first connected us to God, now we are to
daily live by faith in His Word (Col 2:6-7) . We ‘feed’ this faith by meditating on Scripture. There is no greater power for transforming our lives and moving us to spiritual maturity than meditating on Scripture. But, in our age of social networks and endless computer ‘apps’—the screen in front of us is gradually replacing the ‘screen’ of the mind’s eye. Therefore, it is more important than ever to recover this spiritual discipline. I recently asked a room full of Christian high school students if any of them meditated on the Word that week and were able to go one hour without any electronic stimuli, none raised a hand!
The meaning of Scriptural meditation is succinctly captured by J. I. Packer: “[It is] the activity of calling to mind or thinking over and dwelling upon and applying to oneself the various things one knows about the works, ways, purposes, and promises of God” (J. I. Packer, Knowing God). Scripture meditation is renewal of the mind by means of God’s Word—meditating on Scripture is for every believer because each believer is called to a life of transformation by the Word (the ‘transformation mandate’). “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom 12:2).
Meditating upon Scripture is a spiritual discipline. It is an activity of holy thought, consciously performed in the presence of God, under the eye of God, by the help of God, as a means of communion with God. Meditation clears one’s mind and heart of distractions in order to gain a clear vision of God and to let His truth make its full impact. Meditation is necessary in order for God’s truth to change and our mind, affections, and will (see Communion with God, by John Owen). Meditation on the Word is an energetic spiritual discipline; it involves focus and concentration. Meditation often involves talking to oneself about God and what He requires. It often entails ‘arguing’ and reasoning oneself out of moods of doubt and unbelief and back into clear apprehensions of God’s holiness, love, power, and grace (see Thought of God, by Maurice Roberts).
What are the steps for meditating on the Word of God? Meditation is an extension of the application step of personal Bible study. In meditation we ask additional questions of the text:
- How does this passage ‘feed my faith’?
- How may I move into greater love of the truth as it is taught here?
- What changes are necessary for me to bring my life into conformity with God’s truth?
- How does this passage give me God’s way of seeing life?
- How does this passage help me ‘build a case’ for obedience and against disobedience?
- What errors, lies, and temptations are refuted by this text?
- What are the benefits of obedience and the consequences of disobedience?
Meditation on Scripture involves a determination to believe what God says and to do it. “Therefore, let us fear lest, while the promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you should seem to have come short of it. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard” (Heb 4:1-2). Many individuals who hear God’s Word and even read God’s Word do not profit from it because they do not respond to God’s Word with faith (Heb 4:2). All genuine obedience springs from faith in God’s Word. Meditation allows the Word to feed our faith and fasten God’s truth upon our understanding and affections.
Meditation on Scripture is the cultivation of the love of the truth. “Under the law it was an unclean beast that did not chew the cud; it is a corrupt heart that does not ‘chew [God’s] truth’ by meditation” (Stephen Charnock, The Existence and Attributes of God). Only the person who has saving grace has joy in God’s truth. The heart of a true believer functions as a servant of divine revelation—his heart and conscience are ‘captive’ to the Word of God. By contrast, the unbeliever does not receive the love of the truth (2 Thess 2:10). The natural man cannot delight in the commandments of God (Rom 8:5-8). Therefore in the heart of a natural man; no meditation on Scripture takes place. The unregenerate man keeps God’s truth ‘confined to a vault’ lest it be released to fill his life and have total sway, influence and dominion. By contrast, the believer’s heart is a sanctuary of God’s truth—Scripture dominates exceptionally in the life of the genuine believer. “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates both day and night. And he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers” (Ps 1:1-2).