I Will Meditate

“I will meditate on Your precepts And contemplate Your ways…”

Again we see purposeful action on the part of the Psalmist. He states his clear and firm purpose for us and we are forced to remember that this is the Scripture and that this is not any idle boast or empty intention. David is telling us the sure and firm resolve of his heart. There is real benefit, I think, proclaiming the resolve of the heart before all men. It is positive to be open and above board, transparent before our fellows and real to those who are watching.

“Meditate” is used for the first time in the Psalm in this verse. The basic meaning of the verb seems to be that of rehearsing or repeating. Some would render it “to go over a matter in one’s mind.” It is clear that this may be done inwardly or privately; or it may be done outwardly or more publicly. One can think about a matter, or one can talk a matter over with another. In English there is some differentiation, in this instance in the Hebrew, there is none. The process is the same, essentially. In the Old Testament it is used in both ways. It speaks of the inward contemplation as well as of the outward rehearsing of the works of God. We ought not to assume that the verb is always positive as one can talk and think negatively as well as positively.

The verb is in the imperfect, which speaks of incomplete action. This underscores for us the ongoing nature of the thought in the writer’s mind. Meditation is not a one-time thing, but rather something that he did (and would do) on an ongoing basis. Meditation is in fact a duty for believers, as well as a thing of real benefit to us.

How does it benefit us?

It brings the blessings of obedience.
It occupies the mind, preventing the mind from being occupied by sin.
It occupies the mind with that which is profitable.
It is glorifying to God.
It makes progress in solving problems.
It moves us toward maturity.
It shows us the deep things of God.
It clarifies and convinces us of the truth and the benefit of the promises of God.
It promotes true self-understanding
It establishes Godly habits.
It edifies the brethren.

Meditation is one of the most beneficial habits we can establish. Sadly, there are many things in our lives that fight against the establishment of Biblical meditation habits.

We are too busy.
We are not Biblically literate or active
We have too many distractions
We are not thinkers
We are pleasure oriented and not spiritually oriented
We are undisciplined
We do not have many godly habits
We are not truly interested in spiritual things in any more than a general concept
We are only really interested in what benefits us
We are unwilling to put the time in

With all this acting against us – is it any wonder that we are not meditaters? I think not. Along with personal study and memorization – this is the main means God uses to bring us to obedience and maturity. Meditation must be coupled with instruction (hearing preaching and teaching) and with study and memorization if it is to have its proper effect. Rather, our habit is to read a paragraph or two out of a devotional and take the thought for the day and think we have done our duty. Sadly, this is not adequate. Coupled with the fact that we get little good Biblical preaching, we can easily see why the church is in the condition it is in today.

Note that the writer will meditate on “Thy precepts”. This is not thinking about our troubles, or the normal pondering of the issues of life. Those things can be a part of good and Biblical meditation, but they are a tangent or an application of Biblical meditation, not the focus or main part of it. The focus of Biblical meditation must be the precept of God.

The writer will rehearse the law of God and he will, secondly, “contemplate” God’s ways. The word represents what one does with the eye and various meanings take in everything from a casual glance to a careful, sustained and favorable contemplation. It is frequently used of man’s contemplation of God and we might add, of God’s looking upon man.

In the context here we are obviously not talking about any kind of casual contemplation of the word. That much was made clear by the use of meditation in the first part of the verse. There we saw that we are talking about a detailed and repeated rehearsal of the truths of the Word.

Here that idea is carried further. We are not just speaking of the rehearsal of the factual content of the Scripture. Rather we are speaking of the teaching or the implications of these facts. It is needful for us to master the factual content of the Word. We can get nowhere without a good knowledge of those facts. However, we must realize that we are talking about far more than merely mastering a few facts. We are talking about the contemplation of what those facts teach us. That is what the writer has in mind. He knew the facts of the Bible of his day and he spent time rehearsing those facts. But he went further; and so must we if we are to reap the full, intended benefit of the Word.

David contemplated the “ways” of God that Word revealed to him. This is the second time this particular word has been used in this Psalm (v. 9). The word is mostly used in a figurative fashion describing the way to life or death. That is the sense in which it is used here. The Scripture describes for us God’s “ways” which are the ways of life and death, of huge significance and import.

That is the import of God’s Word. It is not simply an academic subject or a suitable intellectual pursuit. The end of the Word, and of the command of God for us to contemplate it, is not just (or even primarily) content. Rather, God desires that we come to know His “ways” and that His ways become our ways. As always, His desire is that we see the truth of them and that we do them – putting them into practice in life.