Words change their meaning over time, and one group thinks they own a word then an other group comes and takes that word away. That is what has happened with the word meditation. Meditation is mentioned 28 times in the Old Testament. It was a widely known and practiced way to study, ponder and pray through a biblical passage. Then the Buddhists came along and said that meditation meant emptying your mind. Buddhist meditation actually means detaching your mind from reality.
So what is biblical meditation and what is meant by Psalm 1 when it says “on his Law he meditates day and night?” The Hebrew word for meditation means low growling, like a hungry lion. So the idea of a perfectly silent mediation is not biblical. The best way to describe biblical mediation today is to take a passage or a part of a passage and read it, out loud. Pause on each word and fill your mind with the passage. When the passage has been read, take a deep breath, focus on what was just read and read it again, quietter. On the third time through the passage, read one word, take a deep breath and exhale. Read the next word, breath and exhale. Continue reading the passage over and over again until it fills your mind and you are not thinking about anything else. This meditation can go on as long as there is time. A mediation can last 2 minutes or 30 minutes. Length of time does not matter as much as depth of focus.
Psalm 1 says to meditate day and night. This is an idiom which means morning and evening. Perhaps as part of a quiet time in the morning a 5 minute mediation would work. Prior to going to bed, perform another mediation.
For the maximum effect, use the same passage for every mediation for a month. At the end of the month, the passage will be mostly memorized and it will be in your mind. Meditating twice a day on the same passage will cause that passage to be engrained in your thinking. Hopefully people who do this will begin to think about how to apply the passage. They will wonder how their life could be better if they truly believed that passage and thoughts like that.
Meditation is not required for salvation, but it will have a sanctifying effect. After six months of meditating on six different passages, people have said they begin thinking scripture when they think about things. Once person told me that after a month on the same verse they actually got a dictionary to more fully understand each word.
Psalm 1 uses the description of a meditating person to say that it is that type of person who has correct behavior in other areas. A person who meditates on Scripture will make better choices and more righteous choices and will be a more godly person.
If you want to try meditation, may I suggest Psalm 1:1 to start
So what is biblical meditation and what is meant by Psalm 1 when it says “on his Law he meditates day and night?” The Hebrew word for meditation means low growling, like a hungry lion. So the idea of a perfectly silent mediation is not biblical. The best way to describe biblical mediation today is to take a passage or a part of a passage and read it, out loud. Pause on each word and fill your mind with the passage. When the passage has been read, take a deep breath, focus on what was just read and read it again, quietter. On the third time through the passage, read one word, take a deep breath and exhale. Read the next word, breath and exhale. Continue reading the passage over and over again until it fills your mind and you are not thinking about anything else. This meditation can go on as long as there is time. A mediation can last 2 minutes or 30 minutes. Length of time does not matter as much as depth of focus.Psalm 1 says to meditate day and night. This is an idiom which means morning and evening. Perhaps as part of a quiet time in the morning a 5 minute mediation would work. Prior to going to bed, perform another mediation.
For the maximum effect, use the same passage for every mediation for a month. At the end of the month, the passage will be mostly memorized and it will be in your mind. Meditating twice a day on the same passage will cause that passage to be engrained in your thinking. Hopefully people who do this will begin to think about how to apply the passage. They will wonder how their life could be better if they truly believed that passage and thoughts like that.
Meditation is not required for salvation, but it will have a sanctifying effect. After six months of meditating on six different passages, people have said they begin thinking scripture when they think about things. Once person told me that after a month on the same verse they actually got a dictionary to more fully understand each word.
Psalm 1 uses the description of a meditating person to say that it is that type of person who has correct behavior in other areas. A person who meditates on Scripture will make better choices and more righteous choices and will be a more godly person.
If you want to try meditation, may I suggest Psalm 1:1 to start
Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
Comments
Post a Comment