I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your works; I muse on the work of Your hands. Ps. 143:5, NKJV.
Do you select a Bible text and read it carefully, thoughtfully, praying for God’s Spirit to impress you with what the text is saying to you? Do you sometimes rewrite the text in your own words? Do you journal about how God’s Holy Word relates to the realities of your daily life with all of its challenges? Do you quietly spend time in prayers of thanksgiving to God for His amazing grace? Do you sometimes get exuberant and dance before the Lord because of His great mercy and goodness? Are there somber times when your sins rise up before you like a dark pall, separating you from Christ’s love? Do you spend time grieving losses and begging God for answers? Indeed, biblical meditation takes many forms and has many moods. One of my favorite passages is Psalm 103. As I go through this beautifully written chapter, my heart resonates and responds to each concept. My mind picks up the ideas, turns them over and around, savoring the thoughts like a starving person tasting food again.
“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits” (verse 2, NKJV)” I can’t begin to recount all the benefits of life in the Spirit. I try to imagine how a truly compassionate father treats his children. That is how God deals with me when I respond to Him in love. Oh, He knows my weaknesses. Having made me, He understands that I am dust. “But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children, to such as keep His covenant, and to those who remember His commandments to do them” (verses 17, 18, NKJV).
I am quite familiar with several of popular culture’s models of meditation and mind awareness- i.e., meditation is thinking about not thinking. Empty your mind of thought and stress. Intone a mantra to clear your thoughts. But I choose rather to fill my mind with the profound thoughts of what God has written to me and the things that He has made around me. That brings peace, harmony, and contentment. Seeking a clearer understanding of God’s goodness, mercy, and love works for me.
O Lord, my God, You inspired the psalmist to write, “My mouth shall speak wisdom, and the meditation of my heart shall give understanding” (Ps. 49:3, NKJV). Fill my head with Your presence, Lord, for I long to see Your glory and know You as You really are.