“I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.”– Psalm 119:15 KJV
In the Christian world, we constantly hear how we should “meditate on the Word.” The default accepted meaning of this phrase is that we should READ the Bible. Very few question this meaning, it is considered a given. But is this really the meaning, or the whole meaning of the phrase?
My son brought this question up, and it immediately awakened something in me. Kinda like, “Duh! Of course it at least includes more than merely reading the Bible!” Just as the phrase “pray unceasingly” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) cannot possibly mean that we should walk around constantly uttering worded prayers, the word “meditate” is not the same as the word “read”!
I would also agree that the word “meditate” is not necessarily interchangeable with “silent prayer,” because it can mean to ponder, as we can do as we read the Bible.
But the phrase “meditate on the Word” can mean much more than merely pondering the words in the Bible. After all, the Book of John starts with the words, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word WAS God.”
So clearly the Word here does not refer to written words, but refers to a LIVING BEING OR BEINGS–God, or God and his son, Jesus Christ.
So Why Was The “Word” Widely Defined as “The Bible”?
This is an interesting question. When Jesus left the earth, he left the Holy Spirit–the Comforter–with his disciples and all believers, so that the Spirit would help us navigate our lives. Satan does not want us to connect with this powerful source of truth. So instead, I believe it’s clear that he has directed us to a book, and then encourages us to study it, even though the wisest man in history (other than Jesus), King Solomon, famously said that “much study is a weariness of the flesh” (Ecclesiastes 12:12).
Don’t get me wrong–I agree with a multitude of others that the Bible is the greatest of books. Inspired by God for sure. The value of meditating on its words and meaning can be tremendous. But it is still only a book. And reading can never replace the supreme value of communing with the Spirit in prayer and meditation!
I believe that “meditating on the Word”–in it’s highest sense, is communing in the Spirit–in other words, meditating on the LIVING Word!
This is what Satan is so afraid of. He knows that if we meditate on the living word, and STAY in that Word, that he will have NO CONTROL OVER US!
“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any living creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.“–Romans 8:38-39 KJV
When we are IN the Spirit, we are IN the Word, and we are connected to the love of God through his Son, Jesus. It’s that simple. So read the Bible–it’s a miraculous and divinely-inspired book. And meditate on its deep meaning. But do not neglect meditating on (or more accurately, IN) the most important Word of all–the Spirit of God–which we have been given direct access to as a free gift. This is how–in our patience–we possess our souls.
Patrick Rooney is the Founder of OldSchoolUs.com. He promotes natural health, success, and freedom during chaotic times. To reach Patrick, email him at [email protected].
Right on the Mark, there are two ways to know God. 1) through absorbing the beauty of nature and the uniqueness of every created thing in it and 2) absorbing the Scripture daily, as the Holy Spirit leads you, the more you adhere to those two things, the more power you can have in this life. Power to see all Truth, power to send Satan running, and power to follow Christ to your eternal destiny, in God’s Kingdom…you have stated it well…
Thank you, Herman. It is good to hear from you. I think of you often.
Meditating on the word of God, the written word in the Bible, and meditation, is and can be for many people, especially those in a traditional religious structure who are taught there is nothing good within us, is a hot topic indeed. I’ve even heard preachers say we are nothing but filthy rags inside. Partly true if we are speaking to the lower realm of the ego and false pride, but not true if we are given to know that greater is He that is within us than is in the world….
I have seen this run the full spectrum of interpretation, from the external or exoteric teaching where a church I once attended would take a bible passage each week, toss it up on the big screen for the congregation to recite and commit to memory, as if to equate meditate with memorization…
And on the other spectrum, the inner realm of the esoteric where hints and clues are given in the written word, such as when Jesus proclaimed “my sheep know my voice” or when Jesus chastised those who believed in thier thinking mind were following Jesus when he turned to them and said “out of my sight you evil doers, I never knew you”…
There is a world of difference between thinking and knowing. I call it the road less traveled and the path that leads to life that few find…
I submit that when we take the time to be still and in the moment with our thoughts, feelings and emotions, and meditate using for example, the Judeo Christian meditation practice taught by Roy Masters, we learn to train our thinking mind over time to undo the mental monkey mind clatter and distraction that pulls us hypnotically into the past or future where we think life is more tolerable, often engaging in people , places, and things we think we need to cope, and instead, slowly allow the still small non voice “voice” of the Holy Spirit to guide us in a divine way of knowing that pales by comparison to the mere typical intellectual pursuit of the written word of God that, without the ever present influence of the Holy Spirit, is subject to the misinterpretation, confusion, and even Holy wars witnessed since the beginning of the written word….
This living word of God is not something we meditate on, but instead something we align ourselves with and are given to “know” from a deeper core of our beingness which is far superior to the level of the limits of the mind and intellect. And in this realm of alignment to the kingdom of heaven within, we pray without ceasing…
And can become like Jesus, a living example of the word made flesh…
Thank you, John, for taking the time to respond, and for doing so with such clear language. I find nothing to disagree with here. 🙂
This article explains how I have always felt about that verse, but couldn’t articulate.
Thank you for putting it into words so succinctly.
You have taken the shallow, pedestrian explanation of a Psalm and expanded it into its true deeper and transformative meaning.
Wow, that’s a high compliment, Brian! You do that for me sometimes, so it’s nice to be able to return the favor. 🙂 I’m glad this happened for you.