Psalm 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.
Among Christians of all ages and even varying doctrinal and or worship preferences, there is universal agreement on one thing: the art and act of meditating upon God’s Word is one of the highest spiritual benefits.
Most Christians though are surprised to understand what the Biblical meaning of meditation is. Most misinterpret it in terms of worldly, eastern spiritual practices of being quiet, silent and contemplative. But look what it actually means in the Bible: to murmur, imagine, mutter, roar, speak, talk, utter, think.
It refers to something you are doing with your mouth more so than just your mind. In the Old Testament, the way God’s Word was meditated upon was by speaking and declaring it over and over.
Joshua 1:8 says, Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
The way the Lord explained meditation to Joshua was by keeping God’s Word on his lips day and night – in other words, continually. That’s called Bible meditation.
I like to use the illustration of a cow chewing grass to explain this. The humble cow has several stomachs and when it chews a mouthful of grass it chews and chews to create a cud. Assisting in this process are the several stomachs where the cow will swallow and bring it back up and continue chewing, over and over.
Likewise, as you spend time in the Scriptures – a verse, a chapter, a story, a parable… don’t just read it in your mind, read it aloud – hear yourself speaking the Word. Read it over and over, and then throughout the day – during your morning coffee break; over lunch; your afternoon break – keep bringing up what you read and go over it again and again in your mind. This process is what causes God’s Word to become planted deeper within you and the light of revelation and understanding becomes brighter in your life. It's a powerful way to grow your faith.
This year I am personally meditating upon Psalm 23, The Lord is my Shepherd. I do a lot of my meditating during my morning prayer. Some people run out of things to pray for. Well start meditating and declaring God’s Word over your life and you will soon find yourself running out of time!
The key to Bible meditation is to break your verse or passage down into little bite sizes.
For example Psalm 23:1 can be broken down into two phrases: The Lord is my Shepherd… I shall not want (lack).
I will spend one whole day just meditating upon one of these phrases. I have started with “The Lord is my Shepherd” because Jesus is the key to everything in this entire Psalm. And the greatest revelation you can personally receive is the knowledge of the truth that the “Lord is my Shepherd”.