But they delight in doing everything God wants them to, and day and night are always meditating on his laws and thinking about ways to follow him more closely. They are like trees along a riverbank bearing luscious fruit each season without fail. Their leaves shall never wither, and all they do shall prosper. Psalm 1:2-3 (TLB)
We all want our lives to be like that tree, but did you notice it involves “always meditating”? Meditation is certainly not something new; no is it New Age. God designed it as a method of pondering on His Word in our hearts and personally applying it in our own lives and circumstances. Instead of emptying our minds, we fill them with the truth of God’s Word. It is enlightening our minds with the truth, embracing it and embedding it in our lives. It is intentionally focusing on recalling God’s truth that it might resound in our hearts throughout the day and become the grid through which we sift and measure our thoughts and actions.
God promises good success and a prosperous way to a person who meditates on the Word of God. God instructed Joshua that…
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Joshua 1:8 (NKJV)
David determined:
I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. Psalm 119:15 (ESV)
In the Old Testament there are two primary Hebrew words for meditation: hagah, which means ‘to utter, groan, speak, meditate, or ponder’; and sihach, which means ‘to muse, rehearse in one’s mind, or contemplate’. We literally fill our minds and mouths with God’s Word. For example, take a chosen verse and picture it; visualize it in your mind. The pronounce the verse aloud emphasizing different words each time you read it. Next, personalize it by replacing pronouns with your name. It is now time to pray it by turning the verse into a prayer and saying it back to God. Finally, practice it!
Meditating on the Word of God leads to what Paul calls a renewed mind.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2 (ESV)
No wonder he tells in Colossians 3:16:
Let the Word of Christ dwell in (us) richly… Colossians 3:16 (ESV)