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14 Defining Christian Meditation
In all my years of being raised in the church, I never heard a message on the practice of right thinking or Christian meditation. It is a subject that’s unknown to most Christians because it has been tragically neglected by the church. Therefore, it has left a vacuum that has been filled by worldly alternatives.
Let me start by providing two definitions. When I’m doing research on a topic like this, I look at a secular definition to see how the world defines a particular thing, and then I look at it from a spiritual perspective. Merriam-Webster defines meditation this way: to reflect on, to muse over, to contemplate, or to think deeply.
Now, let’s consider what I believe to be the Christian definition of meditation. The most thorough Christian definition of meditation I found was penned by J. I. Packer in his book Knowing God. He says this:
Meditation is the activity of calling to mind, and thinking over, and dwelling on, and applying to oneself, the various things that one knows about
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the works and ways and purposes and promises of God. It is an activity of holy thought, consciously performed in the presence of God, under the eye of God, by the help of God, as a means of communion with God.
The purpose of meditation is to clear out our mental and spiritual idea of God and to let His truth make its full and proper impact on our mind and heart. It is a matter of talking and reasoning with ourselves about God, moving away from doubt and unbelief into a clear understanding of His power and grace.
When we meditate, we practice right thinking. We humbly contemplate God’s greatness and glory, and, by contrast, our smallness and sinfulness. We encourage, reassure, and comfort ourselves as we contemplate the unsearchable riches of divine mercy that are displayed in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a total and deep preoccupation with the person and works of God and all the results He brings in our life.
Biblical Examples of Meditation
Meditation is talked about in the Bible, more particularly in the Old Testament than in the New Testament. With this in mind, let’s look at some of the biblical background of meditation. Joshua 1:8 might be familiar
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to some of you. God was speaking to Joshua when He said, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will achieve success” (nasb).
God lays out a fantastic proposition here. He says if we meditate on His Word and become obedient to what we learn, then our way will be prosperous and successful.
There are several references to meditation in the book of Psalms, starting with Psalm 1:1–2: “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.” Psalm 5:1 (nasb) says this: “Listen to my words, Lord, consider my sighing.” The word for “sighing” is variously translated as “groaning,” “lament,” or “meditation.” The original Hebrew word is hagig, which means to mutter or meditate.
Here are a few more examples. Psalm 19 concludes, “May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer” (verse 14). In other words, the words of our mouth are largely determined by the meditations of our heart. In Psalm 77:12, David said, “I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”
David also said in Psalm 104:34, “May my medita-
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tion be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord.” We’re going to see as we go that all of us are meditators, but not all our meditating pleases God. Our meditation is either pleasing or displeasing to Him.
Psalm 119 has more references to meditation than any other psalm. It’s the longest psalm in the Bible and is predominantly about God’s Word. For example, verse 15 states: “I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways.”
Every student of the Bible ought to remember verse 99: “I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes.” If you want to be a person who has spiritual insight and truth, then meditate on God’s Word and you will be able to teach your teachers.
In the New Testament, there is one main example I would like for us to consider. It is 1 Timothy 4:15. Paul has been talking to Timothy about not letting people look down on him because he’s young. Instead, he should be an example and devote himself “to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching” (verse 13).
Paul further tells Timothy, “Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress” (verse 15). The New American Standard Bible puts it this way: “Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them.” And the New King James Version translates it: “Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them.”
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The Greek word for meditate or be diligent means to be careful, to take care, to attend to, to practice, or to revolve in the mind. Paul is saying to Timothy, if you meditate on these things that God has done in your life, then your progress and growth in the Christian life will be evident to everyone.
Single- or Double-Minded?
From these biblical references to meditation, we can deduce several things. Meditation must have an object, so we need to look at the objects of biblical meditation.
The Bible teaches that there are three primary objects of Christian meditation. First is the person of God. He is the highest object of our meditation. Many psalms focus on meditating on and worshipping the person of God. Second, we are to meditate on the Word of God. And the third object of Christian meditation are the works of God.
The Christian meditates on the person of God through the Word of God and the works of God. Or another way of putting it is that the Christian meditates on God through the written word, the living Word, and the natural word.
The person of the world meditates on the things of the world. These include pleasure, success, popularity, lust, and other fantasies. The things of this world
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are transitory and will pass away. So, it’s like trying to grasp at a vapor.
The real tragedy is this worldly meditation is taking place among Christians. They are double-minded. A Christian can spend part of their time meditating on the person, Word, and works of God, but can also focus on the world. When there is double meditation, there is double-mindedness.
We talked about this problem in Part Two. James 1:6–8 states that a double-minded person is unstable in all their ways and is tossed about like the waves of the sea. They shouldn’t expect to receive anything from God. The double-minded Christian has two different sources giving them commands. They’ve got God saying “Advance!” and Satan saying “Stay!” So, they take one step forward and one step backward. This is the problem with double-mindedness.
What is the cure for this dual focus? Obviously, it’s singleness of mind and meditation. We’re in the world, but not of the world. We should have our focus on the things of God. We’re not just talking about physical eyes, but spiritual eyes as well. Eyes are the windows of your mind, which controls your meditation. What filters in through the physical and spiritual eyes becomes the raw material that your mind begins to meditate on. So, we need to have a singleness of purpose, of eye, and of meditation.
This challenge of double-mindedness is a dynamic
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