Psalm 1 says:
Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the
wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and
night.He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives
away.
This is a beautiful image of the life-giving power of God’s word. But what, exactly, does it mean to meditate on God’s word? How do we do that and flourish in the way Psalm 1 describes?
If we want to be rooted in life, if we want stability, if we don’t want to be blown around by all the different teachings out there, we need to meditate on God’s word. We see this throughout the Psalms and the rest of the Bible. If you meditate on the Scriptures, you’re going to be like a deeply rooted tree, flourishing by streams of living water. The winds blow. Earthquakes happen. Trials come. But you’re grounded. You’re rooted in the word.
The wicked aren’t grounded. They’re like dandelions that the wind eventually blows apart. The pieces fly off here, there, and everywhere because they’re not rooted. They’re not stable.
But how, exactly, do we meditate on the Bible? First, it just means reading Scripture every day. We need a steady diet of reading the Bible. It can help to read through one book of the Bible at a time. Bible reading plans can be a good tool for some people.
Meditation is more than just reading, though. We should stop at times and say, “Hey, I’m going to pick some passages to focus on and memorize, so I can repeat them to myself.” I was talking to someone recently who is a shut-in. She told me, “I haven’t been able to go to church, and I haven’t even been able to read the Bible because of my condition. But those passages that I’ve memorized have become treasures to me. I repeat them in my mind over and over again. And God is nourishing me through his word.” She’s struggling, but she’s grounded in the word of the Lord and experiencing God’s grace.
So, we read the Bible, memorize Bible verses, and repeat those verses to ourselves. Finally, we think hard about the Bible. We reflect on what we’ve read. And we pray, asking the Holy Spirit to illuminate our minds and give us a deeper understanding of what we’ve read.
We should all want that for ourselves. And so, may the Lord help you and me to meditate on his word.
This article is part of our Frequently Asked Questions series. Listen to Pastor Adriel answer this question on Core Radio here.
Dig deeper with these free resources from Core Christianity:
CORE QUESTIONS
What are the Genres of the Bible and Why Do They Matter?, What are the Parables?,Who Are the Prophets?
CORE GUIDES
5 Themes To Help You Understand the Bible, 10 Verses to Memorize as a Family This Summer