Recently, both of my churches studied Psalm 1 (with an eye to studying Psalms 1 & 2 together). At any rate a major stream of thought is fed from the spring of verse 2 “but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night” (ESV).
Please don’t make the common evangelical mistake in regarding “law of the LORD” in the same light as the U.S. legal system.
NOT THE SAME.
Certainly there are dos and don’ts within the law of the LORD. However, it is so much more than that, which is why David can sing, “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul” (Psalm 19:7; ESV). No, think of the law of the LORD as God’s teaching/instruction/way/direction. Think of the law of the LORD as God’s self-revelation.
“On his law he meditates day and night.” In meditating, I’m NOT thinking of what men do in the bathroom “to take care of paper work,” nor I am thinking of sitting in strange positions and mindlessly humming, “OMMMM.” Rather the best way to speak of meditating … is well … speaking … thinking-speaking. It is verbally rehearsing something. Do you remember the last time someone really made you mad? Do you remember the conversation you had with yourself in the privacy of your car or shower? Normally that is called ruminating. I call it meditating. What about the phone conversations discussing in detail the dirt of the person who made you mad? Normally that is called gossip. I call it meditating … corporate meditation.
Meditating on the law of the LORD is the mentally-engaged, verbal rehearsing of the teaching of God, as found in his written Word … privately and corporately.
Now the cool thing about all this is that when we meditate, when we actively … with mental engagement, verbally rehearse the teaching of God as found in his word … we are met by the Holy Spirit. In much the same way as the Holy Spirit can meet us in Holy Communion for transformation, the Holy Spirit can meet us in meditation. The Holy Spirit can take the teaching of God, with which we are brain-washing ourselves, and wash our souls.
By the way … we all get brain-washed. The real question is who do we allow to do the washing and with what. In my next post I’ll share what my regular daily meditations actually are. Thanks for reading. Thanks for meditating.
