Meditation in the book of Psalms
Good morning, I hope you’re well. This morning’s post is a continuation of my last post on Christian meditation. You don’t have to go back and read that prior post first, but it might be helpful. Here’s a sample:
Today, we’re moving on to what the Bible has to say about meditation, starting with the book of Psalms. Any discussion about the Old Testament call to meditation must begin with the Psalms. But before that, I must suggest that if you’re a Christian who is not reading the Psalms regularly, now would be a great time to start. As N.T. Wright wrote about the Psalter, “Sing these songs, and they will renew you from head to toe, from heart to mind. Pray these poems, and they will sustain you on the long, hard but exhilarating road of Christian discipleship.”[1] Richard Foster counts fifty-eight times that the Bible uses the two Hebrew words for meditation, and more of those instances occur in the Psalms than any other book.[2]
Psalm 1 lays out the choice of two paths: one that leads towards spiritual growth and fulfillment, one that leads to destruction. On the blessed path is the man whose “delight is the Law of the Lord and on His law he meditates day and night” (Psalm 1:2). This is a wisdom poem and the wisdom dispensed is quite clear, it is a blessing to know and follow God’s “divine requirements.”[3] One would do well to note that the preceding verse lists the evils the blessed man avoids. These two paths are not just different, but also correlated. Spending time meditating on God’s law works to keep the believer from evil and that correlation can work in either direction. It matters how the believer spends their time and it matters where they focus their thoughts.
Psalm 27 further develops the point. Here the Psalmist writes “One thing I have asked from the Lord that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple” (Psa. 27:4). Here the psalmist has a singular focus: to dwell with his God. This is a lament Psalm, but the psalmist exudes confidence that comes from knowing his God and his safety in Him.[4] One note for the Christian is the psalmist’s desire to be in the house of the Lord, or the temple during his time. Paul’s reminded us that “you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you” (1 Corinthians 3:16). This further sets apart Christian meditation from other meditations in that the Christian possesses the very Spirit of God and they can seek that Spirit in their own interior life. In contrast to other forms of meditation that seek to detach from the world, or empty the mind, this is a meditation that seeks to be more attached to God, with a mind full of His truth.
An entire book could be written about the instructions, uses, and calls of the Psalms on meditation, but for these purposes one more will be highlighted. Psalm 119, the longest Psalm, includes eight references to meditation as the psalmist vows to meditate on God’s precepts (Psa. 119:15, 119:78), His statutes (119:23, 119:48), His wonders (119:27), His Law (119:97), His testimonies (119:99), and His Word (119:148). Again, the psalmist expresses suffering in this Psalm, but he keeps his focus on God and His Law. He recognizes that a life spent pursuing God and His Law will be a life that avoids many of the dangers in his path.[5]
I would invite you to meditate this week on the Psalms, and Psalm 1 is a great place to start. Spend ten minutes each morning and each evening meditating on what that Psalm tells us the wise man does and does not do. See how God works in your silence and obedience.
[1] N.T. Wright, The Case for the Psalms: Why They are Essential (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2013),.
[2] Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth, Fourth edition. San Francisco, CA: Harper One, 2018.
[3] Tremper Longman, Psalms: An Introduction and Commentary (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2014), 98.
[4] Ibid, 208.
[5] Ibid, 526.