He Speaks When We Meditate or Ponder
[Text Version]
HE SPEAKS WHEN WE MEDITATE OR PONDER
The Hebrew word meditation means to ponder, imagine and study. It is like a cow chewing her cud. In the digestion process, she brings the food back up and re-chews. We meditate when we bring Him back into memory and ponder — thinking about Him, His Words and His works.
Psalms 63:5-6 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise you with joyful lips: 6 When I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the night watches.
Psalms 77:12 I will meditate also on all your work, and talk of your doings.
Psalms 1:2 But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
| Notice in the three verses above, it says: · We meditate upon Him · We meditate upon His Works · We meditate upon His Word |
MEDITATE UPON HIM
Because Jesus is our door to enter into fellowship, we think about HIM. There are so many wonderful ways to ponder Him! We remember Who He is, we appreciate His character and attributes. We consider how these special attributes affects our lives. We search them out and even ask questions. As we think about Him, we are drawing near to Him. As we think WITH Him about these things, He draws near to us.
James 4:8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you
- Ponder the meanings of His Names
- · Ponder His Attributes and Who He is
- · Imagine His goodness recorded 699 times in scripture
- · Remember what Jesus did for you at the cross
- · Know Who the Holy Spirit is
I have noticed many times, during a quiet moment as I remember His Words, that His Holy Spirit is very close and enlightens things I have not seen before. (Revelation) He also brings other things to memory that I didn’t know applied and suddenly I realize they also fit. (Quickening) Quickening and Revelation are experiences with the Lord where we receive fellowship, realizing He is intervening into our time of meditation and bringing it alive with personal application. This happens more often if we INVITE the Holy Spirit into our thoughts and ponderings. We don’t want to think ABOUT Him, we want to think WITH HIM. When we think WITH Him, it is with the Holy Spirit. Consider Who the Holy Spirit is and how He interacts with you in your life.
MEDITATE UPON HIS WAYS
Considering His ways is recalling the different experiences we have had in Him, where He has reached us personally. We can even imagine how He will reach us! He knows our hearts desires and hopes. We can ponder the ways He worked in the lives of Bible characters and learn from them as we consider their victories and their mistakes. We consider the many ways He speaks and how He quickens them with life. We wonder about the process of revelation and how He uncovers truth and we suddenly “see” something we did not see before.
- · Consider the ways He has spoken to us
- · Rehearse the ways He worked in Biblical lives
- · Remember the amazing ways He has worked in our life
One time while I was bowling I saw an unusual thing happen to my ball. The ball was caught in the pit, turning circles and spinning over and over. It was supposed to roll towards the spout and travel back to the chute where the bowler picks up the ball. I watched other balls come back, but not mine, it was still spinning its shocking pink halo around and around! As I was pondering this, my ball finally went into the spout, traveled back to me, and then did the same thing right at the chute. Instead of popping out and rolling into the tray, it began to spin and spin a 2nd time.
This was a good allegory of what it means to ponder, meditate, study, rehearse, imagine, reflect, chew and mull over and over His amazing ways. Even if we are on the move and going somewhere, there is always room to stop and circle around something that is quickened to us. As we learn to become sensitive to what He is quickening with His Spirit or Presence, then we can stop, ponder and listen to what He has to say about that.
MEDITATE UPON SCRIPTURE
It is good to read the Bible through and remember what is says. However it is much deeper to to study the Bible. Remember that one of the Hebrew definitions of the word meditate means STUDY.
Scripture says that His Words are an entrance. When we still ourselves and meditate on His Word, it opens a doorway to new revelations of knowing Him. The scriptures are inspired by the God’s Spirit and He has given us a huge manual of what He has spoken throughout history and what He speaks to us today. God does not change, He is the same today, yesterday and forever and we can trust Him to breathe life upon His Word and help us apply it to our personal life. He will use His Word to shed light upon issues we need to understand about Him and about ourselves.
Psalms 119:130 The entrance of your words gives light; it gives understanding unto the simple.
- Study scripture and apply it to our own life
- · Use the Strong’s Concordance to look up Hebrew and Greek words
- · Apply the Law of 1st mention to the Hebrew or Greek word
- · Apply the Types and Examples to your own life
- · Read scripture as a prayer, ask the Holy Spirit’s help to search your heart and draw attention to what you need.
- · Ask Him to reveal new things in the Word that you did not know before.
- · Ask Him to quicken answers to your prayers, that you had not realized before.
- · Ask His help to recall and remember scripture, and hide it in your heart.
