Question: What does it mean for a Christian to meditate? What are the goals and the benefits of Christian meditation? What are some possible ways of going about meditation? Is this something every Christian can and should be doing regularly?

Answer: The book of Psalms starts out with a benediction for the man whose “delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.” Meditation is “engaging in continuous and contemplative thought, muse,” the dictionary says. It means that when we read something we continue to think about the material we read, contemplate its meaning, reflect on its intent, and think about its application for today, for the reader’s life. This meditation is a continuous activity, the Psalmist says: “day and night,” i.e. permanently! That doesn’t just apply to “the law,” as in Psalm 1, but to the entire Word of God, “But the Word that is very near you; It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it” (Deut 30:14). We often read the Bible thoughtlessly, as a routine, without consciously realizing that we are opening God’s Word, and without praying for the Holy Spirit to enlighten us for the understanding of that Word, and without the hope and expectation that we will be strengthened in our faith through the Word!

The Word of God must be studied seriously and contemplated prayerfully. These are the two main aspects of Christian meditation. “Open my eyes, that I may see wonderful things in your law,” the psalmist prays in Psalm 119:18. The Holy Spirit needs to enlighten our mind, remove the darkness and bring light in order that we may see and understand who God is, what he has done, how he saves and redeems, what he is saying to us in our situation today. “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Rom 15:4). Peter says that “the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow” (1Pet 1:9ff). Meditation, therefore, is an intense searching of the Scriptures, to see its coherence, its interconnections, its meanings, etc.

In his second epistle Peter (1:20f.) speaks again about these prophecies and about the inspiration of the Scriptures by the Holy Spirit, and shows: “no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation.” Hence, the reader, too, must seek the meaning of the text he is reading in the Scriptures avoiding his own private interpretation, seeking what the Holy Spirit is saying against the background of the entire Word of God. By meditation, therefore, we think about, reflect, and contemplate what the meaning of the text per se is, what it means in its context, and what its truth and message is for us today. In doing so, we ask what does it tell me about God, about the believer, the child of God in the text, about his circumstances, and how does this relate to my situation and relationship with God in Christ. Meditation, then, takes time, rest, prayer, reflection, as well as study, so that the reading becomes a blessing thanks to our understanding, for the strengthening of our faith and the sanctification of our life!

This practice of meditation is something every Christian can and should develop and exercise. It’s what is called having “quiet time” or “being still” with the Lord. It’s best to find a set time in the day for reading a passage, studying it, praying for insight and understanding by the Holy Spirit, contemplating it. Thus seeking to appropriate it and apply it, praying to see the light of God’s Word shine over all of life in all its facets and aspects. How the Word deals with joy and sorrow, life and death, labour and entertainment, health and sickness, economy and politics, upbringing and education, life in the world and the calling of the government, mission and outreach, etc., i.e. over everything (not all at the same time, or with the same passage, but) as an approach to the intimacy with the LORD in the covenant with him, as his children who fear him may enjoy according to his promises (Ps 25:14).