Meditation on Psalm 119:15-16

“I will study your commandments and reflect on your ways. I will delight in your decrees and not forget your word.” (Psalms 119:15-16 NLT) But I really enjoy the way the Message puts it: “How can a young person live a clean life? By carefully reading the map of your Word. I’m single-minded in pursuit of you; don’t let me miss the road signs you’ve posted. I’ve banked your promises in the vault of my heart so I won’t sin myself bankrupt. Be blessed, God; train me in your ways of wise living. I’ll transfer to my lips all the counsel that comes from your mouth; I delight far more in what you tell me about living than in gathering a pile of riches. I ponder every morsel of wisdom from you, I attentively watch how you’ve done it. I relish everything you’ve told me of life, I won’t forget a word of it.” (Psalm 119:9-16 MSG)

Funny how I am meditating on a verse on meditation. I think about how David wrote this passage to The Lord. I delight so much more in what You are showing me than even riches! I am pondering every morsel of wisdom, so much so that I am examining even how You did it! He is holding every single word so close – like a bit of choice meat, savoring it as he has it on his fork, juice dripping as aroma permeates his senses, then biting into it slowly, allowing the flavor to slide down the tongue and throat, enjoying the goodness. It’s like that when you start reading the Word of God and realize it has such eternal impact. It is a living book, a letter of love and life to the reader. So we read, and study and roll it around on our tongues. We let it sink down into our spirits and chew for a long while as what is said begins to infuse its way into our very beings. I won’t forget this, says the Psalmist. I delight in this! Meditation is not this state of “ommmmm” where you sit cross-legged with your fingers in a circular configuration and hum repeatedly.

In this verse, the word meditation is translated as: to ponder, (by implication) converse (with oneself, and hence, aloud) or (transitively) utter — commune, complain, declare, meditate, muse, pray, speak, talk (with). It’s a conversational term in many respects – communion, declaration, prayer, speaking, even complaining! To me there is a direction implication that the Word of The Lord is something worth musing upon.

This makes me think of a recent discussion I just had about media and the culture of entertainment. Essentially, the word entertainment means: “The action of providing or being provided with amusement or enjoyment.” So what’s the origin of the word amuse? Check this out! Amuse (v.) late 15c., “to divert the attention, beguile, delude,” from Middle French amuser “divert, cause to muse,” from a “at, to” (but here probably a causal prefix) + muser “ponder, stare fixedly.” Sense of “divert from serious business, tickle the fancy of” is recorded from 1630s, but through 18c. the primary meaning was “deceive, cheat” by first occupying the attention. Wow! This is exactly what the media has done to our culture! And we have fallen for it again and again. The Bible says that we are to muse – to ponder and think, and the world says we are to be amused – to not think, and be diverted and ultimately cheated! How blatant is that? It’s done so well that most of us defend and justify our chosen amusement… I have done this so often. Amusement / entertainment are not biblical concepts because they require the mind to be disengaged, and throughout the Word we find that we are to continually be thinking on the things that are good. Paul says, “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise” (Phil 4:8). There are, of course so many other scriptures that talk about our thought life.

Which brings us back to the verses at hand… Imagine if we were to delight in the scriptures as much as we look forward to the latest blockbuster release on the big screen. Imagine standing in line for hours to read the Word of God. Imagine spending $20 to sit in a room and study the Bible together while eating popcorn and drinking soda. Turn off your cell phones and be quiet for two hours. How weird would that be? But we do it for a movie which, by and large is full of stuff that the Bible says is wrong. And then we try and read the Bible and tire after ten minutes. But The Lord wants to show us that this is so worth it… finding joy in the pursuit of a depth of intimacy with Him. We need a mind-shift. We need a change of paradigm. For far too long, the enemy has worked over time convincing us that what He has to offer is better than the dry, dull pages of that old book. It is simply not so. I need to be reawakened to this truth again and again because I want to share in David’s delight and relish the living Word which will never pass away!