Meditation - And other words
It is fascinating for me to look at and meditate about the way the word “meditate” is translated in the Bible. (I actually have a study I did in my teens on every single meaning for the word translated as “meditate” or “meditation” in the Bible).
This is a list of just some of them:
to mutter
to imagine
to mourn
to roar
to speak
to study
to talk
to utter
to bow down
to muse
to commune
to complain
to pray
to be careful
to devise
to make a solemn sound (like “higgaion” in Psalm 7)
Meditation, as described in the above list of meanings in Scripture, is actually often quite a noisy affair! For some of you reading this, who might have problems focusing when it is quiet, you may be actually glad to realise that you can have a good meditation session by speaking out loud! I have done this myself, when my emotions have been at times unruly, and found the practice to be extremely beneficial.
But look at those meanings. Meditate on them! When you bring the Word into focus, how might you meditate on the Bible by ‘muttering’? Or in ‘mourning’? By ‘complaining’ (do you want to transform your tendency to complain into a biblical practice of meditation?!)? How about ‘being careful’? And even … ‘roaring’?
Well … let’s try it out with another method for meditating on a Bible passage.
Firstly, choose which word you are going to use as your meditation choice for this session: (muttering, complaining, praying, roaring, etc.).
Secondly, choose your Bible passage or a couple of verses.
Now do this:
Read the passage deliberately and slowly twice
See or picture the events (or content) of the passage in your mind
Assume the role of a character in the passage & have a conversation with other characters in it
Apply your 5 senses to the scene
Analyse all that you have discovered
Hope this is helpful. Next time we will look at some Bible promises, commands and mentions of meditation in the Word, and what other fruit it produces.