Day 2: Meditation Makes Noise
Read: Psalm 1:1–3
but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
— Psalm 1:2 (ESV)
Reflect
When we hear the word "meditate," most of us picture silence. Eyes closed. A quiet room. An empty mind.
The Bible's picture is louder. The word translated "meditates" is yehgeh, and it is a sound word. Elsewhere in Scripture the same verb describes the growl of a lion standing over its prey (Isaiah 31:4) and the moan of a mourning dove (Isaiah 38:14). Here it is the low murmur of a person who keeps speaking God's law to himself. Under his breath. Over and over.
And it is a habit, not an event. He keeps murmuring, "day and night." The Word is not something he visits once in a while. It is what his mouth returns to when nothing else is demanding his attention.
That is a searching thought. Every one of us has something we mutter. A worry we keep rehearsing. An argument we keep replaying. A complaint we keep polishing. Our mouths reach for something when no one is listening.
The blessed person of Psalm 1 has trained his mouth to reach for God's Word. Not perfectly, and not all at once, but steadily. Meditation in Scripture is not emptying your mind. It is filling your mouth.
Across Scripture
A close parallel is God's charge to Joshua: "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night" (Joshua 1:8). David does the same through the night watches (Psalm 63:6). In the New Testament, Mary "treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart" (Luke 2:19), the same posture in another language.
Sit With It
Read verse 2 aloud, slowly, until it becomes a kind of hum. Then notice what your mouth reaches for when no one is listening.
Pray
Let your word be what I mutter today.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.