May 17, 2006
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Possessing the thoughts of God
I was studying Psalm 139 this
morning as part of a study on God’s knowledge. When I got to
verse 17 (“How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!”), a
comment in Keil & Delitzsch gave me a new perspective on those
words. They said: “The knowledge of the thoughts of God is the poet’s precious possession. To ponder them is his favorite pursuit.”
I guess I’d always interpreted the verse as meaning “It means alot to
me, God, that You are always thinking about me.” K & D’s
comment gave it a more universal meaning to me – God reveals His
thoughts to me in Scripture. To know them is to possess
incredible wealth and pondering what He has revealed to me is a
delightful pursuit. It reminds me of Jeremiah’s attitude – “Your
words were found and I ate them. And Your words became for me a
joy and the delight of my heart.” (Jer. 15:16)I have to admit to an inherent laziness when it comes to disciplining
my mind to meditate on the Word. I’m going outside in a few
minutes to work on some projects in the yard and I want to ponder His
thoughts while I work. Much more renewing than some of the other
stuff I ponder on.Ponder is a nice word, isn’t it? I like the sound of it…it’s
kind of restful. I don’t think you could hurry and ponder at the
same time. Kind of like “abide”.
Comments (3)
My mind is so undisciplined that even when I try to meditate on God’s Word, it drifts to other things within a matter of minutes. I always thought meditation was supposed to be this easy, natural thing, but currently, it actually takes alot of intense focus for me! Maybe that changes as a person does it more and more?
Juliet: Is “does it more and more” a polite euphemism for “gets older”??? =) Seriously, I’ve NEVER found meditation easy or natural. Like prayer, it takes focus. The only thing that really helps me to meditate is memorizing Scripture. When I am in the process of memorizing a verse/passage or have memorized it and can take it apart and put it together again in my mind, that’s about the only time I find that I can sink my teeth into it and hold on. Reviewing verses I’ve memorized in the past is a great tool for meditation. Maybe the discipline of memorizing is enough to get you over that “energy of activation” into meditating. I think the ancients didn’t have the distractions that we do but then they didn’t have nearly as much Scripture, either!
Hm…it sounds like I should memorize more Scripture. And no, I was not using it as a euphemism for getting older!! I just recognize that I’ve only been a Christian for 7-8 years, and I’ve only begun to understand the importance of various spiritual disciplines within the past 3 years, so I am pretty inexperienced, and like to learn from more experienced believers. Often times, however, that does include men and women who are older than me