The Bible directs us to four objects of meditation. The one mentioned most often is meditation on God’s Word. For instance, the “blessed” man of Psalm 1:2 meditates “on his [that is, God’s] law.” The writer of Psalm 119 repeatedly refers to meditating on God’s written revelation (see verses 15, 23, 48, 78, 97, 99, and 148).
A second object of meditation is God’s creation. This is what King David means in Psalm 143:5 when he says, “I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands.”
The Bible also speaks of meditation on God’s providence. We see this in texts such as Psalm 77:12, which says, “I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds.”
Fourth, Scripture points to the practice of meditation on God’s character. Again, it is King David who illustrates this by saying to the Lord, “I . . . meditate on you in the watches of the night” (Psalm 63:6).
These four, however, could be condensed to only two categories: meditation on the content of Scripture and meditation on the perspective of Scripture. In other words, meditation can focus either on the words of the Bible itself or on another subject from a biblical point of view. I refer to the first as “meditation on Scripture” and to the second as “meditation on life from a scriptural perspective.”
To meditate on Scripture, I might choose a particular verse from my daily Bible reading and use any of a number of meditation methods. Suppose I choose 2 Corinthians 5:21 from my reading tomorrow morning: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” I could use “the Joseph Hall questions” mentioned in chapter 23 to reflect on this verse. Then at some point, I would look for an appropriate way to apply or respond to this part of God’s truth.
To meditate on life from a scriptural perspective, I could think about literally any subject that interests me, such as a breathtaking mountain view or a forest of maples in fall foliage. Or I could muse about something that burdens me (Why is this happening to me?), troubles me (What should I do?), or anything else that attracts my attention. Eventually, however, I consider what the Bible says about the matter. For instance, I might ask “the Philippians 4:8 questions” (chapter 22) about the matter, or simply ponder, What does the Bible say about this? I might finally conclude something like, I don’t yet see any reason why God has allowed this to happen, but I “know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
So, one form of biblical meditation starts with Scripture and then applies it to life. The other starts with life—something in your heart, family, garden, church, job, relationships, country, or world—and then takes it to the light of Scripture.
According to the Bible, all transformation into Christlikeness—including transformation to a simpler spiritual life—involves your mind” (Romans 12:2). One of the best pathways to renewing your mind and thus to simplifying your spiritual life, is biblical meditation, that is, meditation on God’s truth and meditation on life from the perspective of God’s truth.
