How to Meditate on Holy Scripture

Meditation and “spiritual” experiences are becoming more and more popular. Some kinds of Eastern meditation encourage an emptying of the mind rather than concentration. Some spiritual movements emphasize that human beings have a spark of divinity within them. For them prayer is creative thinking that heightens the connection with god mind (which is that spark of divinity within them). Yoga emphasizes the isolation of the soul from the body and mind, attempting to rid the mind of all outside thoughts and influences. Some Christians think of prayer primarily as a way to receive messages from God that go beyond Scripture. With these voices around us, it is important for us to remember in what ways genuine Christian meditation is different. How do we know what Christian meditation is? We look to Jesus Christ and the Word. Jesus is the One who gives “not as the world gives” (John 14:27), so Christian meditation will be quite different from the meditation of the world around us.

1. Christian meditation is concerned with God, His work, His Word. “I will also meditate on all Your work, And talk of Your deeds” (Psalm 77;12). Our meditation is not an emptying of the mind or a focus on our own heart, since “out of the heart proceed evil thoughts” (Matthew 15:19). Instead our meditation deals completely with God and His Word (Psalm 119:97).

2. Christian meditation is verbal. As St. Paul counseled one of the church’s first pastors, Timothy: “Give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine . . . . Meditate on these things” (1 Timothy 4:13–15). But not only should pastors meditate verbally, but the meditation of all Christians should be verbal. “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night” (Joshua 1:8). Verbal meditation means mostly, but not necessarily, speaking or singing, not just thinking. But it is always dealing with words. Why is Christian meditation verbal? Because God is verbal. He created all things by speaking words (Genesis 1), and His Son is the only-begotten Word of God (John 1). It is no coincidence that the gift of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost was the gift of tongues.

3. Christian meditation involves both the intellect and the heart. Clear understanding and love are fruits. “My mouth shall speak wisdom, and the meditation of my heart shall give understanding” (Psalm 49:3). “Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day” (Psalm 119:97). It is neither completely a matter of the heart, nor is it only cold knowledge. When Christ and His Word go to work in us, the fruits always include clear understanding and love.

4. Christian meditation has a structure (for example, day and night). “But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night” (Psalm 1:2). “I call to remembrance my song in the night; I meditate within my heart, And my spirit makes diligent search” (Psalm 77:6). Christian meditation is not chaotic, but is marked by order, just as Paul says, “let all things be done with decency and order” (1 Corinthians 14:40).

5. Christian meditation takes place in the presence of the Triune God, and thus lays bare the sinful heart and prays for mercy. “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD” (Psalm 19:14).

Since Christian meditation involves the intellect, some labor in studying God’s Word is necessary. Before even opening the Bible, have the text of the Ten Commandments, the Apostles’ Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer firmly pressed into your mind. With these Catechism texts as your maps, the treasures of God’s Word will not be hard to find. But Christian meditation also involves the heart. Find a time each day for meditation. Our Lord recommends setting aside a small room at home for prayer (Matthew 6:6). Visual reminders of Christ can help direct the meditation of your heart. For example, the lovingkindness shown to us when Christ died, as depicted on a cross, can be a valuable aid to prayer, as it is written, “Your lovingkindness is before my eyes” (Psalm 26:3).

Dr. Luther gives advice on how to continue:

First, when I feel that I have become cool and joyless in prayer because of other tasks or thoughts (for the flesh and the devil always impede and obstruct prayer), I take my little psalter, hurry to my room, or, if it be the day and hour for it, to the church where a congregation is assembled and, as time permits, I say quietly to myself and word-for-word the Ten Commandments, the Creed, and, if I have time, some words of Christ or of Paul, or some psalms, just as a child might do.

It is a good thing to let prayer be the first business of the morning and the last at night. . . .

When your heart has been warmed by such recitation to yourself [of the Ten Commandments, the words of Christ, etc.] and is intent upon the matter, kneel or stand with your hands folded and your eyes toward heaven and speak or think as briefly as you can:

O Heavenly Father, dear God, I am a poor unworthy sinner. I do not deserve to raise my eyes or hands toward thee or to pray. But because thou hast commanded us all to pray and hast promised to hear us and through thy dear Son Jesus Christ hast taught us both how and what to pray, I come to thee in obedience to thy word, trusting in thy gracious promise. (Simple Way to Pray, 1535, LW 43:193–84)

Luther then suggests meditation on each petition of the Lord’s Prayer, or the Ten Commandments, using each Commandment as an occasion for doctrine, thanksgiving, confession, and prayer. He also recommends meditation on the texts of Scripture, especially the Psalms. This kind of Scriptural meditation, highly verbal, involving intellect and heart, and completely centered on the Triune God and His Word is “not as the world gives” but as Christ gives. In closing, I offer a meditation on one of my favorite verses of the Bible, Psalm 36:9. “With You is the fountain of life, in Your light we see light.”

Lord God, heavenly Father, throughout Your Word You proclaim to us Your love for us as proven in Your Son Jesus Christ. You have cause the Psalmist to say to You, “In Your light we see light.” In truth, I know that as a sinner, I walk in darkness, stumbling into danger and error. Were it not for Your light, all would be lost. But Your light has shone froth in Your Son, for as You have said in Hebrews 1, He is the very “brightness of Your glory.” Your Son is the Light, shining forth from You as from the sun, and in Him alone can we see Light. Thank You, heavenly Father, for Jesus Christ, who is God of God, Light of Light. Thank You for putting Me in Him so that “in Your Light” I may “see Light,” the Light of salvation, heaven, glory. Father, grant that as You have revealed Your light to Me in Christ, so I may manifest Your Light in my life, so that others around me may see Christ through me and give thanks to You. Forgive me for walking in darkness, enlighten me with Your Light, Jesus Christ, through whom be glory to You, together with the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen.

Resources

Gerhard, Johann. Gerards Meditations. Translated by Ralph Winterton. Cambridge: John Hayes, 1670.

Gerhard, Johann. Gerhard’s Sacred Meditations. Translated by Charles W. Heisler. Philadelphia: Lutheran Publication Society, 1896.

Gerhard, Johann. Schola Pietatis: The Practice of Godliness. Edited by Rachel Melvin. Translated by Elmer M. Hohle. Vol. 2, pp. 58–110. Malone, TX: Repristination Press, 2013.

Hall, Joseph. “The Art of Divine Meditation.” In The Works of the Right Reverend Joseph Hall, edited by Philip Wynter, 6:46–88. Oxford: University Press, 1863.

Luther, Martin. A Simple Way to Pray (1535), LW 43:187–211.

Luther, Martin. First Lectures on the Psalms (1513–15), LW 10–LW 11.

Luther, Martin. Large Catechism, longer preface, Kolb-Wengert, 379–83; Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions, 351–56.

Luther, Martin. Meditation on Christ’s Passion (1519), LW 42:3–14.

Luther, Martin. Preface to the Wittenberg Edition of Luther’s German Writings (1539), LW 34:279–88.

Luther, Martin. Short Instruction: What Should Be Sought and Expected in the Gospels (1522), LW 75:7–12.

Scriver, Christian. Gotthold’s Emblems: Or, Invisible Things Understood by Things That Are Made. Translated by Robert Menzies. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1862.