Psalms 119:97-99 “Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. (98) You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; For they are ever with me. (99) I have more understanding than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation.”
You will recall that we stated earlier, that our Lord Jesus was made just like us (Hebrews 2:17), and yet He grew strong in spirit. Just like everyone else, our Lord Jesus as a child, was taught the word of God along with all the other children He grew up with. But you will also recall, that even as a twelve-year-old, that our Lord’s understanding of God’s word astonished even the theological professors of His day (Luke 2:47). So how did our Lord do that? In the Psalms quoted above, the Holy Spirit reveals to us, that the reason our Lord Jesus had more understanding than all His teachers, was because the word of God was His constant meditation. Our Lord Jesus, when He walked in the flesh, practiced this as His lifestyle. He constantly meditated on the word of God. Meditation on God’s word has the effect of producing understanding in our minds. That which we constantly meditate on and understand, will eventually go down into our spirits and our spirits will absorb those words. The following is a crude analogy, but nevertheless it illustrates the point clearly. When we eat food in the natural, the food enters our mouths and we chew on that food. We chew that food to break it down into manageable pieces so that we can swallow it. Only then, does that food go down into our stomachs to be absorbed into our bodies. In the same manner, our minds are like our mouths in the natural. God’s word enters our minds and we chew on that word. Only when we understand God’s word with our minds, does that word now go down into our spirits so that our spirits can absorb God’s word and grow stronger. The same analogy can even be taken further though, for the scripture speaks of the milk of God’s word, and the solid food of God’s word. Milk in the natural, is easy to swallow and does not need to be chewed. In the same manner, all believers are able to swallow the milk of God’s word, because it does not need to be chewed. However solid food is different, for solid food cannot be swallowed unless it is chewed. This is why baby believers are unable to swallow the solid food of God’s word. And so, it is as we give ourselves to meditation in His word, that we chew on God’s word with our minds. As a believer, you will never partake of the solid food of God’s word, unless you are prepared to give yourself to spending time meditating on His word. To the degree that you do not partake of the solid food of God’s word, you will never grow strong spiritually, for we cannot grow strong on milk alone.
Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture, the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul, is very clear as to what we are to mediate on. If you look at the list, it is really only the word of God that meets with all the requirements of that list. And so, there can be no doubt that the Holy Spirit is trying to encourage believers to meditate on God’s word all day, just as our Lord Jesus did when He was on the earth. For if we do, then God will give us spiritual understanding of His word, and when that happens, those words will drop down into our spirits and feed our spirits, so that we can grow strong in spirit.
Romans 8:5-6 “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. (6) For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”
This why in the book of Romans quoted above, the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul, teaches us to set our minds on the things of the Spirit. To set your mind on something, is to constantly meditate on that thing. If you are going to grow strong spiritually, you are going to have to set time aside to meditate on God’s word. Spiritual believers constantly meditate on God’s word, even as our Lord Jesus did. The point remains, that the more you meditate on God’s word, the more of His word you will understand. And the more of God’s word that you understand, the more of His word that will sink down into your spirit and thus your spirit will grow stronger.
Michael E.B. Maher
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