“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither – whatever they do prospers.” -Psalm 1:1-3
In Psalm 1, I believe the most important word in that passage is the one that is most ignored. It is the Hebrew word “hagah.” It even sounds like what it is. Hagah is translated as “meditate.” He meditates on Torah. He meditates on the Scripture.
In the west, that word makes us uncomfortable. We like to parse the Scriptures. We like to dissect the Scriptures. We like to put the Scriptures in flash cards and debate what they mean. And that’s good! Studying the Scripture is good, but hagah is more than study. It is a study but it’s a type of meditating. It can actually even mean to groan or to chant. When you see the rabbis at the western wall, they’re praying in front of the wall, and saying the Torah over and over; they’re meditating on the Scripture.
Most of the time when the Scriptures talk about themselves they don’t use the word “study.” Study is absolutely important and study is a part of this word “meditate,” but the word that is most commonly used is to meditate. To experience the Scriptures in a way that’s more than just right here. To experience the Scriptures in a way that affects our hearts.
PRAYER: Dear Lord, I will meditate on your word day and night. Whether it is through reading or remembering or singing your Scriptures, I will be blessed as your word enters and lifts my heart. Amen.
REFLECTION: How has meditating on God’s word helped you with everyday living?