My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
Psalms 63:5-6 (ESV)
and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
when I remember you upon my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
Who does not want a satisfied soul? Do we not seek God knowing that he is the one who can satisfy our hearts? Do we not want to know of his goodness so that we naturally respond with thanksgiving? God encourages us by promising these things when we meditate on him and his words.
When we read Scripture we need to give it time to sink in to the deepest part of ourselves and change us. This is why it is so important to meditate on Scripture, not just read it. In other words, take your time with God’s words. There are many different ways to meditate on Scripture. Roll the words around in your mind and heart. Ask yourself questions. What is the author trying to communicate? What do the words actually mean? What do they not mean? What is the purpose of the passage? How do they affect my life? How does this affect my emotions and feelings? What commitment to truth do I need to make? What commitment to action do I need to make?
Meditation on Scripture has been arguably the most important Christian practice throughout history. You would be hard-pressed to find any great Christian teacher of the past who did not spend considerable time meditating on Scripture. Many of them memorized large portions of Scripture. This is because Christians from the earliest centuries on understood that Christian growth was impossible without spending time studying and reflecting on Scripture. In the words of John Cassian (c. 360 – 435): “Strive in every way to devote yourself constantly to the sacred reading so that continuous meditation will seep into your soul and, as it were, shape it to its image.”[1]
As we do this we will find satisfaction for our soul and abide more truly in Christ.
[1] John Cassian, Conferences, trans. Colm Luibheid, The Classics of Western Spirituality (New York: Paulist Press, 1985), 164. (Conference 14, chapter 10.) John is quoting Abba Nestoros. The Conferences are arguably the most influential writing on spirituality in the history of Western Christianity. They heavily influenced Western monasticism, especially Benedictine and Celtic monasticism.
