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I was attending a secular college during the second half of the 1960’s: When that hippie, drug infested, free-love,  Haight-Asbury sub-culture was disgustingly pervasive. The word ‘meditation’ was everywhere...as were gurus dressed in all manner of ‘weirdness’ and almost always wearing long flowing beards.  I was given a zillion pamphlets on meditation...especially Transcendental Meditation.  I was a very baby Christian at the time and I am so very thankful that the Lord kept me out of the whole 60’s agenda.

Because the word meditation was so negatively engrained in my vocabulary I have rarely used the word.  I have read it in the Bible--always with the memories of my college exposure to the word--and have just never made a Biblical study of meditation...God’s way.  For myself I have always had what I call a tent of meeting with God...my alone time to be quiet, consider and listen to God: Meditate.

 "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer."  Psalm 19:14

"Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my king, and my God: for unto thee will I pray."  Psalm 5:1

In this verse God puts meditation in with our talking to Him and praying.  Verse 1 teaches that we can ask God to consider our meditation.

The word meditation comes from the same word we derive our term "chewing the cud/mastication" from.  I am sure most of us have seen a cow chew their cud?  They chew their food awhile and then swallow it into their stomach.  And then they bring that food/cud back up into their mouth from time to time and chew and swallow again.  The cow does this many times before their food actually stays down...before they are done chewing their cud.

The word meditation implies careful, un-rushed, prayerful and serious thought.  It also carries an expectation with it: In meditation there is to be outer communication with Someone in high authority over us.  This ‘Someone’ sets out to invade our thinking.  For this reason the Christian must make very sure they are not being deceived when they are quiet before God:  Great care must be taken to make sure it is the Holy Spirit who is invading our thinking with the Word of God and Himself.

In all worldly forms of meditation it is pre-requisite that the person meditating must clear their mind so that outer impressions can be received.  But as Christians we must remember that outer impressions can be deceiving spirits clothed as angels of light.  They can come with good thoughts, kind words, and syrupy sweetness....until the person meditating trusts them.  Soon after that trust is given the deception begins.

As Christians, we should have nothing to do with anything that requires us to clear our minds.

"And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." Philippians 4:7-8

In the Strong’s Concordance==sound mind means: self-discipline; self-control.  We cannot clear our minds and be in control of or discipline of ourselves.

Dennis Clark says, "Meditation is not for clearing our minds it is for clearing our hearts. The mind should not become a container storing up mere knowledge, but a filter, trying and testing all thoughts against the Word of Truth, and then letting them go down into our heart, or inner being.  Once there, knowledge turns into truth...once the Word takes over our behavior, it becomes Christ in us, the Living Word, the hope of glory.  Meditation is a time for us to filter what we know by testing all our thoughts against the Word of God...the Bible...asking the Holy Spirit to teach us and give us discernment. 

Meditation is for feeding...not for knowledge. "My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding."  Psalm 49:3

"Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all."  I Timothy 4:15 

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