Meditation in the Bible is an act of conscious continuous thought.  The Israelite people were told to meditate on the law of Moses,  Joshua 1:8--Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.  Then you will be prosperous and successful.

      The Hebrew people were uneducated, slaves to the Egyptians and kept ignorant.  Moses had been educated by the Egyptians because he was raised as an Egyptian by Pharaoh’s daughter. (Exodus 2:1-10)  Moses could read and understand the commands that God gave the people.  As Moses read the commands, the people were told to impress them on their hearts and their minds. (Deut 11:18)  Joshua became the leader of Israel after Moses’ death, continuing to encourage and exalt his people in the same way Moses did.  (Joshua 1:8)

      Meditation is being constantly mindful of what God has done for us and what He is going to do for us, mindful of our purpose in God’s will.  The word, or the message, had to be taught by someone educated--able to read and understand the book of the laws.  After hearing the laws, they were to pass them down to their children, insuring they would be raised hearing and knowing, not only the book of the laws, but the history of how God had delivered them out of Egypt--how they wandered around in the desert for forty years because of their disobedience and grumbling--and how each of the twelve tribes possessed their promised land.  All of this was passed down from generation to generation.  Moses said to meditate on these things and teach them to your children.  By meditating, teaching our children, talking to them about the Glory of God, they grow up with the memories, the stories impressed on their hearts.  If we were to talk to them about evil as being good that would be impressed on their hearts; or if we were to talk about earthly pleasures, that would be impressed on their hearts.  What do we want impressed on our children’s hearts from generation to generation? Deut 6:7; Deut 11:19

      Moses used the words, “do not turn aside to the right or to the left.” (Deut 5:32)  Imagine yourself having to be at a certain place, you are on foot and to your disappointment there is a very steep incline with loose jagged rocks.  What is the first thing you do?  You look around to see if there is an easier way up the incline.  You look to the right and then to the left studying the terrain for that easier way.  That is human nature, but God says to trust Him and He will show you the way, step by step trusting He will deliver us safely.  But it takes trust, the same trust it took for the Israelites to leave Egypt for an unknown land.

      The word “walk” was also introduced to show action, a verb--an action word--not just meditating, but putting into action the commands.  In other words, ”do it, not just say it or hear it.  Deuteronomy 5:32-33--”So be careful to do what the LORD your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left.  Walk in all the way that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.”  NOTE:  God has commanded, NOT suggested.  Deut 10:12; Deut 11:22; Deut 28:9; Deut 30:16

      It is important that we do not just meditate but also walk.  To walk in the ways of the Lord, you must first know what His ways are.  Note: Moses says to walk.  The definition of walk is:

Moses says to walk, he says nothing about running.  If we run there are things we miss along the way.  It is important to move slowly, taking in all that God wants to teach us.

      Imagine being a child on a field trip.  Your teacher is pointing out all the handy work of God, explaining how God has created all things to work together.  But you keep running ahead, doing your own thing.  You will miss all the things your teacher has to offer in their wisdom.  Our teacher has a lot to offer, but first we have got to walk in His ways, not run in our own ways.

      The only way we can gain wisdom, discernment, and spiritual knowledge is by our personal closeness, our walk with our Father.  It is important to get to know Him as we may know our earthly father.  We need to know our Father personally, knowing about Him is not a relationship.  We need to strive for intimacy between God and ourselves.  God knows us as sons and daughters, we are to know God as a Father.  Get personal, very personal, one on one with God and by doing so we can recognize and walk in His ways.

      Moses also uses the word dwell or dwelling.  This means to inhabit or to reside in. Deuteronomy 12:5--”But you are to seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling.  To that place you must go;”  Today, God has chosen all of mankind to put His name on, through Jesus Christ if only we accept Him as our Lord and Savior.  Deut 12:11; Deut 16:11

      After all the Prophets and Judges and after all the laws and sacrifices God sent His final sacrifice, not just for some, but for all:   Jesus Christ His Son, who by His Spirit now dwells/resides  within everyone who receives Him as Lord and Savior.  Prophets and Judges were the mouthpiece of God to instruct His people, but today we have the spirit of the living God residing in each one who calls upon the name of Jesus Christ.  Acts 1:8

      Jesus came as the final sacrifice.  But Jesus didn’t leave us alone, He left His Spirit for each who accepts Him.  The Holy Spirit now resides /dwells within our hearts and lives.  We no longer need the prophet or Judges to know what God asks of us.  That is not to say that they no longer exist, they are not used in the every day affairs as they were in the Old Testament.  (This is another study all together.)

      The Spirit of the living God speaks to us every day, all day.  It is us who choose not to listen and be obedient.  That soft voice in our heart saying, “that is wrong, don’t do it” is the Spirit of the Lord within us, guiding and instructing our actions and thoughts.  It is our selfish nature that causes our disobedience.  But suffering the consequences for our choices is also part of God’s provision in our lives.  The closer we draw to the Lord the more sensitive our hearing becomes toward the Lord; being able to easily recognize His voice, persevering over our selfish nature and doing the will of the Father.  John 1:14; Eph 2:22; Eph 3:17; Col 1:19;  Col 3:16 

      Meditation, today, is keeping our focus on the Lord, seeking and doing His will.  In other words, when we wake up in the morning, give thanks to the Lord in all things.  Recognize the gift we’ve gotten because of His suffering and death on the cross.  Often times, we find ourselves grumbling about how unfair our life seems, we often think of the negative things in life rather than the positive things.  That needs to change, we need to think on things above not on things below, remembering that no matter how bad off our lives seem to be, there is always someone worse off than ourselves.  As soon as we start looking at the good rather than the bad, change will come in our lives.  Meditation is being mindful and thankful of what the Lord has done for each of us, with no strings attached.

      Meditation is also our thought life.  What are we thinking about throughout the day?  Are we thinking praiseworthy thoughts that build ourselves and others up or are we thinking destructive thoughts that tear ourselves and others down?  Are we feeling sorry for ourselves, pouting about who we think we should be or are we praising God for who we are and who God is making us to be.  Are our thoughts on becoming influential and famous--on earthly pleasures, or are they on the things of God?  Our thoughts drive our lives.  Where are we driving to?   Earthly things or Godly things?  The things of this world or God? 
Matt 15:19; Mark 7:21; 1 Cor 13:11; 2 Cor 10:5;  Eph 2:3; Heb 3:1; Heb 4:12 


      Yes, God speaks to each of us through His Holy Spirit within our hearts.  We need to learn, to recognize the sound of His voice, and obey.  Yes, God still uses prophets today much like in the days of old when the people were hard hearted and not listening and talking with God themselves.  God has not abolished the offices that are mentioned in the bible, they just may not look the same to us because we have such a great benefit in being able to hear from God and prophecy ourselves.

      When I was a boy, my Grandfather (Poppy) raised sheep and cattle.  They knew the sound of his voice very well.   If I were there I would go out with Poppy to feed his sheep and cattle, Poppy would walk to the  pasture gate and give a loud ,“Soo Cow Soowe Soowe.”  The cattle and sheep both would come running.  If I would go out stand in the same place as Poppy, say the same words as Poppy and try to lower my voice to sound like Poppy, the cattle and sheep would only raise their heads to see what the annoyance was, then go back to grazing.

      Poppy had something they needed, food.  I had nothing except selfish ambition to ride the sheep and have fun.  Otherwise, I was there simply to use them and satisfy my selfish pleasures, Poppy was there to feed them, he had their best interest in mind.  You see the sheep and cattle knew Poppy’s voice because he was constantly feeding and caring for them, and I was there every now and again to ride them.
  
      The Lord is our Master, He feeds us and cares for us through His word and our time with Him.  Are we letting Him feed us?  How can we expect to hear God’s voice if we do not have the constant hunger and the yearning to know His voice.


      To meditate is to take our focus off of our worldly pleasures and place them on the Lord.  Giving thanks in all things.