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Be Still
Be Still
My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the Lord.
When David penned these words, there was no television to turn off…no stereo to turn down…no sirens or trains wailing in the night. Sundown was pretty much a quiet time. Maybe the crackle of a fireplace, or the night birds hunting.
Back then, this lost art of meditation was a part of their every day. People drifted off to sleep, thinking about God…his creation…his chosen people Israel. They pondered in silence his royal law…his delivering power…his tender mercy. They dreamed of a promised Messiah…and they awaited a deliverance as epic as the Red Sea.
Meditating upon the Lord is rare in our techno-world. Rare, in a time when the church so sorely needs it. Thinking upon the Lord day and night. Catching a glimpse of him at every turn. Performing all toils and labors, as if unto your Lord himself. Marveling at his science. Beholding the infinity, of the starry canopy above…in the quiet of night…and wondering why.
It may be, that an unspoken side effect of sin, is our mind’s tendency to behave like water…seeking out its lowest points. The mind loves to be occupied; but not pushed or worked. Music sings to and soothes the mind. Television entertains and numbs the mind. Talking engages the mind. But meditation insists that the mind confront itself. And from that mirror-vantage, to confront the God around you. The larger things, untainted by man.
Meditation is work. But in the brilliant design of my Lord, it requires only you and silence. Or you, and the water’s edge. The only unemployed here, are those who choose welfare. From ancient times until just before electricity, humanity could personally relate to the psalms of meditation. Consider the millions of candle-lit…or oil-lit…homes of the past. Supper fires settling into a room-heater bed of embers. The only noise…the noise they uttered. These meditated upon the Lord. Their night thoughts carried over into their days. They could still hear the morning song back then…for there’d been no morning news…no alarm radio…only silence.
David here testifies to the rich reward of meditation. As a result of it, he will be glad in the Lord. David beheld all of the plant life in the earth…and all of the animal life. He wandered through the stars…as do we…imagining even silly and fascinating scenario’s way out there. It is the pastime of kings.
But when our search for his purposes is through; we always return to that mirror image, of the mind which imagines these things. We return to its housing in a skull…on a planet…in a universe. And as David, we can but marvel.
Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still.
Meditation upon the Lord…his voice in every speech and language…is the cream cheese frosting on every day. Those who fail to take that silent time…with the eternal…rob only themselves, of one of life’s richest rewards. It grows into a wonderful time of doting back and forth…a time of growing closer to your Lord. It is a dawning of sonship…a time that he patiently waits for, in your life. Pray don’t let it wait until your last hospital stay.
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