The Duty of Meditation 2
Back to John Angell James
Maintain a good conscience—a conscience cleared from the guilt of sin. Be at peace with God, through faith in the blood of Christ. "If our heart condemns us not, then have we confidence towards God." If we have not the testimony of our conscience in our favor, meditation will be no pleasure. They tell us, that when the elephant comes to the water to drink, he muddies the stream, that he may not see his own image reflected—thus it is with guilty consciences, they cannot bear to look in the clear waters of meditation, lest they should see their own native form reflected.
Labor after great purity of heart. Not only seek to have the conscience kept clear from the guilt of sin, but the heart from its defilement. "A soiled glass yields no clear representation of things—so when the heart is polluted with the filth of sin, it is not fit for this duty." it is the holy soul, which loves to converse with a holy God, through the medium of his holy word; and the holier that soul is, the sweeter will be its reflections upon the topics of Divine truth. Sin corrupts the taste, and produces a vitiated appetite. So that the word, though sweeter than honey and the honey-comb, to the pure mind; is nauseous and sickening to the corrupted palate—and such a palate loves not to ruminate in silence upon holy truth.
Treasure up in your mind a good store of spiritual truths. Commit much Scripture to memory. Have the Bible in your mind, as well as in your hand—it will help your meditations. Acquire correct theological views of Divine truth; for, as Bates says, "Truths in the soul are like gold in the ore; meditation coins the gold, and brings it forth in holy discourses and pious actions. Whereas, where there are no spiritual mines in the soul, it is no wonder the thoughts coin dross and vanity."
Keep down worldly-mindedness, and that engrossing power of the world which would take all your time from devotion—to give it to business. If you will give your whole heart and your whole day to the world, it is an obvious truism, there can be nothing left for meditation.
Cultivate habitual spirituality of mind; this is the parent of which meditation is the offspring.
Endeavor to acquire a greater command and control over your thoughts. The difficulty which many find to fix their thoughts, may be lessened by practice.
In this way prepare for the blessed exercise of meditation. And then take the following directions for its actual performance of meditation—
As to the end and object of meditation, let this invariably be practical. I am not recommending mere religious reverie. Some minds are delighted to let their thoughts flow on, unchecked and uncontrolled, without order and without coherence, and gratify themselves with this wild music of the fancy. This is not what I mean—there is much time wasted by Christians, in such loose, rambling, and unconnected reflection on divine things. Nor do I mean the mere reading of the Scriptures in order to know their meaning. This I allow is it duty, and an important one too, but it is not the duty I now enjoin. Study, is to find an unknown truth; meditation, is to ponder on what is already known. The end of study is information. The end of meditation is feeling or practice. Study, like a winter's sun, gives light, but little heat; meditation is like blowing up the fire, when we want not the blaze simply, but the heat. In study we acquire spiritual wealth; in meditation we enjoy its benefits.
Nor do I mean that enthusiastic state of mind, which some mystics call contemplation; meaning thereby something distinct from thinking upon God and Christ, holiness and heaven, as they are revealed in the Scriptures—a kind of vision or intuition, an immediate entry into the orb of God, which is carried on to ecstasies, raptures, suspensions, elevations, and abstractions.
It was, therefore, an excellent desire of Bernard's, who was as likely as any to have such altitudes of fantastic speculations, if God really dispensed them to people—"I pray God to grant me peace of spirit, joy in the Holy Spirit, to compassionate others in the midst of mirth, to be charitable in simplicity, to rejoice with those who rejoice, and to mourn with those who mourn; and with these I shall be content—other exaltations of devotions I leave to apostles and apostolic men. The high hills are for the harts and the climbing goats; the stony rocks and the recesses of the earth for the conies. It is more healthful and nutritive to dig the earth and eat of her fruits, than to stare upon the glories of the heavens, and live upon the beams of the sun. So unsatisfying a thing are rapture and transportations to the soul—it often distracts the faculties, but seldom does advantage to piety, and is full of danger in the greatest of its luster.
If ever a man be more in love with God by such instruments, or more endeared to virtue, or make more severe and watchful in his repentance—it is an excellent gift and grace of God; but then this is nothing but the joys an comforts ofordinary meditation—those extraordinary, as they have no sense in them, so are not pretended to be instruments of virtue, but are like Jonathan's arrows, shot beyond it, to signify the danger the man is in to whom such arrows are shot. But if the person be made unquiet, inconstant, proud, arrogant, of high opinion, pertinacious, and confident in uncertain judgments—it is certain they are temptations and illusions. So that as our duty consists in the way of repentance, and acquisition of virtue, so there rests our safety, and by consequence our solid joys; and this is the effect of ordinary, pious, and regular meditations."
This is as true as it is beautiful, and the state of mind thus caused, is altogether different to what I am now recommending, which means nothing more than the exercise of the understanding upon Divine truths, as they are revealed in the Scriptures, and for the express purpose of having the heart impressed, the will subdued, and the life governed by them—in short, of being made holy by them. Every part of Divine truth is revealed to make us holy. There is nothing purely speculative, or merely scientific in the Bible—all is granted to produce in us the fruits of righteousness, which are through Christ unto the glory of God; and we must be careful to fall into this design, in the use we make of it.
We must meditate upon Divine truth, not as a traveler who is passing through a beautiful country would contemplate its splendid scenery, merely to delight his eye and gratify his taste; but as an artist would, who, in addition to the pleasure which he finds in surveying the prospect, is employed to make a drawing of the whole.
In meditating upon the glories of God, we are to seek to be changed into his image. In meditating upon the work of Christ, we are to believe, and trust, and love him. In meditating upon the evil of sin, we are to hate it. In meditating upon the beauties ofholiness, we are to acquire them. In meditating upon heaven, we are to grow fit for it. In meditating upon the promises, we are to believe them it. In meditating upon invitations, we are to accept them it. In meditating upon threatenings, we are to tremble at them it. In meditating upon consolations, we are to receive them it. In meditating on commands, we are to obey them. Mere admiration, however ecstatic; or mere knowledge, however clear; or mere soarings, however lofty—are not enough—there is something to be done. "Meditation is the searcher out of all instruments to a holy life, a devout consideration of them, and a production of those affections, which are in a direct order to the love of God, and a pious conversation. It is to all, that great instrument of religion, whereby it is made prudent, reasonable, orderly, and perpetual."
As to the subjects of your meditation, let them be all in conformity with this design. Let your thoughts be engaged rather upon what is plain, simple, and practical—rather than upon what is lofty, difficult, and speculative. Do not attempt to soar into the clouds, or to plunge into the ocean. A disposition to scale the inaccessible heights of truth, manifests rather the promptings of curiosity, than the impulses of piety. The simplest truths of the gospel, like the plainest food for the body—are both the most digestible and the most nutritive.
High speculations upon Divine things, resemble the cedars of Lebanon and their rocky heights, which are lofty but fruitless; while the fundamentals of Christianity are fertile as the valleys which are covered with the lowly grain, and creeping vine. Hence it is that many poor and simple Christians thrive more in holiness than some of more education; the former being content to meditate upon subjects which are more profitable for practice, while the latter are intent upon those which only serve the purposes of speculation. An old writer has this remark, "That an old simple woman, if she loves Jesus Christ, may be greater than Bonaventura, who was one of the most learned of the schoolmen, and called the 'Seraphic Doctor.'"
Let your meditation be suitable to your circumstances at the time. When you set apart any special season for the purpose of contemplation, this is always to be borne in mind, and, indeed, so it ought to be generally. If you are in trouble, meditate on those abundant topics of, consolation which are presented in the word of God. If burdened with a sense of guilt, meditate on the mediatorial work of Christ. If rejoicing in the assurance of hope, meditate upon the warnings against spiritual pride. If inprosperity and wealth, meditate upon the unsatisfying and uncertain nature of riches. If tempted, meditate upon the evil of sin, and consequences of committing it, and also on the intercession, power, and grace of Christ. If afraid of death, meditate upon the promise of Christ to meet you in the dark valley. It will always be profitable to let your meditations thus run in the channels of your condition.
And as a motive to this duty, think of its ADVANTAGES. In no other way could we discover the hidden beauties, taste the luxurious sweetness, or extract the nutriment of God's holy word. There are some people whose minds fly over this garden of the Lord, like the birds of the air, and are in no sense the better for what it contains. While others pause and ponder what they read, and are like the industrious bee, which extracts honey from each flower. It is thus all the graces are nourished. Faith is lean and weak unless fed by meditation on the promises.
Love is lukewarm, unless kindled by meditation upon Divine mercy hope dull and lifeless, until it ascends by meditation to the top of Pisgah to survey the promised land. Patience becomes weary, unless by meditation upon the power of God, and the benefits of affliction, and the shortness of time, it is fortified. Joy is apt to sink, unless invigorated by meditation upon Christ. Filial fear is likely to grow careless, unless stimulated by meditation upon God's threatenings. Zeal becomes indolent, unless roused by meditation upon the Divine commands. But all these graces are aided and strengthened by holy contemplation. And this which improves our graces, gives power and influence to all the ordinances of religion.
Without meditation, the reading of the word is likely to be unfruitful, and the hearing of it unprofitable. Why are professors so cold, wandering, and ineffectual in their prayers—but because they do not exercise themselves to holy thoughts? David associates prayer and this holy exercise, yes, seems almost to make them identical, when he says, "Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation," Psalm 5:1. "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in your sight," Psalm 19:14; evidently implying that prayer is but the utterance of previous meditation. The Lord's supper is pre-eminently a season of meditation, for much of its time is spent in silent thought. And oh! what solemn and impressive musings are indulged, while thus gathered round the Lord's table.
Apply yourselves, then, my dear friends, to this delightful exercise. Do not allow politics or business, sloth or ease, company or recreations, to divert your attention from it. Remember how important a part of Christian duty is the right ordering of the thoughts, and the employment of the understanding. Do not allow the difficulty of the duty to deter you. All things become easy by practice—and this among the rest.
Back to John Angell James