MEDITATIONS
FROM THE PSALMS
April 9, 2008
Reading
“I meditate within
my heart, and my spirit makes diligent search” Psalm 77:6
Much is written in the Bible, especially in
the Psalms, about meditation, yet it is one of the least practiced forms of
contemplation by Christians. Could it be that we do not understand what it
consists of? Is it that we think we do not have time for it? Is it because many
of us are carnal Christians in that our level of Christianity is satisfied by
attending church on Sunday mornings? Perhaps we do not feel worthy of such
communion with or closeness to God. It could be one or more of several reasons.
In today’s thoughts I am reproducing a few paragraphs written on meditation by
the great Puritan writer Richard Baxter (1615-1691). It has and continues to be
such an inspiration to me that I would like to share it with you. I have
reproduced three chapters of his book ‘The Saints Everlasting Rest’, from which
this quote is taken, on my website at www.onhisshoulders,com and encourage
those to whom this work is new to read it.
“Love is the first affection to
be excited in heavenly contemplation; the object of it is goodness. Here, Christian, is the soul-reviving part of thy work. Go to thy
memory, thy judgment and thy faith, and from them produce the excellencies of thy rest; present these to thy affection of
love, and thou wilt find thyself, as it were, in another world. Speak out, and
love can hear. Do but reveal these things, and love
can see. It is the brutish love of the world that is blind; divine love is
exceedingly quicksighted. Let thy faith take hold of
thy heart, and show it the sumptuous buildings of thy eternal habitation, and
the glorious ornaments of thy father’s house, even the mansions Christ is
preparing, and the honors of his kingdom; let thy faith lead thy heart into the
presence of God, and as near as thou possibly canst, and say to it, “Behold the
Ancient of Days, the Lord Jehovah, whose name is, I AM: this is he who made all
the worlds with his word, who upholds the earth, who rules the nations, who
disposes of all events, who subdues his foes, who controls the swelling waves of
the sea, who governs the winds, and causes the sun to run its race, and the
stars to know their courses. This is he who loved thee from everlasting, formed
thee in the womb, gave thee this soul, brought thee forth, showed thee the
light, and ranked thee with the chief of his earthly creatures; who endued thee
with thy understanding, and beautified thee with his gifts; who maintains thy
life and all its comforts, and distinguishes thee from the most miserable and
vilest of men. O here is an object worthy of thy love! Here shouldst
thou even pour out thy soul in love! Here it is impossible for thee to love too
much! This is the Lord who hath blessed thee with his benefits, ‘spread thy
table in the sight of thine enemies, and made thy cup
overflow!’ This is he whom angels and saints praise,
and the heavenly host for ever magnify!” Thus do thou expatiate on the praises
of God, and open his excellencies to thine heart, till the holy fire of love begins to kindle in
thy breast.
If thou dost not yet feel thy love burn,
lead thy heart farther, and show it the Son of the living God, whose name is
“Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the
everlasting Father, the Prince of peace:” show it the King of saints on the
throne of his glory, “the First and the Last; who is, and was, and is to come:
who liveth, and was dead, and behold, he liveth for evermore; who hath made thy peace by the blood
of his cross,” and hath prepared thee with himself a habitation of peace: his
office is that of the great peace-maker; his kingdom is the kingdom of peace;
his Gospel is the tidings of peace; his voice to thee now is the voice of
peace! Draw near, and behold him. Dost thou not hear his voice? He that bade
Thomas come near, and see the print of the nails, and put his finger into his wounds;
he it is that calls to thee, “Come near, and view the Lord thy Savior, and be
not faithless, but believing; peace be unto thee, fear not, it is I.” Look well
upon him. Dost thou not know him? It is he that brought thee up from the pit of
hell, reversed the sentence of thy damnation, bore the curse which thou shouldst have borne, restored thee to the blessing thou hadst forfeited, and purchased the advancement which thou
must inherit for ever. And dost thou not yet know him? His hands were pierced,
his head, his side, his heart were pierced, that by these marks thou mightest always know him. Dost thou not remember when he
“found thee lying in thy blood and took pity on thee, and dressed thy wounds,
and brought thee home, and said unto thee, Live!” Hast
thou forgotten, since he wounded himself to cure thy wounds, and let out his
own blood to stop thy bleeding? If thou knowest him
not by the face, the voice, the hands, thou mayst
know him by that heart: that soul-pitying heart is his; it can be none but his;
love and compassion are its certain signatures: this is he who chose thy life
before his own; who pleads his blood before his father, and makes continual
intercession for thee. If he had not suffered, what hadst
thou suffered? There was but a step between thee and hell when he interposed
and bore the stroke. And is not here fuel enough for thy love to feed on? Doth
not thy throbbing heart stop here to ease itself, and, like Joseph, “seek for a
place to weep in?” or do not the tears of thy love bedew these lines? Go on,
then, for the field of love is large; it will be thy
eternal work to behold and love; nor needest thou
want work for thy present meditation.