We ought to muse upon the
things of God
October
10/12/AM
'I will meditate in
Thy precepts.'-Psalm 119:15
There are times when
solitude is better than society, and silence is wiser
than speech. We should be better Christians if we were
more alone, waiting upon God, and gathering through
meditation on His Word spiritual strength for labor in
His service. We ought to muse upon the things of God,
because we thus get the real nutriment out of them.
Truth is something like the cluster of the vine: if we
would have wine from it, we must bruise it; we must
press and squeeze it many times. The bruiser's feet must
come down joyfully upon the bunches, or else the juice
will not flow; and they must well tread the grapes, or
else much of the precious liquid will be wasted. So we
must, by meditation, tread the clusters of truth, if we
would get the wine of consolation therefrom. Our bodies
are not supported by merely taking food into the mouth,
but the process which really supplies the muscle, and
the nerve, and the sinew, and the bone, is the process
of digestion. It is by digestion that the outward food
becomes assimilated with the inner life. Our souls are
not nourished merely by listening awhile to this, and
then to that, and then to the other part of divine
truth. Hearing, reading, marking, and learning, all
require inwardly digesting to complete their usefulness,
and the inward digesting of the truth lies for the most
part in meditating upon it. Why is it that some
Christians, although they hear many sermons, make but
slow advances in the divine life? Because they neglect
their closets, and do not thoughtfully meditate on God's
Word. They love the wheat, but they do not grind it;
they would have the corn, but they will not go forth
into the fields to gather it; the fruit hangs upon the
tree, but they will not pluck it; the water flows at
their feet, but they will not stoop to drink it. From
such folly deliver us, O Lord, and be this our resolve
this morning, 'I will meditate in Thy precepts.'
C. H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening
