Sacred Meditation
In this series, I take our law homily from our church gathering each week (The law homily is where we read from the law of God and let His law examine our hearts so that we can be a tender-hearted and repenting people), and I post them here for your edification. Here is this week’s law homily on the prohibition against mental idolatry.
You shall have no other gods before Me. - Exodus 20:3
When the Almighty declares that Israel shall have no other deities before Him, His command transcends the hallowed ground of Sinai, where He descended in awe-inspiring splendor. God is not merely the Lord of lofty peaks but also the Sovereign of the valleys. His dominion extends beyond these sacred walls to permeate every private recess of your existence. Inescapably, you abide in His presence, such that each errant thought, each misguided meditation, becomes an act of setting up profane idols ignorantly before Him.
Last week, we explored the mind's propensity to enshrine false gods, those insidious deities that plant their banners in the fertile soil of our gray matter, infecting the neural pathways with venomous idolatry repugnant to God. Today, we peel back another layer to examine our meditations.
To the ancient Hebrew mind, thoughts were distinct from chosen meditations. The mind, unanchored, can drift aimlessly into error and heresy. Thus, in repenting for sins of the mind, our most potent defense is to remain tethered, anchored to God and His law, lest our wayward thoughts float adrift.
Biblical meditation, however, demands intentional action. Consider the diligence required to cultivate the finest lawn: weeds must be plucked, roots and all, lest they return. Likewise, we must continually uproot mental idols. Yet, plucking alone is insufficient; we must also sow seeds that nourish lush growth. Both actions – plucking and planting – are essential to achieving our desired ends.
Just as we addressed plucking mental idols last week, today we explore intentionally sowing thoughts that honor the Lord and prevent profane gods from infiltrating our minds. Unlike the empty promises of yoga gurus and new age shamans, Biblical meditation is not about emptying the mind but filling it – so abundantly, in fact, that no idolatrous weeds can take root or occupy sacred space. So, what does Scripture instruct us to fill our minds with?
First, Paul encourages us to dwell on whatever is true. We must not entertain errors, half-truths, possibilities, opinions, or speculations. Instead, we should immerse ourselves in what we know to be true, for the only absolute truth is found in God and His Word. We cannot rely on the shifting sands of medical consensus or "the science," as recent events have revealed their fallibility. Nor can we trust the finite perspectives of friends, family, or colleagues, for human understanding is inherently limited. God and His Word alone offer perfect, unwavering truth. If we desire minds free from idols and false gods, we must meditate on the knowledge of God – saturating our thoughts with Scripture until error finds no foothold.
Furthermore, Paul instructs us to ponder things that are honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and praiseworthy. He urges us to abandon the negativity that consumes us, to sever the roots of bitterness, to extinguish the obsessions of the flesh, and to fill our minds with true beauty. Our minds will lust after myriad distractions, but we must not surrender to lazy, undirected thoughts. Just as we would never relinquish control of a vehicle hurtling at high speeds, we must seize the reins of our minds, directing them toward paths that are lovely, true, honorable, commendable, praiseworthy, and righteous – filling ourselves with fruitful thoughts that breathe life into our beings and shield us from the idolatry of misguided meditations.
Let us immerse ourselves in Scripture, committing it to memory, dwelling on it, and saturating our thoughts with the Word of God. Let us sing the psalms, filling our minds with praise. Let us revisit the weeks, months, years, and decades past, meditating on the countless instances of God's faithfulness, filling our minds with thanksgiving. Let us ponder the promises of God, filling our minds with trust, knowing that He cannot violate a single one. Let us set our minds on things above, where Christ reigns, elevating our thoughts from the temporal to the eternal, cramming our consciousness with as much of heaven as we can contain – for in doing so, we safeguard ourselves from the insidious infiltration of idols.
Indeed, none among us can claim innocence in this regard. We have been negligent with our minds, allowing them to wander aimlessly, meditating on fears, heartaches, offenses, lusts, jealousies, and grievances – yet neglecting the delightful duty of filling our thoughts with the excellencies of God and His Word.
Let us collectively repent for this sin—permitting our heads to be filled with mire and muck instead of the beauty of the divine—and receive the reminder that Christ has forgiven us for all our transgressions. By His Spirit, He is ever at work, filling our minds with the things of God. Let us be a people who cooperate with His work in us.
Soli Deo Gloria
