Sections from Donald S. Whitney’s book: Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life are quoted below to answer some questions that are common to many Christians. The quotations leave out large blocks of text that would be valuable to know; so, if you find the quotes beneficial, then you might consider purchasing the book.
[Square brackets, underscoring, and emboldening are mine.]
Memorization Is Foundational to Christian Meditation
If you are not progressing in your Christian walk, as you believe you ought to be, then perhaps your study methods lack something?
For example:
… “many people who read the Bible every day… may even read multiple chapters of God’s Word each morning. But as soon as they close the Bible, on most days they would have to admit that they can’t remember a thing they’ve read. “I just don’t have a good memory,” they conclude with a sigh. Or they may believe that they can’t remember what they’ve read because they don’t have a high IQ, or didn’t have a good education, or they are just too old. Well, I’ve had some twenty-two-year-old geniuses in my seminary classes who have the same problem. So I would contend that in most cases the reason people can’t remember what they read in the Bible is not their age, mental ability, or training, but their method.”
“The problem is that hearing and reading the Bible, by themselves, usually aren’t sufficient for remembering what we’ve received.”
“The value of scripture memorization:
When Scripture is stored in your mind, it is available for the Holy Spirit to bring to your attention when you need it most. That’s why the author of Psalm 119 wrote, “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (verse 11).””
[Whitney provided a several page explanation of its values. Each of the following sub-headings had lengthy explanations; in some cases, I listed only the heading, for the sake of brevity—my chief goal is to discuss meditation, but memorization is foundational to that, therefore, it was necessary to cover it also.]
“Memorization Prepares Us for Witnessing and Counseling
“Recently, while I was talking to a man about Jesus, he said something that brought to mind a verse I had memorized. I quoted that verse, and it was the turning point in a conversation that resulted in him professing faith in Christ. I often experience something similar in counseling conversations. But until the verses are hidden in the heart, they aren’t available to use with the mouth.”
“Memorization Provides a Means of God’s Guidance
Memorization Stimulates Meditation
One of the most underrated benefits of memorizing Scripture is that it provides fuel for meditation. When you have memorized a verse of Scripture, you can meditate on it anywhere at any time during the day or night. If you love God’s Word enough to memorize it, you can become like the writer of Psalm 119:97, who exclaimed, “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.” Whether you’re standing in line, taking a walk, driving the car, riding the train, waiting at the airport, cleaning the house, mowing the yard, rocking a baby, or eating a meal, you can benefit from the Spiritual Discipline of meditation if you have made the deposits of memorization.
[Whitney opened this section with a statement that “meditation” is more closely associated with Yoga and other eastern practices, therefore, many Christians are skeptical of using it. In this blog, see Categories, Yoga / Meditation for posts on eastern meditation and how it differs from Christian meditation: basically, yoga requires one to stop his thoughts via a mantra; then after his mind is quiet, he is to keep it so via the mantra and wait for some spirit contact, the goal being, contact with one’s higher self – the spirit, or spirits within. The Bible calls this divination and calls the spirit contacts, demons. Therefore, such meditation is forbidden by the Bible.
Biblical meditation is basically using one’s mind to more fully understand the meaning of scripture. Whitney’s specific techniques will be highlighted in part 5.]
… “Worldly meditation employs visualization techniques intended to “create your own reality.” And while Christian history has always had a place for the sanctified use of our God-given imagination in meditation, imagination is our servant to help us meditate on things that are true (see Philippians 4:8). Furthermore, instead of “creating our own reality” through visualization, we link meditation with prayer to God and responsible, Spirit-filled human action to effect changes.
In addition to these distinctives, let’s define meditation as deep thinking on the truths and spiritual realities revealed in Scripture, or upon life from a scriptural perspective, for the purposes of understanding, application, and prayer. Meditation goes beyond hearing, reading, studying, and even memorizing as a means of taking in God’s Word. A simple analogy would be a cup of tea. In this analogy your mind is the cup of hot water and the tea bag represents your intake of Scripture. Hearing God’s Word is like one dip of the tea bag into the cup. Some of the tea’s flavor is absorbed by the water, but not as much as would occur with a more thorough soaking of the bag. Reading, studying, and memorizing God’s Word are like additional plunges of the tea bag into the cup. The more frequently the tea enters the water, the more permeating its effect. Meditation, however, is like immersing the bag completely and letting it steep until all the rich tea flavor has been extracted and the hot water is thoroughly tinctured reddish brown.
As the Lord was commissioning Joshua to succeed Moses as the leader of His people, He told him, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” We must remember that the prosperity and success the Lord spoke of here is prosperity and success in His eyes and not necessarily in the world’s….””
“But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does” (James 1:25, NASB).
According to Whitney, the one who looks “intently” upon the law is the one who “meditates” upon it. And if one does not do that, then he is a “forgetful hearer.”
Whitney remarks, that a forgetful hearer is not much different than the forgetful reader he has been discussing.
Therefore, those who forget what they hear / read, are those who fail to meditate upon it.
“Next, James 1:25 teaches that meditatively looking at Scripture turns you into “an effectual doer” of Scripture. This, let’s remember, is the goal. Obedience to God, that is, Christlikeness, is the end; meditation is just one of the means. In other words, our primary purpose is not to become more proficient or disciplined with meditation; our purpose is godliness.”
Whitney, Donald S.. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (pp 37- 54). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.
The next post in this series will cover the second half of chapter 3 of Whitney’s book; specific examples of meditation on selected scripture verses.