Rules Concerning Meditation

The next thing remaining, is to lay down some rules about meditation.

XVIII. RULES concerning Meditation.

Rule 1. When you go to meditate—be very SERIOUS in the work. Let there be a deep impression upon your soul. That you may be serious in meditation, do these two things:

1. Get yourself into a posture of holy reverence. Over-awe your heart with the thoughts of God, and the incomprehensibleness of his

Majesty. When you are at the work of meditation, remember you are now to deal with GOD. If an angel from heaven did appoint to meet you at such an hour, would you not prepare yourself with all seriousness and solemnity, to meet him? Behold—a greater than an angel is here; the God of glory is present! He has an eye upon you, he sees the state of your heart when you are alone. Think with yourself,

O Christian, when you are going to meditate—that you are now to deal with him in private—before whom the angels adore, and the devils tremble! Think with yourself, that you are now in his presence before whom you must shortly stand and all the world with you—to receive their everlasting sentence. You must die, and how soon you know not; from the closet to the tribunal.

2. That your heart may be serious in meditation, labor to possess your thoughts with the solemnity and greatness of the work you are now going about. As David said concerning his building a house for God—the work is great, 1 Chron. 29:1. So it may be said of meditation

—the work is great, and we had need gather and rally together all the powers of the soul to the work! If you were to set about a work wherein your life was concerned, how serious would you be in the thoughts of it? In the business of meditation, your soul is concerned; eternity depends upon it! If you neglect it, or are slight in it—it will have eternal consequences. If Archimedes was so serious in drawing

his mathematical line, that he minded not the sacking of the city; O how serious should a Christian be when he is drawing a line for eternity! When you are going to meditate, you are going to the greatest work in the world!

Rule. 2. READ before you meditate. "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." Joshua 1:8. Read before you meditate.

The Law must be in Joshua's mouth; he was first to read--and then meditate.

"Give attendance to reading," 1 Timothy 4:13. Then it follows, "meditate on these things," verse 15. Reading furnishes the mind with matter. Reading is the oil which feeds the lamp of meditation.

Reading helps to rectify meditation. Augustine well says that, "meditation without reading will be erroneous." Naturally, the mind is defiled, and will be minting thoughts; and how many untruths does it mint! Therefore first read in the book of the Law—and then meditate! Be sure your meditations are grounded upon Scripture.

There is a strange Utopia in the imaginations of some men; they take those for true principles, which are false; and if they mistake their principles they must needs be wrong in their meditations. Thus the mind having laid in wrong principles--the meditation must be erroneous, and a man at last goes to hell upon a mistake! Therefore be sure you read before you meditate--that you may say, "it is written!" Meditate on nothing but what you believe to be a truth; believe nothing to be a truth, but what can show its letters of credence from the Word.

Observe this rule--let reading usher in meditation. Reading without meditation—is unfruitful!

Meditation without reading—is dangerous!

Rule 3. Do not multiply the subjects of meditation. That is, meditate not on too many things at once; like the bird that hops from one branch to another, and stays in no one place. Single out rather some one topic at a time, which you will meditate upon. Too much variety distracts. One truth driven home by meditation, will most greatly affect the heart! A man that is to shoot, sets up one target which he aims at to hit. When you are to shoot your mind above the world by meditation, set one thing before you to hit! If you are to meditate on the passion of Christ, let that take up all thoughts! If you are to meditate upon death, confine your thoughts to that. One subject at a time is enough. Martha while she was cumbered about many things, neglected the one needful thing; so while our meditations are taken up about many things, we lose that one thing which should affect our hearts, and do us more good. Drive but one wedge of meditation at a time—but be sure you drive it home to the heart. Those who aim at a whole flock of birds hit none. Several medicines taken together, the one hinders the virtue of the other; whereas a single medicine might do good.

Rule 4. To meditation, join EXAMINATION. When you have been meditating on any spiritual subject, put an enquiry to your soul, and though it is short, let it be serious. "O my soul, is it thus with you

—or not?" When you have been meditating about the fear of God— that it is the "beginning of wisdom"—make an enquiry, "O my soul, is this fear planted in your heart? You are almost come to the end of your days, are you yet come to the beginning of wisdom?" When you have been meditating on Christ, his virtues, his privileges, make an enquiry, "O my soul, do you love him who is so lovely; and are you ingrafted into him? Are you a living branch of this living vine?"

When you have been meditating upon the graces of the Spirit, make an enquiry, "O my soul, are you adorned as the bride of Christ with this chain of pearl? Have you your certificate for heaven ready? Will my graces be to seek, when I should have them to show?" Thus should a Christian in his retirements, parley often with his heart.

For lack of this examination, meditation evaporates and comes to nothing. For lack of examination while in meditation, many are strangers to their own hearts; though they live known to others, they die unknown to themselves. Meditation is like a telescope by which we contemplate heavenly objects; but self-examination is like a looking glass by which we see into our own souls, and can judge how it is with us. Meditation joined with examination, is like the sun on the dial, which shows how the day goes, it shows us how our hearts stand affected to spiritual things.

Rule 5. Seal up meditation with PRAYER. Pray over your meditations. Prayer sanctifies everything; without prayer they are but unhallowed meditations. Prayer fastens meditation upon the soul. Prayer is a tying a knot at the end of meditation—so that it does not slip. Pray that God will keep those holy meditations in your mind forever, that the savor of them may abide upon your hearts, 1 Chron.

29:18. "O Lord, keep this desire in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you." So let us pray, that when we have been musing on heavenly things, and our hearts have waxed hot within us, we may not cool into a sinful tepidness and lukewarmness

—but that our affections may be as the lamp of the sanctuary—always burning.

Rule 6. The last rule is, let meditation be reduced to PRACTICE. Live out your meditation. "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." Joshua 1:8. Meditation and practice, like two sisters, must go hand in hand. Cassian says, that "the contemplative life cannot be perfected without the practice." We read that the angels had wings, and hands under their wings, Ezek. 1:8. It may be an emblem of this truth; Christians must not only fly upon the wing of meditation—but they must be active in obedience, they must have hands under their wings! The end of meditation is action.

We must not only meditate in God's law—but walk in his law, Deut.

28:9. Without this, we are like those Gnostics, who had much

knowledge—but were licentious in their lives. Christians must be like the sun, which does not only send forth heat—but goes its circuit round the world. It is not enough that the affections are heated by meditation—but we must go our circuit too, that is, move regularly in the sphere of obedience. After warming at the fire of meditation, we must be fitter for work. Meditation is the life of piety; and practice is the life of meditation. It is said in the honor of Gregory Nazianzen, that he lived out his own sermons. So a godly Christian must live out his own meditations. For instance:

1. When you have been meditating on sin, which, for its bitterness, is compared to grapes of gall; for its damnableness to poison of asps, and you begin to burn in a holy indignation against sin—now put your meditations in practice—give sin a bill of divorce, Job 11:14. "If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in your tabernacles."

2. When you have been meditating on the graces of the Spirit, let the verdure and luster of these graces be seen in you. Live these graces. Meditate, "that you may observe and do." It was Paul's counsel to Timothy, "Exercise yourself to godliness." Meditation and practice are like a pair of compasses, the one part of the compass fixes upon the center, and the other part goes round the circumference. Just so, a Christian by meditation fixes upon God as the center, and by practice goes around the circumference of the commandments.

A man who has let his thoughts run out upon riches, will not only have them in the notion—but will endeavor to get riches. Let your meditation be practical. When you have been meditating upon a promise, live upon a promise. When you have been meditating on a good conscience, never leave until you can say as Paul, "Herein I exercise myself, to have a good conscience," Acts 24:16. Beloved, here lies the very essence of true religion.

That this rule may be well observed, consider,

1. It is only the practical part of religion, which will make a man blessed. Meditation is a beautiful flower—but Rachel said to her husband: "Give me children or I die," Gen. 30:1. So, If meditation is barren, and does not bring forth the child of obedience—it will die and come to nothing!

2. If when you have meditated in God's law, you do not obey his law, you will come short of those who have come short of heaven. It is said of Herod, Mark 6:20, "He did many things;" he was in many things a practicer of John's ministry. Those who meditate in God's law, and do not practice it, are not so good as Herod. Nay, they are no better than the devil; he knows much—but still he is a devil.

3. Meditation without practice will increase a man's condemnation.

If a father writes a letter to his son, and the son shall read over this letter, and study it—yet not do as his father writes, this would be an aggravation of his fault, and would but provoke his father the more against him. Thus when we have meditated upon the evil of sin, and the beauty of holiness—yet we do not eschew the one, nor espouse the other, it will but incense the divine Majesty so much the more against us, and we shall "be beaten with many stripes."

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