Doth meditation day and night.

Doct. 3. Here we see still, that a godly man, and one that shall be truly blessed, the Lord requireth that he be no stranger, and such a one as seldom, or never searcheth the Scriptures, but that he be much and often exercised in the holy and serious meditations of God’s law; in the diligent searching, perusing, and particularly applying of the heavenly doctrine of the word of God. And, indeed, this is here set down as a true fruit of our love to the word, as the love of the word is made a true fruit of a godly man; for as it is impossible a man should be truly religious, and fear God, and yet have no sound love nor delight in the word of God; so it is likewise impossible a man or woman should truly love the word of God in their heart, that seldom, or never bestow any pains in the serious or earnest meditation of the same. David calls God to witness, that the love he bore to the law of God was exceeding great, when he said, ‘O how do I love thy law!’ Ps. cxix. 97. And in the same verse he seems to prove the same to God, ‘It is my meditation continually;’ which indeed is a note of true love, to be ever thinking of the thing beloved.

And in very deed, the careful and diligent study, the often and earnest meditation of the word of God, is the very life and strength of all our worship and service of God. For if men should reach much, and never meditate, it would do them no good. If men should hear much and often, and never meditate, they should be little the better. If men should pray much and often, and never meditate, they should find small comfort. If men come often to the sacrament, and do not before and after meditate of the covenant grace, they should not receive much good thereby. So that you see this meditation is all in all, it puts life to our reading, hearing, praying, receiving, and without it all our reading, hearing, praying, and receiving will stand us in small stead.

For without this meditation this law, which is the word of God, will either in time be forgotten, whereby we shall become unmindful of it, or else it will prove as a talent hid in the ground, utterly unfruitful unto us, for this meditation indeed is the third step of a true convert. The first is to hear the word of God readily; the second to remember it diligently; and the third to meditate on it seriously; and this is compared to the ‘chewing of the cud,’ Deut. xiv. 6, 7, which is never found in the unclean but in the clean beasts.

True it is, that hearing and reading the word will beget knowledge, but meditation is the especial means to work upon the affection, for else all our knowledge shall only be in general, idle and swimming in the brain, which may well be called brain-knowledge, but no heart-knowledge; but by serious meditation we do apply that we hear to our own selves in particular, laying the doctrine to our own hearts, to humble them for our sins, and to square our lives thereby, that we may in all things keep a clear conscience before God and man. The Lord gives Joshua a strait charge to do thus, ‘Let not the book of the law depart out of thy mouth; but meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe and do according to all that is written therein: for then shalt thou make thy way prosperous, and thou shalt have good success,’ Joshua i. 8, and Deut. vi. 7, 8. And thus the servants of God have been much exercised in meditation, and thereby have grown wonderful not only in knowledge but in practice, as we may see in David, Ps. cxix., who took great delight in God’s law, and made it his meditation continually. And of Isaac it is reported that he went out into the fields in the evening to meditate, Gen. xxiv.

- Thanks to Andrew Myers, the resident Puritan scholar at puritanboard.com, for always giving great quotes from the Puritans. My appreciation for the Puritans has grown so much since reading the excerpts that he has posted. I hope that these quotes that I have been posting will bless you and much as they bless me.

(John Angell James, “HINDRANCES to Christian Progress”)

A taste for worldly amusements will inevitably prove,
wherever it is indulged–a powerful obstacle to growth
in grace.

Man is unquestionably made for enjoyment. He has a
capacity for bliss–an instinctive appetite for gratification;
and for this, God has made ample provision of a healthful
and lawful kind. But “a taste for worldly pleasure” means
that this God-given capacity is directed to wrong sources,
or carried to an excess.

Now there are some amusements which in their very
nature are so utterly incompatible with true godliness,
that a liking for them, and a hankering after them, and
especially an indulgence in them–cannot exist with real,
earnest, and serious piety.

The dissolute parties of the glutton and the drunkard;
the fervency for the gambling-table; the pleasures of
the race-course; the performances of the theater–are
all of this kind. A taste for them is utterly uncongenial
with a spirit of godliness! So is a love for the gay and
fashionable entertainments of the ball-room, and the
wanton parties of the upper classes. These are all
unfriendly to true religion, and are usually renounced
by people intent upon the momentous concerns of
eternity.

We would not doom to perdition, all who are at any
time found in this round of worldly pleasure–but we
unhesitatingly say, that a taste for them is entirely
opposed to the whole spirit of Christianity! They are
all included in that “world” which is overcome by faith
and the new birth.

True religion is, though a happy, a very serious
thing–and can no more live and flourish in the
uncongenial atmosphere of those parties, than
could a young tender plant survive, if brought
into a frigid zone!

But in this pleasure-loving, pleasure-seeking, and
pleasure-inventing age, there is a great variety of
amusements perpetually rising up, which it would be
impossible to say are sinful, and therefore unlawful.
Yet the ‘supposition of their lawfulness’ viewed in
connection with their abundance, variety, and constant
repetition, is the very thing that makes them dangerous
to the spirit of true religion.

A taste for even lawful worldly amusements, which
leads its possessor to be fond of them, seeking them,
and longing for them–shows a mind that is in a very
doubtful state as to vital piety.

A Christian is not to partake of the pleasures of the
world, merely to prove that his religion does not debar
him from enjoyment. But he is to let it be seen by his
“peace which passes understanding,” and his “joy
unspeakable and full of glory,” that his godliness
gives far more enjoyment than it takes away–that,
in fact, it gives him the truest happiness!

The way to win a worldly person to true religion is not
to go and partake of his amusements; but to prove to
him, that we are happier with our pleasures–than he
is with his; that we bask in full sunshine–while he has
only a smoking candle; that we have found the “river
of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the
throne of God and the Lamb”–while he is drinking of
the muddy streams which issue from the earth!

“Many are asking, ‘Who can show us any good?’
Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord.
You have filled my heart with greater joy than
when their grain and new wine abound!” Ps. 4:6-7

After all, it is freely admitted–
1. That true religion is not hostile to anything
which is not hostile to it.
2. That many things which are not strictly pious,
though not opposed to piety–may be lawfully
enjoyed by the Christian.
3. That what he has to do in this matter is not to
practice total abstinence–but “moderation”.
4. Yet the Christian should remember how elastic
a term “moderation” is, and to be vigilant lest his
moderation should continually increase its latitude,
until it has swelled into the imperial tyranny of an
appetite which acknowledges no authority–and
submits to no restraint!

“Occupy until I come.” Luke 19:13

How instructive are these words to all who are troubled by doubts about mingling with the world, and taking part in its vain amusements. It is obvious that races, and balls, and theaters, and operas, and cards—are not forbidden by name in Scripture. The question which we should ask ourselves is simply this—”Am I occupying, as one who looks for Christ’s return—when I take part in these things? Would I like Jesus to return suddenly—and find me on the race-course, or in the ball-room, or at the theater, or at the card-table?”

Oh, dear reader, this is the true test by which to try our daily employment of time! That thing which we would not do, if we thought Jesus was coming tonight—that thing we ought not to do at all! That place to which we would not go, if we thought Jesus was coming this day—that place we ought to avoid. That company in which we would not like Jesus to find us—in that company we ought never to sit down. Oh, that we would live as in the sight of Christ!

“Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:16