In pondering, there is both first the mind's applying itself to a thing, and the intending its acting, and then this third, of an acting, of searching and diving into it, or knowing what we can of it.
"Pondering" is an expression taken from goldsmiths and tradesmen, that desire to know the full weight of a thing and thereby the value or worth for their profit and use. Thus the merchant weighs his merchandise, the goldsmith weighs his silver and gold, the jeweler weighs his rich pearls, rubies, and diamonds, to know them more exactly. There is exceeding great weight and worth in heavenly and spiritual things. Meditation must hold the scales to weigh, so well as we can, these so rich and precious things, these diamonds, and pearls of heavenly treasure- yea, weigh them as things that unspeakably surmount all other things. As Proverbs 2:4, Wisdom must have a searching for as for hid treasures: as the searching for and searching in the gold and silver mines, in which there is not only great earnestness of search, till the rich vein is discovered, but being once found, there is a following it with exactest industry, and utmost curiosity, to find not a part or quantity of the treasure, but all the riches scattered over the whole mine, part after part. A Christian in his exercise of meditation must act the part of the exquisite miner, to dig deep, dig over all the mine, and gather up the riches of it, the lesser and greater quantities, as they come to view, in the mines of spiritual treasure. Travelers tell us that in the Persian, at a certain season of the year, great store of a kind of shell-fish is to be found near the shore, in which shell-fish they find the precious pearls bred in their shells. But the way of finding them is by diving: there are men that have an art of diving down to the bottom of the sea and bringing up their baskets filled with these shell-fish; the shells being opened, they find and take out the orient and rich pearls, of several proportions, some of them very great and rich; whereby they greatly enrich themselves and those that deal in them. Meditation is the spiritual merchant's art of trading for heavenly riches, pearls of great price; but there must be a diving deep. If we have not this art of diving, we shall lose the rich pearls: the deepest diving down in the practice of meditation comes up with the greatest returns of soul enrichments.
Solomon, in Ecclesiastes 7:25, has a very emphatical expression to hold forth this we are upon: our translation has it, "I applied my heart," but the Hebrew has it, "I compassed," and "My heart that is compassed" to search and seek out wisdom-- or, "I and my heart compassed," so in the margin we have it There is coming upon a thing, and a compassing a thing; the heart in meditating is to compass in a thing as well as it can. They say in philosophy that wisdom lies in perspection, introspection, and prospection-- that is, in viewing thoroughly all over, viewing inwardly, and viewing what may be eventually, what may be the issues of things: it pries into a thing, and looks round about a thing; makes the mind endeavor an extensive and comprehensive knowing, as was said. Meditation in spiritual things should be like Nehemiah when he came to Jerusalem, and would go view it; he went and viewed first one part, and then another, till he had gone round. So meditation looks largely-- views what it can take in and consider.
As God took Moses to the top of Mount Nebo, showed him all the land of promise, part after part round, Deuteronomy 34:1, thus when we go up this mount of meditation, we must search, view, look round, take in as large a prospect as we can.
Nathanael Ranew
Solitude Improved By Divine Meditation, pp. 26-28
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