Meditation is a Dwelling of Thoughts

MEDITATION includes a dwelling of the thoughts upon the object, drawing out the golden thread of holy thinking to its due length, giving the mind its full scope and allowance of abode on the meditated matter. Meditation is, in Scripture, and often particularly in the book of Ecclesiastes, expressed by the phrase of "considering."

In consideration, there is: 
1. Application of the mind to an object;
2. Intention upon it;
3. Pondering of, or searching into it; And this,
4. thing, the dwelling of the thoughts for some due space of time, for viewing and reviewing, for second thoughts, bettering of thoughts, and better completing this great soul affair of meditation. This meditation needs must have that allowance that all great musings and considerings have. Such are rare artists, exquisite engineers, deep philosophers, and great statesmen, all noble and ingenious ways must have for their times of studyings: they must have their due space of time for thinking, and lengthen out their mindings in that time-- to make, as we say, no more haste than good speed. A staying awhile will make an end the sooner, make the work the surer.

Meditation is not a hasty hurry of thoughts: that is precipitation, not meditation. IT is not gathering half-ripe fruit, that which has not its time for the influence of heaven to come down upon it, and its own internal principle and power of its nature, to produce a kindly maturation, a kindly ripening. We will not have (for want of time) our bread dough-baked, or meat raw-roasted, knowing that what is not rightly prepared for the body may breed distempers, if it bring not death. It is not the way to thrive, look well, and be strong, lively, and cheerful: why should we gather our soul's precious fruits half-ripe? Feed our souls with dough-baked bread for want of a little time? Some things must have infusion for taking forth the spirits and tinctures of colors; others a due time for percolation and straining, for a separating of the finer parts from the feculent and dreggy; and some things a longer space, in a slow and constant fire in the operation, or the cost and labor is lost. Intentions for effecting things greatly beneficial and admirable are most freely allowed a larger proportion of time, both for frequencies and repetitions of musing seriously. But, oh, how too ordinarily do the best of saints fall short of the actings of rare artists in their higher operations, in their stands and abodes of thoughts for more curious observations, and intellectual satisfactions! Usually we are too hasty and eager to have duties over. The soul is in pain till it be delivered of them. In meditation it is hard (sometimes at least) to take off the thoughts for it from pre-engagements of other thinking, and apply them to the duty; but harder to become duly serious in acting in it; harder yet to dive and ponder; and hardest of all to hold up an abiding of thoughts and dwell long enough, and after views to make reviews, to react the same thinkings, to taste things over and over when the freshness and newness is past, when by long thinking the things before us seem old: we are ready to grow dead and flat in a performance, except we stir up ourselves often in ti. It is hard to hold on and hold up unless we hold up a wakeful eye, a warm affection, a strong and quick-repeated resolution; yea, and without often lifting up the soul to Christ, for fresh recruits of strength to hold on. David, that so excellent artist in this way, says he will meditate, often says he will. See Psalm 119. Doubtless he not only said I will, when he was to make his entrance into this hard work; but likewise for continuance in it, to keep up his heart from flagging, till he well ended his work. It is not the digging into the golden mine, but the digging long, that finds and fetches up the treasure. It is not the diving into the sea, but staying longer, that gets the greater quantities of pearls. To draw out the golden thread of meditation to its due length, till the spiritual ends be attained- this is rare and happy attainment.


Nathanael Ranew
Solitude Improved By Divine Meditation, pp. 28-29

Of the Requisites in Meditation

There are three things I shall mention as the requisites for holy meditation as a duty:

1. What I call a foundation, or preparative to it.

2. Those things that are for the forming and framing it as to the parts and proportions.

3. The things that finish it up.


1. As to the foundation, or preparative to it, this must be laid above in heaven by the dispositive or preparative work of fervent prayer. The foundation of this soul affair ,must be, as a learned man says of the foundation of the world: The foundation of the world, he says, is the third heaven which is of a "constant, incorruptible nature, of no preexistent principles, and so not liable, as other things are, to corruption and resolution; and which, as to the convex or outward superficies, or the highest part, is only bounded or terminated by its own limits, or terms of essence and quantity; but in its concave or hollow superficies, or the lowest part, contains all inferior things, and is fixed immovable." If the foundation of the great world is laid by the third heaven, the foundation of this great work of holy meditation must be laid in heaven, laid by the soul's strong mounting up thither and fixing itself there by fervent prayer, as the great preparative to this meditation. Fervent prayer: the word in Hebrew used for meditation signifies also prayer-- prayer and meditation being so near akin, and the one helping mutually the other.

(1.) To begin with a bringing the soul into the glorious and tremendous presence of the great God, and under His so pure and all-seeing eye.

(2.) To act the soul, and lay it as it were to steep in self-abasings and humblings for its former miscarriages and failings in, and present unfitness and indisposedness for, what is now undertaking.

(3.) To exercise fresh self-denyings as to any sufficiency of ability to perform any thing therein acceptably and profitably.

(4.) To act vigorous and strong recumbencies on Jesus Christ, for both His teachings and touchings of our spirits, and up holdings likewise in the work.

(5.) To procure and beget a warm temper in us, such as may make the  heart to glow all over in the duty.


2. As to the forming of the duty in the parts and particulars of it:

(1.) It must be founded on, and rise from, the spring and great principle of motion and action, which is the will, in a both free choice and firm purpose. a reservedness and rooted purpose: thus David, "I will meditate in your statutes," and "I will meditate in your precepts," Psalm 119, 48. The evil heart says, I will not meditate; Satan says (so far as he can hinder), You shall not; and the profane world says, You need not. But the holy heart says, I will meditate. This is my free and firm purpose, and nothing, by Christ's assistance, shall divert me.

The philosopher says that in every virtuous action there must be a choice of will; it must come free from the spring of the will and run in resolution, otherwise it is not a virtuous action.

The Scriptures, for all religious actings, call for willingness: "Your people shall be willing in the day of your power," Psalm 110:8--- or, as it is in the Hebrew, "a people of willingness, your people," --- and in diverse places call for readiness in what we perform to God. No work in the world can challenge such an intense degree of readiness and freeness as Christ's work, and such ways as have a clear and lively stamp of His royal will and command. No higher character is given in Scripture of real godliness than freest choice of will and readiness. To choose the good part, Luke 10:42; to choose the things that please God, Isaiah 56:4; and as in abundance of places is to be seen.

A carnal heart acts from carnal wisdom and self-interest, of from passion and self-biasing affection, but not from pure freeness and deliberate choice of will. This is not the spring of his duties, as it is in a good and holy heart. A good heart acts from purpose, a well and deep-set purpose: with purpose of heart to cleave to the Lord, Acts 11:23; and Psalm 119:106, "I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep your righteous judgments." So the will, for holy duties, must put forth in purposes, firm purposes, varieties of fresh purposes; act all the still needful and conducing purposes, any duty in any respect calls for. There are many rare and rich attendants and properties, ingredients and excellencies, divine and heavenly beauties, appertaining to holy duties, which the will must intend and make its free, firm choice of, which the purposes of the will must lie level to and make after, as the proper and proportionate marks of higher tendencies.


WHAT THE WILL MUST INTEND IN MEDITATION

I shall name five particulars; there must be:

1. An aim and firm purpose to make the duty a right work, to make sure it be made true.

2. A free and full purpose of a wise work, to have it a work of spiritual wisdom.

3. A firm purpose for a vigorous and spirited performing.

4. A strong purpose of watching and earnest striving against all diversions and interruptions.

5. In a firm purpose of utmost endeavour of success and having the right and kindly end and fruit of the duty.


1. A right work. The will's purpose and intendment must be to make the duty of meditation a right work- to make sure it be made true and sincere, John 4:24. Not a carcass, not a painted piece, without soul and substance, a formality without power. Not a mere work performed, as it were to flatter God, who looks for a duty, as they in Psalm 78:36-37 are said to flatter God with their lips, but their heart was not right with Him. We are ready to flatter Him with our modes of meditation and fashions of thinkings, with our formalities, without realities and truth and the work's being sincere. It must not be a flattering of God but a true pleasing Him, from being true itself. It must not be a work daubed over with the untempered mortar of our own heart's self-deceitfulness, setting up a thing to show like it, and be something near it only, and putting thereby a cheat upon ourselves. Nor must it be a thing only to stop the mouth of our consciences, keep them from calling on and challenging of us; but we must design it strongly and firmly, to purpose, through God, to proffer to and please Him with a sincere work. "walk before Me, and be perfect," Genesis 17:1/. This must be understood, certainly, of every walk and path we go in: not a walk in some one way, or diverse, and not all; but in every walking sincerity must be a property, a qualification designed and firmly resolved; and we must not be satisfied unless it be right meditating, such as Scriptures requires, and saints in Scripture practiced; yea, that they told God Himself that they performed, Psalm 119:23. And doubtless David dared not tell the heart-searching God he meditated if he had done it formally and hypocritically, and not been sincere and upright in it.

2. The intendment of the will must be for the making this duty a wise work, to make it a work of spiritual wisdom. The apostle, in Ephesians 5:17, says, "Be not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is." And in 2 Timothy 3:15, there is mention of wisdom to salvation, and in Proverbs 9:12, wisdom is called on for ourselves.

(1.) Wise in respect of God. Certainly, as Solomon did things of great excellence to show himself very wise, so when the most high God's honour is concerned, and when He will be present at our performances and comes as it were purposely to them, shall we present Him with any foolish piece- not design a wise work, and not be seen acting wisely?

(2.) Wise in reference to ourselves. Should we not also strongly purpose to make this duty a wise work, a work for sure wisdom for ourselves, and lay it fully level to the grand mark of eternal salvation for ourselves? Solomon, in Proverbs 17:21, says, "The father of a fool has no joy" So the parent of a foolish acting will have no joy; it is the godly, prudent acting, whose fruit is peace, and which issues in heavenly joy. Oh, how sweet and comfortable is that duty, in which we have acted up to the rule of sound wisdom!

(3.) A spirited and lively work. There must be a firm and strong purpose and ntendment for a vigorous and spirited, a lively and warm, work. "Fervent in spirit, serving the Lord," Romans 12:11. in every duty we must have a purpose of striking fire, of making the heart burning hot: it must not be lukewarm, in an indifference that is but lazy; nor blood-warm, that is but low; but the soul's purpose and design must be for the highest heat and fervency, the greatest vigour and activity. As artists in some high operations, seek for the hottest fire.

As warmest preaching and warmest hearing, as the disciples' hearts burned within them when Christ opened the Scriptures, Luke 24:32; and so warmest reading and warmest meditating. In David's heart, while he mused the fire burned, Psalm 39:3. So when we meditate, we should intend a warm work, to be very warm at the heart.

4. A striving against all lets. In a strong purpose of earnest striving against all lets and interruptions. The whole work of a Christian here must not only be vigorous and sedulous, but striving and contentious. "Strive to enter in at the strait gate," Luke 13:24. Every single and particular duty must bear a part of striving to enter in at the strait gate; for this is to be applied to every particular duty, though Christ speaks only in general, bidding us strive.

     Two things make up the notion of striving:
   
    (1.) Intention and earnestness.

    (2.) Contention against opposition. When a man strives, he acts earnestly; and when he strives after or for a thing, he strives also with that which is against him. Striving is against something that lets or opposes. In all soul work, and peculiarly in this of meditation, the throng of difficulties is great, the oppositions are many; therefore the purposes and resolutions of heart must be strong and high. None ever carry on their work well who are not first well resolved, and still renew and link one firm purpose to another, to hold on their course to the last.

5. A purpose for the kindly issuing of meditation. The will must purpose firmly to endeavour still the kindly issue and success of the duty. Look, says the apostle, you lose not the things wrought, 2 John 8. Who would set up at the labor in vain? Christ's sweet promise is, "The seed of the blessed of the Lord shall not labor in vain," Isaiah 65:23. The way, among others, of having it performed is by grounding our endeavours in strong and rooted resolutions for that running and pressing on, and looking after our duties doing; until the work winds up and issues in the spiritual ends, in the sweet success it is appointed unto, such as increase of holiness and grace, and improvement of communion with God. Success sets the crown on the head of the work: resolve to get the crown still set on the head of every duty, that it may shine in the glory of success.

These are the five special branches this root of resolution should put forth; these, as so many precious corner-stones, should lie at the bottom of this building, the better to bear it up. These should be as so many great arteries branching forth from the heart, to convey vital spirits into the body of this heavenly duty of meditation, and keep it alive, and warm, and improvingly active.


Nathanael Ranew
Solitude Improved By Divine Meditation, Chapters 4 and 5

 

Improving Solitude by Divine Meditation

A pious heart has three happy was of self-entertainment in solitary, three rare ways of being least alone when most alone. 

The first way of self-entertainment is the ordinance of reading and searching the Holy Scriptures, the pure, perfect, and infallible word and will of Christ concerning us. There Christ has prepared His rich feast of fat things full of marrow, and His royal banquet of heavenly truths. There He sets forth the great varieties of sure directions, precious promises, high examples, rare experiences, and the help of all His holy ordinances, to feed and satiate the hungry and thirsty spirit.

The second way of self-entertainment is divine meditation, by either pondering of spiritual things, for improving knowledge and exciting practice, or by a weighing all other things whatever, for reducing them to a spiritual end and use.

The third way of self-entertainment is private praying, such as is both founded on and bounded by Christ's will in His word; such as is both prepared and assisted, made wise and warm, by serious meditation.

Meditation stands between the two ordinances of reading and praying as the grand improver of the former and the high quickener of the latter, to furnish the mind with choice materials for prayer, and to fill the heart with holy fervency in it.

Natural philosophers observe that to uphold and accommodate bodily life, there are diverse sorts of faculties communicated, and these among the rese 
1. An attractive faculty, to assume and draw in the food.
2. A retentive faculty, to keep it, being taken in.
3. An assimilating faculty, to concoct the nourishment.
4. An augmenting faculty, for drawing to perfection.

1. Meditation is as the attractive faculty, to help to assume and take in spiritual food. This it does by helping to act judgment, wisdom, and faith, to ponder, discern, and credit the things which reading and hearing supply and furnish.

2. It is like the retaining faculty, by assisting and corroborating the memory, helping to lock up the jewels of divine truths sure in that treasury. Meditation makes a rational memory of things, which is the surest. There is in man a sensitive memory, in which he participates with sensitive natures such as beasts; they have a kind of memory. There is also an intellectual or rational memory, wherein man partakes of the like nature with angels; they have their faculty of memory. Meditation superadds to the sensitive memory the help also of a rational memory, whereby spiritual things are secured as under double lock: what we rationally remember is best remembered.

3. It is like the assimilating or digesting power, by helping to concoct spiritual food and turn it into spiritual nourishment. This it helps to effect by being instrumental to work things more powerfully on the will, in a free choice, firm purpose, and ready obedience of the excellent truths of Christ; and likewise by working on and into the affections of love, joy, and the rest, to cleave unto and be inflamed toward the things of Christ. A spiritual digestion is not by head work, but heart work, when the will deliberately and resolvedly chooses, and the affections earnestly embrace heavenly things. Meditation highly conduces to this spiritual digestion by its pondering, proposing, and edging efficaciously such reasons and incentives as work the heart into compliance and obedience.

It is like lastly, the augmenting and growing faculty, to help the good heart to grow better and shoot up higher heavenward. The true Christian must grow all this lifetime. Natural things grow by new assumed nourishment, acted upon by the inward growing power. The real godly man has an inward growing power, implanted by the new life given to him- but this, as by other means, so by frequent meditation is much assisted and carried on. Meditation waters and cherishes the plants of heavenly graces. It helps them to root deeper, shoot higher, and grow stronger. Such Christians as meditate most will grow most, be growing to the end.

What in all Christianity is there that meditation is not a furtherance to? 
That saying is excellent, worthy of duest weighing: "The meditating mind is the beginner of all goodness." On a sinner's part, it is the rise of his initial returning to God, of his first converting. In the saints and persons converted, it is their way to progressive converting and renewed repentance, Ezekiel 18:28. "I considered my ways, and turned my feet unto Your testimonies," Psalm 119:59. The more consideration, the more conversion. The great inlet of man's first apostasy (besides infidelity and pride) was his incogitance. Our first parents lost all for want of due thinking-- not want of acting imagination, or any thinking, that could not be-- but for want of that consideration which should have been. They did not consider all things to be considered.

The overflowings of impiety, aggravated by impenitence, and men's rushings into sin so eagerly and boldly have been greatly from want of consideration. "No man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? Everyone turned to his course, as the horse rushes into the battle," Jeremiah 8:6. Their not-returnings were from neglect of self-reflectings. In any nation, when God intends to work great returnings, He stirs up that people to self-bethinkings: "If they shall bethink themselves," 1 Kings 8:47. He reminds them of considering to bring them to returning. So a particular person, when he first comes in to God, he comes first to himself, and that is by consideration and self-bethinking, as the prodigal, Luke 15:17.

In natures rational, the first mover is the mind, by consideration; in grace, the first moves is the mind, by holy meditation. The Christian that would set all the wheels of the soul going and improve-- that would do great things and have great attainments, great things effected on the heart and in the life, much light and wisdom, much warmth and fervor, high resolution and courage, large proficiency in godliness--must be much in meditation.

The greatest scholars in the world have not been only great readers, but great students in musing and pondering. The most eminent saints in all ages have been this way excellent: as Job, David, Solomon, and others in the Scriptures; as Cyprian, Ambrose, Augustine, and other saints in succeeding ages...

The present age is full of books: there are books too many, and yet too few. Knowledge and wisdom will never in this world be perfect, yet we must ever tend to perfection and press hard to the mark.



Nathaniel Ranew
Excerpted from the Introduction to Solitude Improved by Divine Meditations