Reclaiming The Lost Art Of Biblical MeditationSample

Meditate When You Awaken in the Night

Psalm 119:148 says, “My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises.”

Is that sometimes true for you?

I was quite discouraged as I prepared for bed last night, and I jotted a few plaintive words in my journal. I’m looking at them now. “I am discouraged and overwhelmed,” I had written. “Worked much of the day on a project, and took a six-mile walk on the greenway to think it through, but didn’t get it done. Stuck. Worried I’m not spending enough time with grandkids. Tired. Lord, I need help.”

Then I thumbed through the pages of my mind and thought of Psalm 121. I resolved to fall asleep thinking about that psalm. I recall waking up several times, quoting, “I will lift up my eyes to the hills— from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (verses 1–2). My mood was considerably better this morning.

Dawson Trotman, founder of the Navigators, believed the last prevailing thought in one’s conscious mind before going to sleep should be some portion of God’s Word. He called this his H.W.L.W. Principle (His Word the Last Word). He felt the last dominant idea would simmer in the subconscious and become the first thought on rising.*

Today’s Tip

Keep a Bible with you and read it at odd moments. The other day at the lake, I saw a young lifeguard sitting under an umbrella during his break, poring over a book with a highlighter. Turns out, he was studying the book of Daniel, soaking in the message of the Bible the ways the guests around him were soaking in the sun. It’s handy to have an electronic version on your mobile device, but sometimes the old-fashioned printed page gives us a literal feel for the Word.

* Leslie B. Flynn, Your Inner You (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1984), 47.