The words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart.
Words and thoughts
The prayer speaks for itself, as the prayer of a truly righteous man. One might almost call that man a perfect man whose whole life was lived in perfect accord with it. For the majority of us, it is far easier to control one’s actions than one’s words. What mischief is done by the exaggerated denunciations of violent language, and by the false position of guilt in which strong epithets and expletives are usually placed. All expressions of bad feeling are wrong, not because they are expressions, but because they spring from the bad feeling, and that is the thing of which we ought to be ashamed and afraid. The use of expletives has been put on a false footing altogether, and the way in which they have been condemned has done more to increase it than to stop it. Yet how very far better it would be for us never to use rash or violent or misplaced words. All habits of this kind are bad. What a safeguard the prayer of the text is against all corrupting influences of the tongue, and against lying. By the words of our mouth, how vast is the influence we may exercise for good or evil! Of all the common forms of sinning with the tongue, the most common, and perhaps the worst, is the sin of lying. There is an amazing amount of careless falsehood spoken. What gives religion its preeminence as a moral power, is its recognition of a holy God who looketh on the heart, and m whose sight the pious soul longs to be wholly and alway acceptable. The earnest desire to be right in the sight of God would give an immense impulse to the instinctive love of truth which belongs to our nature. The most vital part of religion is, intense desire to be made righteous, and entire trust in the strength and grace of God. (Charles Voysey.)
Acceptable words
Meditations into which a man puts his heart will surely prove the spring of action. The depths of this prayer are reached in the petition concerning the meditations of the heart. Meditation is only unuttered speech. We think in words. Yet the words we utter have a separate existence, and most powerfully affect the thoughts of our mind. Language has a reflex influence upon our thoughts. Thought is revealed in speech, but speech reacts upon thought. The Bible is fully alive to the importance of right words. Consider some of the essentials of acceptable words,
1. They must be truthful words. Our words must be in harmony with our thought. Our speech should be photographic of our thought. There are thoughts which seem to reach beyond the capacity of language. Speech is the clothing of thought, and, like clothing, should fit. Right thoughts would exclude--
(1) All exaggerated words. This is a special failing of our own day.
(2) All unreal words.
(3) All flattering words.
2. They must he charitable words. There are men who have an instinct for searching out evil, just as hounds have for scenting out their prey. Evil ought so to sorrow our hearts as to make it impossible for us to blazon it abroad. Truth and goodness ought to be so attractive to us as to lead us to dwell thereon with delight and joy. Oh, that we had greater tenderness for sinful, wandering souls!
3. They must be godly words. Earthly speech may be seasoned with godly thoughts. Earthly things may be seen m a heavenly light. The spirit of a Christian may be seen in common ways, in ordinary work, in earthly speech. (W. Garrett Horder.)
The acceptableness of the words of the mouth and the meditation of the heart in God’s sight
It is a strong evidence of the love of God towards sinful man, that any thing such a frail and erring being can do or say can be acceptable to Him. There are few sins which can be less excused, or which are committed with less temptation, than the habit of uttering improper or indecent language. It is our duty to resist such temptations, and this duty is to be performed by making the meditations of our hearts acceptable to God. To this end we must begin with striving to acquire, and with earnestly praying for, purity of mind. Our minds become tainted before we are aware of the importance and the value of cleanliness of thought. The voluntary meditation of our hearts now form an image, an anticipated representation of the state in which “we shall be.” Whatever gives us most delight and heartfelt pleasure in this world is that which will give us strength in the next. (John Nance, D. D.)
Consecration of word and thought
I. The utterance of the text as an act of sacrifice. A dedication to God such as any devout man may make both of words and thoughts.
1. There is nothing so much in our power as are our words. We cannot change our heart, but we can our speech. Perhaps some man exclaims that his temper has overmastered him; that he is possessed by the devil; that he cannot govern his own thoughts; that volleys of wicked words issue from his lips, and that his words cannot be acceptable to God. I reply, as far as “words” are concerned, you have simply and solely yourself to blame, However hot your passion, you are not forced to speak; for God has given you power to hold your tongue. It is pure absurdity to put down those curses or those noisy slanderous words of yours to your own depravity, or to Adam, or to the devil. You have only your present self to blame, and neither Adam nor the devil will bear a particle of the responsibility. There are certain devilish words that even you would not utter ill the hearing of a child; there are others that you would repress if a holy man were standing by your side; there are many which your instinctive reverence for the sanctuary would have the power to hush. These simple facts may do much to convince you that dominion over the tongue is given you, and that it is within your power to present to God even words that may be acceptable to Him. The Scriptures contain many words which it were acceptable for the most vile to speak unto God.
2. The meditations of our hearts. These may seem to be less fitting for sacrifice; but they, too, can largely be brought into the control of our will; and then we may offer them to God on the altar of spiritual sacrifice.
II. How comprehensive the prayer. “All the words of my mouth.” These include--
1. All my soliloquies, my unuttered thinkings.
2. All my conversation, all my speakings whatsoever.
3. All I say unto God, in praise and prayer, in cries and ejaculations of gratitude and entreaty.
4. The meditations of the heart include even a larger share of human existence than the words of the mouth. These meditations reveal the habitual objects of reverence or distrust; the whole empire of fear, hope, and suspicion; of faith, prayerfulness, and love. Now, if this text is a prayer that all these things may be acceptable in the sight of God, it sweeps up into itself a large portion of our whole being. The prayer itself is a holy prayer, for “this is the will of God, even our sanctification.” (Henry Reynolds, D. D.)
The meditation of my heart.--
Mental prayer
There are four kinds of prayer, distinguished by the purposes for which the soul approaches God: namely, to praise Him, to thank Him, to propitiate Him, or to invoke His help. But we note now another division of prayer. That which we have referred to depends upon the motive of the soul, this upon the maimer of the act of prayer itself. The Psalmist, having prayed that he might be cleansed from sin, and “innocent from the great transgression,” proceeds further to desire that he may become pleasing to God--“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight.” In these words he provides us with the main division of prayer, based on the organ or faculty which is employed in it: by “the words of my mouth,” vocal prayer is suggested; by “the meditation of my heart,” mental prayer is described. Mental prayer is transacted entirely within the soul; vocal prayer employs the ministry of the tongue, or in some other way finds expression. The order of the Psalmist is that of acquirement and attainment. We learn in childhood first to say prayers, afterwards to think them: we govern our words first, and then bring under subjection our thoughts. All prayer is either mental or vocal. Mental prayer includes meditation and contemplation. Vocal is such as is used in the services of the Church.
I. First, we will deal with the practice of meditation, and consider--
1. Its authority, which is derived from the Scriptures. We have instances of it in the Old Testament, Enoch, Noah, Isaac, of whom it is first expressly spoken (Genesis 24:63). In the New Testament it is twice told of Mary how she “pondered in her heart” the things that were told her. Christ Himself gives examples of this kind of prayer (John 18:2; Matthew 14:23; Luke 6:12). Mary of Bethany. The apostles also (Acts 1:14; 1 Timothy 4:15; Galatians 1:17-18). And so in the writings of the saints we have constant reference to the practice of meditation. St. Ambrose bids us “exercise ourselves in meditation before conflict, that we may be prepared for it,” and in a striking passage describes the nutritive effects of meditation; he says, “we ought for a long while to bruise and refine the utterances of the heavenly Scriptures, exerting our whole mind and heart upon them, that the sap of that spiritual food may diffuse itself into all the veins of our soul,” etc. St. Augustine enumerates the steps which lead up to “prayer,”--“meditation begets knowledge, knowledge compunction, compunction devotion, and devotion perfects prayer.” St. Basil enjoins mental prayer as a means of exercising the faculties of the soul. St. Gregory mentions the morning as a fitting time for meditation; he says, “as the morning is the first part of the day, each of the faithful ought at that moment to lay aside all thoughts of this present life, in order to reflect upon the means of rekindling the fire of charity.” St. Bernard represents meditation and prayer as the two feet of the soul, by which it ascends. St. Ignatius, in his Spiritual Exercise, systematised it. St. Theresa declares it “essential to the Christian life.”
2. Its dignity. It involves a continuing in communion with God in tender and affectionate intercourse, growing into a holy familiarity and friendship. St. Augustine in his confessions records the joy which he experienced when his soul found its resting place in God--“Sometimes thou bringest me to certain feelings of tenderness, and to an extraordinary sweetness, which, should it still increase, I know not what would happen.” Such communion is surely a preparation for heaven and a foretaste of beatitude. It is said of St. Francis de Sales, that one day when he was in retreat, and holding continuous and close communion with God, he became so overwhelmed with joy that at last he exclaimed, “Withdraw Thyself, O Lord, for I am unable any longer to bear Thy great sweetness.”
3. Its importance. This is because of its rich productiveness in the fruits of prayer; we have found that, whether it be regarded as a good work which stores up favour with God, or as an act of compensation for past neglect, or as a means of adding force to our petitions, or as to its subjective effect on our life--it outstrips other kinds of prayer in the number and quality of its effects.
4. Its nature and exercise. There are preliminary acts, such as--
(1) Adoration.
(2) Preparatory prayer that we may have the aid of the Holy Ghost.
(3) The endeavour to picture to yourself the event upon which you are to meditate.
Then there will be called into exercise: memory, that you may have the subject of meditation before the mind; understanding, that you may reflect upon it and investigate its meaning; the will, for we have to stir ourselves up to this exercise. The will acts On the body, by causing the muscles to contract; on the mind, by determining what trains of thought it shall pursue; on the spirit, by holy resolve: this its most wonderful power. Such resolve must be definite, and its execution not delayed. And the meditation will end with appropriate devotions and inquiries. But mental prayer includes also--
II. Contemplation. It is a gift which is very rarely possessed. It is said that, besides a peculiar elevation of soul towards God and Divine things, on the natural side contemplation requires certain qualities of mind and character, and is seldom attained except after a process of spiritual trial and purification; so that, in passing from the consideration of meditation to that of contemplation, we feel that we are going off the thoroughfare into the byways of religion. Some of its special features.
(1) There is no labour in it, as in meditation, but the soul beholds truth intuitively, and remains gazing upon God. The amazement of delight fills the soul as it beholds the things of God. So that it is
(2) a foretaste of eternal bliss, like to that which St. Peter enjoyed on the Mount of Transfiguration.
(3) Another feature is repose. It is restful calm, and closes the senses to the external world. It is ever associated with the idea of rest. Mary sat at Jesus feet and heard His word.
(4) The union of the soul with God is another mark, and is the first object of contemplative prayer.
III. A difficulty in the use of this mental prayer. It is dryness of spirit.
1. Its causes are--
(1) The condition of conscience,--some sin, perhaps hidden, may have come between the soul and God; or
(2) bodily health; or
(3) the providence of God. He sends it as a spiritual trial, and this form of it is the most severe. (Job 29:2-4; Psalms 22:1-31 :l, 42:5, 143:7.) If we find no sin in the conscience, after diligent search, it is best to leave the matter in the hand of God. Only, never let dryness of spirit cause us to give up mental prayer. Let us not think that because we have not happy feeling therefore our prayer cannot be acceptable to God. God may delight in that which gives us no delight. As when the moon is in crescent, there are a few bright points still visible upon its unillumined part; and those bright points art supposed to be peaks of mountains so lofty as to be able to catch the sunlight; so in the darkness of the soul, the withdrawal of grace is not total, but there are still, as it were, certain eminences, which the Sun of Righteousness now and then touches with His glory. But whatever the dryness or the darkness be, if we persevere, the light will return at last. (W. H. Hutchings, M. A.)
David’s desire
All wish to please--
1. Some to please themselves. Whoever is offended, they must be indulged.
2. Some to please men. And this is not in all cases improper. “Let every one of us please his neighbour,” but it must be “for his good to edification.”
3. Some endeavour to please God. Such were Paul and his companions. “We labour. .. to be accepted of Him.” And such was David. He would dedicate all his powers to God. A natural man cares for his conduct as men see it. But he makes no conscience of his speech, or of his thoughts.
I. David’s prayer shows his humility, he asks only that his works may be acceptable.
II. His affection. He desires only to please Him.
III. Consciousness of duty. He knew that he was bound to seek God’s favour.
IV. Regard to self-interest. It could not but be well for him if he pleased God. Innumerable are the benefits of pleasing God. (William Jay.)
Pious desire
In these words we are taught--
I. The interesting light in which to contemplate the character of God.
1. God is His people’s strength. Of their bodies and of their souls.
2. Their Redeemer. He is so from the curse of the law; from sin; from the power of death and the grave. And at what cost of suffering was all this effected!
3. And we have individual interest in God. “My” strength: “My Redeemer.
II. The pious desire of those that fear the Lord.
1. It is an habitual desire, but felt more strongly at certain seasons, as in meditation.
2. What David was persuaded of, that to the Lord everything was perfectly known.
3. About what he was concerned, that his words and thoughts might “be acceptable in Thy sight.” God delights in such meditation of His people. (Anon.).