Do You Talk To Yourself?

Okay, admit it. When you're alone you do talk to yourself sometime. I find when I am alone in the house doing the routine things that don't require much thought I sometimes talk to myself. Living in the age of cell phones, it is quite normal to see people in their cars talking even when they are by themselves. Before cell phones I would always hope if someone saw my lips moving perhaps they would think I was praying.

In Psalm 1: 2 the psalmist speaks of the man who delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on His law day and night. I turned that into a prayer. I asked the Lord to cause me to delight in His law and meditate on it day and night. Is it practical to meditate on God's law day and night? My bible gave a little note in the center that said another way of understanding the word meditate is "ponders by talking to himself." I laughed at first because I thought of those times I ponder and talk to myself. Webster says meditate is to "reflect on or ponder over" but doesn't say anything about talking to yourself. I think it is possible to meditate on God's law day and night. I know we have responsibilities that require other thoughts but I do believe that there is a sense in which we can always have a general awareness of His word.

As I have shared many times scripture memorization is very important to me and my spiritual health. Therefore, I encourage others to memorize scripture. Having His word in your heart and mind daily is the thing that enables us to meditate on it. Then when we are driving, exercising or doing mundane things around the house we can meditate on God's law. I use scripture as prayer sometimes. Many times I use scripture to talk to myself so that I hear the right things rather than listening to myself where I will hear the wrong things.

Life and schedules are very demanding. It is easy to get through a day without spending any time at all in the word. I know it is hard to find time to pick up your bible, sit down and spend time with the Lord. That is why I am so focused on memorization because you can take it with you. The key word in verse 2 is "delight." If we really delighted in His word we would spend more time with it.

It doesn't matter how you meditate on God's word - reflect, ponder or even talk to yourself. The important thing is that we delight in it and meditate on it day and night. The psalmist says "Blessed is the man..."