Biblical versus unholy Meditation
God tells us to meditate on His Word, which give us a foundation of unchanging, objective Truth (rather than fleeting, subjective feelings) so that we ...
1. Learn and do what He has told us:
"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it." Joshua 1:8
"...the meditation of my heart shall give understanding." Psalm 49:3
"I have more understanding than all my teachers,
For Your testimonies are my meditation." Psalm 119:99
2. Know Him and please Him in all we think and do:
"Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation.
Give heed to the voice of my cry, my King and my God,
For to You I will pray." Psalm 5:1
"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer." Psalm 19:14
3. Focus on God with a grateful heart, not on our own spiritual experiences:
"When I remember You on my bed,
I meditate on You in the night watches.
Because You have been my help,
Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice." Psalm 63:6
"I will also meditate on all Your work,
And talk of Your deeds.
Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary;
Who is so great a God as our God?" Psalm 77:12
May my meditation be sweet to Him;
I will be glad in the Lord." Psalm 104:34
"Oh, how I love Your law!
It is my meditation all the day.
You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies;
For they are ever with me.
I have more understanding than all my teachers,
For Your testimonies are my meditation." Psalm 119:97-99
4. Delight in God and be a blessing to Him:
"May my meditation be sweet to Him;
I will be glad in the Lord." Psalm 104:34
I will meditate on Your precepts,
And contemplate Your ways.
I will delight myself in Your statutes;
I will not forget Your word." Psalm 119:15-16
5. Pray according to His ways and promises:
"Hear my voice, O God, in my meditation;
Preserve my life from fear of the enemy.
Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,
From the rebellion of the workers of iniquity," Psalm 64:1
"I call to remembrance my song in the night;
I meditate within my heart,
And my spirit makes diligent search." Psalm 77:6
"Princes also sit and speak against me,
But Your servant meditates on Your statutes." Psalm 119:23
6. Affirm the truths we have already hidden in our hearts"
"Be angry, and do not sin.
Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still." Psalm 4:4
"Make me understand the way of Your precepts;
So shall I meditate on Your wonderful works." Psalm 119:26
My hands also I will lift up to Your commandments, which I love,
And I will meditate on Your statutes." Psalm 119:47
"...they treated me wrongfully with falsehood;
But I will meditate on Your precepts." Psalm 119:77
"I rise before the dawning of the morning, and cry for help;
I hope in Your word.
My eyes are awake through the night watches,
That I may meditate on Your word." Psalm 119:147-148
"I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty,
And on Your wondrous works." Psalm 145:5
"Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another,
And the Lord listened and heard them;
So a book of remembrance was written before Him
For those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name." Malachi 3:16
WARNINGS:
In contrast to Biblical meditation, pagan (or Eastern) meditation have historically been pathways for -
1. Connecting with a universal force, "global mind" or "god" (Eastern religions, monism)
2. Summon diverse deities, dead ancestors, etc. (all demonic spirits).
Unlike Biblical Christianity, such counterfeit practices need no foundation in truth, knowledge about God, historical facts, or actual reality.
The next Scripture has a negative connotation. It suggests that the pagan priests Elijah addressed were familiar with the word meditation, but their practice would have been totally contrary to Biblical meditation. It -- like today's occult practices -- would have opened the door to the capricious gods (demonic spirits) they worshipped.
"And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, 'Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.' 'So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention." 1 Kings 18:27-29
Praying repetitive phrases -- as if the words themselves will magically bring victory and protection from disaster. (See A New Mask for an Ancient Secret)
“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. 'Do not trust in these lying words, saying, ‘The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these.’' ... 'Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know, and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered to do all these abominations’?" Jeremiah 7:1-10.
"And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them." Mt 6:7-8
This statement rebuts the lie behind the ancient formula for magic: "As above, so below" -- a claim to oneness with a universal god or force."
"...let not your heart utter anything hastily before God.
For God is in heaven, and you on earth...." Ecclesiastes 5:2"If I regard iniquity [hold on to sin] in my heart, the Lord will not hear." Psalm 66:18
“Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them, nor make intercession to Me; for I will not hear you." Jeremiah 7:16
"....these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity. Should I let Myself be inquired of at all by them?" Ezekiel 14:3
"When you come to appear before Me,
Who has required this from your hand, to trample My courts?
Bring no more futile sacrifices; incense is an abomination to Me....
I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.
Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates;
They are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them.
When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you;
Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear...." Isaiah 1:11-15"...you cried out to Me, and I delivered you from their hand. Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods. Therefore I will deliver you no more. Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress." Judges 10:12-14
"One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination." Pr 28:9
"The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright [those whose sins are washed away through Christ's death on the cross] is His delight." Pr 15:8
God's judgment on people and nations that deceive themselves into thinking that their false, self-centered worship pleases God and summon His blessing."Then the Lord said to me, 'Do not pray for this people, for their good. When they fast, I will not hear their cry.... But I will consume them by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.” Jeremiah 14:11-12