The Sweetness of Meditation on God
Psalm 104:34
My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD.


The Hebrew word which is here used signifies three things especially, and each of them very considerable of us. First, meditation; secondly, prayer; thirdly, discourse. According to the former notion, it signifies the sweetness which is in Divine and spiritual contemplation, and the musing on heavenly matters; according to the second motion, it signifies the sweetness which is in Divine and spiritual communion and converse with God in prayer. According to the third notion, it signifies the sweetness which is in holy and religious conference, and the speaking of God one to another. All of them very useful and profitable duties, and such as are to be practised by us.

I. First, take it in the first sense: MEDITATION ON GOD IS SWEET. And the sweetness of it should stir us up to the putting of it in practice. We have very great cause to be careful what we meditate and pitch upon in our thoughts, which are of great importance to us, and that as they are a very great discovery of the frame and temper of our hearts. There's nothing which does more show what men like, than their meditations. Flittering and transitory thoughts, which do pass through the mind, but do not stick, they are not such an infallible discovery, because they may not have that tincture and impression of the soul upon them. But meditations they have much of the will in them, and are carried with more deliberation attending upon them. And therefore it concerns us to look to them, and to see what they be in us; and of this nature that we now speak of, we should cherish in ourselves as much as may be these holy and heavenly meditations which are of God, and things belonging to Him, as being such as He takes special notice and observation of in us (1 Timothy 4:13, 14). First, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine, and then meditate upon these things. And so much of the first notion of this word, which is here used in the text, as it denotes Divine contemplation, and meditation on the things of God, there's a great deal of sweetness in this.

II. The second is, as it denotes, CONVERSE AND COMMUNION WITH GOD IN PRAYER. There's no friends that have such mutual complacency and contentment in one another's society as God and His servants have in One another; it is pleasing to them to think of God, but to speak to Him, and He to them is a great deal more comfortable; when the heart opens itself at any time to God, and He again returns upon it, there's most unspeakable contentment in it.

III. The third notion of this word in this text is DISCOURSE, which refers to the communion of saints, and the converse of Christians one with another. Christians find a great deal of contentment in holy and religious communication; not only when they think upon Him within themselves, which is meditation, not only when they speak unto Him, which is done in prayer, but also when they speak of Him, and about Him in converse, and Christian discourse.

(T. Horton, D. D.)



Parallel Verses
KJV: My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD.

WEB: Let your meditation be sweet to him. I will rejoice in Yahweh.




The Sweetness of Meditation
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