Meditation on the Law of God

Here are some thoughts from a bit of study this morning:

Joshua 1.8:

1) Structural Analysis:

"This book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth,
but
you shall meditate on it day and night,
that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it;
for then you shall make your way prosperous,
and then you shall have good success."

2) Syntactical Analysis:

Two commands are given, the first in the negative, and the second (which contrasts the first - "but") in the positive. Following next is a purpose statement ("[in order] that") and two parallel result clauses ("for then ... and then").

3) Exegetical Analysis:

On the first reading, the phrase "shall not depart out of your mouth" may seem to indicate that perpetual recitation or continual discussion of the Law is being enjoined (both of which include a literal use of "mouth"). However, the contrastive second command supplies the opposite of "depart out of your mouth," namely, "meditate on it day and night." If the opposite of "depart out of your mouth" is "meditate on it day and night," then "out of your mouth" likely refers to something deeper than a literal "mouth." Rather, "out of your mouth" likely has a referent similar to "meditate," namely, the residence of the Law in the heart and mind, which nonetheless will result in recitation and discussion of the Law throughout the day (cf. Matt. 12.34, "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks"). After prohibiting the departure of the Law from one's mouth, the author contrastively enjoins continual meditation on the Law. The temporal reference of "day and night" may be initially elusive. It does not prescribe a regimen such that the one meditating dies after days of sleep, water, and food deprivation. Nor does it even command a slightly eased routine of similar rigour that would at least lend the meditator greater longevity. The notion conveyed is rather that meditation on the Law of God is a priority activity, fit for and to be practised at various times throughout the day, and even the night. The reference here to "day and night," then (as Paul' use of the expression in I Thess. 2.9), is to the frequency and diligence of the activity, and not to its uninterrupted continuity.

The command, then, is to avoid the departure of God's Law "out of the mouth" by meditating on it frequently, throughout the day. This is not simply an autotelic activity, though. Rather, the purpose is that the one meditating might "be careful to do according to all that is written" in the Law. Faithful obedience to God's Law is, therefore, the end to which faithful meditation on God's Law is the means. Without knowing what the Law of God requires, we will not be able to be obedient to those requirements.

The anticipated result of obedience to God's Law is that one's way will be prosperous, and one will have good success. While this prosperity and success may at times be material, it is also a prosperity beyond merely the material, and extends to the much more important realm of spiritual blessing and prosperity.

Ergo, meditate on the Law of God day and night.