Ⅲ
“This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall muse upon it day and night so that you may be certain to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and take courage; do not be afraid or dismayed. For Jehovah your God is with you wherever you go”—Josh. 1:8-9:
A
Joshua was to be occupied with God’s word and let the word occupy him (cf. Col. 3:16); by being occupied and filled with the word, he would have prosperity and success in taking the God-promised land.
B
The key to Joshua’s carrying out all that is written in God’s Word and the key to his prosperity, success, strength, and courage in taking the God-promised land were for him to not let God’s word depart from his mouth by musing upon it day and night; the words your mouth show that musing was mainly practiced by speaking aloud:
１
The Hebrew word for muse is rich in meaning; it implies to worship, to converse with oneself, and to speak aloud; to muse on the word is to taste and enjoy it through careful considering—Psa. 119:15, 23, 48, 78, 97-100, 148, cf. vv. 9-11.
２
Prayer, speaking to oneself, and praising the Lord may also be included in musing on the word; to muse on the word of God is to enjoy His word as His breath (2 Tim. 3:16) and thus to be infused with God, to breathe God in, and to receive spiritual nourishment.
３
To muse upon the Word is to “chew the cud,” like a cow eating grass (Lev. 11:3); when we muse upon the word of God, we receive it with much consideration and reconsideration; just as a cow chews its cud, we may do this while we are pray-reading the word early in the morning so that we may receive nourishment by reconsidering what we receive from God’s word.
C
The psalmist said, “I will muse upon Your precepts / And regard Your ways. / I will take delight in Your statutes; / I will not forget Your word”—Psa. 119:15-16:
１
When the psalmist mused upon God’s word, it became his delight, his gladness and joy (Jer. 15:16), and he would not forget God’s word; thus, it became a constant and eternal nourishment to him (Psa. 119:105, 130).
２
By musing upon God’s word, we remember His word and are enlivened by it—“Remember the word to Your servant / In which You have made me hope. / This is my comfort in my affliction, / For Your word has enlivened me”—vv. 49-50.
D
Musing upon the word is even richer, broader, and more inclusive than pray-reading, for it includes prayer, worship, enjoyment, conversation, bowing down, and even lifting up our hand to receive God’s word (v. 48); to lift up our hand unto the word of God is to indicate that we receive it warmly and gladly and that we say Amen to it (Neh. 8:5-6).
E
When we touch the Lord’s word with our spirit in this way and remain in continual fellowship with Him, we should have a feeling of being bathed, warmed, refreshed, moistened, and supplied by the word in the Bible; the one thing, the best thing, we should do is to touch Him, worship Him, believe in Him, absorb Him, enjoy Him, pursue Him, and gain Him—Psa. 27:4; Phil. 3:8, 14.
F
When we truly take time to muse upon God’s word, we are being infused with God to glow with God and to shine forth God (2 Cor. 3:15-18); this is why we sing, “Pray to fellowship with Jesus, / Bathing in His countenance; / Saturated with His beauty, / Radiate His excellence” (Hymns, #784, stanza 6).
G
Because our Lord and our God has commanded us to enter into and enjoy Him as the reality of the all-inclusive good land, we should say Amen to His word to be strong, to take courage, and to not be afraid or dismayed, for Jehovah our God is with us wherever we go, as we disciple all the nations to make them the kingdom people until the end of this age, the time of His coming—Josh. 1:9; Matt. 28:20.
Morning Nourishment
Josh. 1:8-9 This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall muse upon it day and night so that you may be certain to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have success…. Be strong and take courage; do not be afraid or dismayed. For Jehovah your God is with you wherever you go.God’s encouragement to Joshua was in the term of Joshua’s walking in the word of God….The book of the law was not to depart from his mouth, but he was to muse upon it day and night so that he would be certain to do according to all that was written in it (Josh. 1:8a). Joshua was to be occupied with God’s word and to let the word occupy him. By being occupied and filled with the word, he would have prosperity and success in taking the good land. (Life-study of Joshua, p. 11)
Rich in meaning, the Hebrew word for muse (often translated meditate in the KJV) implies to worship, to converse with oneself, and to speak aloud. To muse on the word is to taste and enjoy it through careful considering. Prayer, speaking to oneself, and praising the Lord may also be included in musing on the word. To muse on the word of God is to enjoy His word as His breath (2 Tim. 3:16) and thus to be infused with God, to breathe God in, and to receive spiritual nourishment. (Psa. 119:15, footnote 1)
Today’s Reading
In a number of verses [in Psalm 119] the psalmist says that he mused upon God’s word (vv. 15,23,48, 78,99,148)…. To muse upon the Word is to “chew the cud,” like a cow eating grass (Lev. 11:3)…. If we take in the Word too quickly, we shall not have very much enjoyment. But if we “chew the cud” as we take in the Word, our enjoyment will increase.When we muse upon the Word of God,…we shall spontaneously pray…. Furthermore, we may converse with ourselves or begin to praise the Lord. We may be so inspired by the Word that we want to shout our praises to the Lord. (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 669-670)
Chewing the cud signifies receiving the word of God with much consideration and reconsideration….We may do this while we pray-read early in the morning. As we are pray-reading, we may consider and reconsider the word. This is to chew the cud to receive nourishment by reconsidering what we receive from God’s word. (Life-study of Leviticus, p. 315)
Usually musing upon the Word will be slower and finer than pray-reading the Word. For example, in our musing upon Exodus 20:2, we may say to ourselves, “Remember that Jehovah is your Lord. He has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Now you are out. Amen! O Lord, I worship You for bringing me out of bondage!” In all our musing upon God’s Word, talking to the Lord or conversing with ourselves, we should be spontaneous and full of enjoyment. We may bow down to worship the Lord, ponder the Word, remember, or give ourselves a rebuke.
The seekers of God in the Old Testament mused upon His living word. Their way of handling the Word of God was different from that followed by many today who mainly exercise their mind to study the Word in letter. As the psalmists mused upon the Word of God, they spoke to God, prayed, worshipped Him, and even bowed down to Him. In the presence of God, they spoke to themselves of His mercy, salvation, and gracious supply. Musing upon the Word in this way is even richer, broader, and more inclusive than pray-reading, for it includes prayer, worship, enjoyment, conversation, bowing down, and even lifting up our hands to receive God’s word. It also includes rejoicing, praising, shouting, and even weeping before the Lord…. If we muse upon the Word of God, we shall delight ourselves in the Word. Sometimes we may weep before the Lord or sing hymns of praise to Him. (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 670-671)
Further Reading: Life-study of Exodus, msgs. 56-57; Life-study of Leviticus, msg. 36