Psalm 119:23 Active Meditation

Though rulers sit together and slander me, your servant will meditate on your decrees.

Psalm 119:23

If you're a Republican, you likely thought the eight years of the Obama administration was an endless onslaught against Christians. I lost track of how many times I was told by otherwise loving and patient fellow believers that President Obama had not earned the right for them to speak respectfully of him, because he had not treated Christians with respect.

If you're a Democrat, you likely think Donald Trump is a blowhard, a liar, and a slanderer of anyone who disagrees with him, including any Christians who fail to fall in line with his overwhelming support among Evangelicals. And you may be appalled at that overwhelming support.

Or, if you're like me, you probably think both of these generalizations have a lot of truth to them, and that's generally what people in power do. They spin the truth (aka lies and slander) about anyone or anything that doesn't fit tidily into their agenda.

It's hard to keep a civil tongue, let alone a kind and enemy-loving tongue, in the face of slanderous leaders. Read through the entirety of the Psalms and you'll see David struggling mightily - and frequently failing - to deal with his enemies appropriately.

So what does David say here in Psalm 119:23 about how to respond to conniving and slanderous leaders?

Meditate.

Pause for a moment and think about that. Meditate on it, if you will.

Breathe in David's counter-intuitive approach. Let it fill your soul and push out the knee-jerk reactions that have been clogging up your spirit.

David shares more of his thoughts on how to respond to bad people in Psalm 37.

Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.

Psalm 37:1-4

First, he says to just chill. The bad guys in your life are only temporary.

I wish more Christians could just chill when it comes to politics in America.

Don't fret because the wrong people get into office. Don't be envious of the voting bloc that won that election. For like the grass they will soon get blown in a different direction depending on the whims of public opinion, and their power will soon wither and die away and another election cycle will come.

The only way you can develop that sort of attitude toward politics and toward political movements and leaders is to take David's advice. When you see things happening that frustrate you and make you angry, don't fret. Meditate.

Meditating on the Word is the only way you'll train your heart to trust in God and let him take care of such things.

Habitual and prolonged meditation is what led David to say, in Psalm 37:3-8, that instead of fretting we should follow this maddeningly non-reactionary 10-point plan:

1. Trust in the Lord and do good
2. Dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture
3. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart
4. Commit your way to the Lord
5. Trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun.
6. Be still before the Lord
7. Wait patiently for him
8. Do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked scheme
9. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath
10. Do not fret—it leads only to evil

He has a lot more advice on the matter. You should turn to Psalm 37 and read the whole thing. Meditate on it. Let it dwell in you richly and change your heart.

One last thing. Lest you look at David's plan and dismiss it as much too passive, look again. Meditate a bit longer on Psalm 37.

Every one of those points begins with an action. Actively trust in the Lord. Actively dwell in His land. Actively choose to delight in the Lord. Actively do the hard work of committing your way to the Lord. Actively return continually to trust as the thing to do. Actively choose stillness and waiting.
Intentionally choose to not fret and get all worked up about things. Intentionally refrain from anger, and actively turn away from wrath to something better. Again, actively find something productive and missional to do besides sitting and fretting about things.

It's difficult to do. It only comes as a result of meditation.