Hey Chuck. Long time no post. How've you been?
"Commanded" to meditate may be harsh, but it is certainly not forbiden. It is probably mentioned a couple dozen times in the OT alone. Usually the topics are His ways, His Laws/precepts, His works (which of course would include "His birth, life, passion and ministry"), on God himself, etc.
Do you associate "meditation" with "transendental meditation" or some other new age cr@p?
You say "Commanded" to meditate may be harsh
I say commended to meditate.
I've been mostly lurking, letting others carry on the good fight; Presenting the Word.
When I search the OT I find the word "Meditate" in Joshua and mostly in the Psalms
Joshua 1:8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth;
meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do
everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.Ps. 1:1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the
wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of
mockers.
Ps. 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he
meditates day and night.
Ps. 1:3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its
fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he
does prospers.etc
As you have noted we are directed to meditate on G-d's Law and His Love.
it is also true that the life of Y'shua is an example of G-d's Love.
Recently someone recommended a book to me by Richard J. Foster: Celebration of Discipline
It goes into meditation where you are asked to visualize yourself with the Christ in Israel.
You are to visualize the Bible as your autobiography with the Christ.
He promotes something called Positive Mental Attitude visualization.
He has a chapter called Meditation where he quotes from Psalms
and then leads you through people like: Thomas Merton, Carl Jung,
Jeremy Taylor, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Thomas a Kempis,
Peter of Celles, St. Teresa of Avila, Francis de Sales,
Richard Rolle, Alexander Whyte and Ignatius Loyola.
chuck <truth@YeshuaHaMashiach>