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.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

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 (Ps 1:1-3).

One kind of joy we receive from God is joy in the word of God. We rejoice when our needs are met, our problems solved, and sickness cured by God, but the joy we come to have by hearing the word and understanding it is different and more spiritual in its quality. Needless to say, this joy goes along with faith, which comes by hearing the word of God, and God’s power comes to be manifested with this joy and faith. The above psalm says, “He is like a tree … which yields its fruit in season, … Whatever he does prospers.”

A word must be said about the verb “to meditate,” hagah in Hebrew. It means to murmur or mutter, and originally comes from the sound of the roaring of an animal. You try to say something, but do not know how to express it with words, so you murmur, not to anybody, but to yourself or to God. You do that with God’s word. It is like praying in an unknown tongue—it is a voice of your spirit. So often we try to understand God’s word with our head, and we think we know what it means, but it does not do much for us as we expect it to. The reason is that the word is not really in our heart, and we do not believe in it completely.

But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved (Rom 10-8-10).

According to this scripture, we must do two things to be saved: to confess with our mouth, and to believe in our heart. It says nothing about knowing or understanding in our head. The power of God’s word becomes effective only when it is confessed with your mouth.

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 (Joshua 1:8).

The same Hebrew word, hagah, is used for the verb “meditate” in this verse. So often, we hear God’s word once or twice, and think it is easy to do it, but later we find ourselves not doing it. The reason for that is because we do not “meditate (murmur with your mouth) on it day and night.” When we do, it is manifested, first, as joy springing up in our hearts.

There is an interesting story about joy in the word of God in the book of Nehemiah. Many decades had passed since the Babylonians swept the land of Israel destroying all the cities there including Jerusalem. The remnants of survivors who had been taken captive to Babylon returned to the land to build the temple, and were still rebuilding the city. One day, they all gathered in Jerusalem near the temple, and asked Ezra to bring the book of the Law and read it. As he and the Levites read it loud before them, and explained the meaning of it, those who were listening began to weep. Then:

Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength." The Levites calmed all the people, saying, "Be still, for this is a sacred day. Do not grieve." Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them (Neh 8:10-12).