Whenever God speaks of success in the Scripture, He relates it to the continuous activity of Scripture meditation. This continuous mental discipline of memorizing and meditating on Scripture is able to rebuild thought structures, refocus emotions, and redirect desires and goals. Very logical by-products of this activity are increased memory span, greater ability to concentrate, improved reading rate, and better retention of foundational concepts used for problem-solving. 

One of the reasons that God enables us to be successful in whatever we do is that meditation brings a greater ability to discern ahead of time which ventures will be successful and which ones will not be successful. The Lord offers a great number of rich rewards for those who meditate on His Word, including success, wisdom, faith, fellowship, and victory over sin.

You Will Have Good Success

God uses the words good success to describe the rewards that He will give to those who walk in obedience to His ways and meditate on His Word day and night. The Lord instructed Joshua, who led the children of Israel into the Promised Land, with these words: “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success” (Joshua 1:8).

“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success” (Joshua 1:8).

David contrasted the destructive results of following the false philosophies of men with the prosperity that comes from meditating on and obeying God’s Word: “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away” (Psalm 1:1–4).

You Will Gain Wisdom

God is infinite wisdom. It is no wonder that those who engraft God’s words and thoughts into their hearts and minds will share in His wisdom. The Apostle Paul wrote this instruction to believers in Colosse: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16). The word dwell means “to live as a resident,” and synonyms for this word include tarry, abide, and remain. As you hide God’s Word in your heart and meditate on it, it will “dwell” within you and you will learn and understand God’s ways.

As David wrote about his love for God’s Word in Psalm 119, he proclaimed his deep desire not to depart from its truths. He even spoke of meditation on God’s Law, precepts, and commandments as able to make him wiser than both his enemies and his teachers: “O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day. Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts” (Psalm 119:97–100).

You Will Increase Your Faith

Scripture states that “without faith it is impossible to please him [God]” (Hebrews 11:6). But how can you get faith? Faith comes through the hearing of God’s Word. “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). As you hear, memorize, and meditate on God’s Word, God will increase your faith in Him.

Through meditation you can fill your mind and heart with the promises of God. As you see these promises realized through everyday life situations, your faith will grow. It then becomes easier to have faith the next time you are faced with an uncertain or difficult circumstance. Likewise, if you struggle in a certain area, and you begin to memorize and meditate on Scripture verses that help you overcome those temptations, your faith in God will also grow. 

You Will Find Joy and Fellowship with God

As you meditate on the Person of God, His Word, and His works, you will be filled with joy. You will rejoice in agreement with David when he wrote, “My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice” (Psalm 63:5–7). He also wrote, “My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD” (Psalm 104:34).

After delivering to the disciples the commandments He received from His Heavenly Father, Jesus stated, “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him” (John 14:21). As you learn the commands of Christ, meditate on them, and keep them, the Lord will make Himself known to you and you will share sweet, joyful fellowship.

While meditation on Scripture brings many forms of blessing into our lives, the greatest blessing is God Himself. As we meditate on the written Word, we fellowship with the living Word, Jesus Christ.

You Will Have Victory over Sin

According to Hebrews 4:12, the Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. It has the ability to discern even the thoughts and intents of the heart. (See Hebrews 4:12.) When Scripture is used accurately, this “sword” can overcome the attacks of Satan. Jesus demonstrated this truth in the wilderness when He used Scripture to overcome Satan’s temptations. Three times, Jesus answered Satan with “It is written . . .” and three times Satan was defeated. 

Engraft God’s Word into your heart and mind so that you, too, can have victory over sin. David affirmed the relationship between knowing God’s Word and conquering sin when he wrote, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalm 119:11).

Meditating on God’s Word is to the soul what getting under a shower is to the body. Cleansing of the mind, will, and emotions is an essential component of sanctification: being set apart for service to God. Jesus prayed for believers, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17:17). Jesus said, “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you” (John 15:3).

The Apostle James declared, “Receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21). Follow this instruction and begin today to meditate on the Word of God. As you do, your life will be blessed with increased faith, wisdom, and rich fellowship with the King of kings and Lord of lords.