Notice that God didn’t tell Joshua that His Word was not to depart out of his hand or out of his back pocket, but that it was not to depart out of his mouth. The Hebrew word translated meditate simply means “to mutter.” Thus, Biblical meditation consists of speaking the Scriptures over and over. It is not a matter of thinking about the Scriptures because merely thinking about them allows our minds to wander. Meditation means to speak verbally, quoting Scriptures audibly, talking to others about them constantly.

“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,” the psalmist declared. “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” (Psalm 1:1-3).

In the seasons when I have meditated on the Word, my leaf doesn’t wither. Fruit inevitably abounds. I’m successful and prosper. In the seasons when I mistakenly thought I was too busy to meditate, I have found myself withering, being blown about, fruitless. In other words, I have found what David said to be absolutely true.

“Let not My Word depart from your mouth,” God said to Joshua. And He says the same thing to us.