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David seems to have possessed in a remarkable degree both the qualifications for public and the virtues of private life. Vigorous in action, he loved repose. We need seasons of retirement to restore the balance of things and put the claims of heaven in their right order.

I. THE NATURE OF GODLY MEDITATION. We need not identify the exercise with religious contemplation, that higher form of intellectual homage which the mind, when elevated above the level of earthly things, pays to the wisdom of God. Meditation is contemplation turned within. Meditation is not to be confounded with reading. In meditation we are not learning truths, but applying them. Distinguish also from the ordinary act of prayer. It is the handmaid to prayer. It is not so much a religious act in itself as a preparation for all other religious acts. Meditation is not an act to be learned, but a habit to be formed. We attain expertness by diligent and persevering practice Much depends on power to govern our thoughts.

II. DAVID INTIMATES THE DESIRABLENESS OF SECURING AN OUTWARD SOLEMNITY AND SERIOUSNESS IN THIS EXERCISE. The entire seclusion from all human friendships, the hushing of all voices, both from within and from without, that we may be quite alone with God. There is a sort of holiness in silence. Meditation, to be profitable, must be conducted with a fixed and holy intentness of mind. A close self-scrutiny also is enjoined in the words, "Commune with your own hearts."

(Daniel Moore, M. A.)

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KJV: Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.

WEB: Stand in awe, and don't sin. Search your own heart on your bed, and be still. Selah.