puritan meditation

The Puritans understood the great importance of preparing themselves for the spiritual disciplines. Isaac Ambrose recognized that there were ways by which his listeners could 

Looking Unto Jesus by Isaac Ambrose.pdf
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The Spiritual Discipline of Meditation.pdf
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improve their ability to hear Scripture more effectively and fully:  (1) prayer—praying especially for the minister who preaches, for our fellow Christians that they might be strengthened in faith, and ourselves that we might be blessed in hearing God’s word; (2) meditation—recognizing that we come into Christ’s presence as we hear the Word and considering the nature of our motivation for hearing the Scripture; (3) examination—to discern the frame and receptivity of our hearts and allow the Holy Spirit to deal with our sins; (4) cleansing of the heart—from sin and worldly cares; and (5) the right disposition of our hearts—to be soft and flexible, humble, honest, full of faith, and teachable.  (Excerpted from CSLI, Knowing & Doing, 2012)

​Ambrose offers additional guidelines for the actual hearing of Scripture, counseling us to (1) set ourselves in God’s presence while listening to Scripture, (2) diligently attend to Scripture, (3) seek to understand what we read or hear, (4) be submissive to Scripture, (5) apply the Scripture to our hearts and lives, (5) allow Scripture to stir up our affections for the proper response, and (6) above all delight in God’s word. A review of these principles confirms that Ambrose stressed both the intellectual truth and the affective experience of Scripture.  

Ambrose next provides instruction for how we should respond to Scripture after it has been heard: (1) carefully remember and keep what we heard or read, (2) meditate and seriously think over what we have heard, (3) repeat and continue to reflect upon the message we heard or read, (4) put into practice what we heard, and (5) pray for a blessing from the Scripture and allow that memory to be turned into prayer.12  Ambrose’s teaching on preparation illustrates the thoroughness that marked the Puritans.

While Ambrose’s threefold suggestions of preparation may seem overly ambitious for our contemporary culture, they do challenge us with the critical question: how can we be most alert and receptive to the Holy Spirit’s desire to communicate God’s word to our heads and hearts? The more receptive we are, the more likely Scripture will be able to dwell within our hearts.

​After Ambrose has considered the biblical teaching on an aspect of Christ’s life, he invites his readers to look at Jesus in that specific aspect of His ministry. Ambrose identifies nine ways of looking: knowing, considering, desiring, hoping, believing, loving, enjoying, calling, and conforming to that aspect of Jesus’ life. In the context of “enjoying Jesus,” the following quotation reveals Ambrose’s method for stirring up the affections and applying this to one’s life:  
How should it heighten my joys and fill me with joy unspeakable, and full of glory, when I do consider that Christ has sent down his Holy Spirit into my heart? . . . O what comfort is this! I know that the Spirit of Christ is my intimate? That my soul is the temple and receptacle, the house and dwelling of the Spirit of God? . . . Christ in his bodily presence went away, but Christ in his Spirit continues still . . . O my soul was it not an encouragement to the disciples in a storm, that Christ was with them, whom the winds and waves obeyed? Cheer up now, for if the Spirit is in you, Christ is with you . . . O my soul! Remember this in all your troubles; there can be no human want or danger whatsoever, wherein the improvement of this indwelling of the Spirit may not refresh you.13

  Ambrose frequently employs the use of soliloquy such as “O my soul” to preach to himself and further apply the biblical truth to his own heart.

According to Ambrose there are five benefits from the practice of meditation. First, meditation and its close relative contemplation provide a person with new understanding and love of Jesus. Ambrose recognizes a specific difference between meditation and contemplation; simply stated, contemplation is a more prolonged and deeper experience of meditation that is especially dependent on love and gratitude to God. Ambrose maintains that by looking at Jesus we grow in both increased knowledge and deeper appreciation of His mysteries of grace. Clearly this type of meditative knowledge is practical and experiential. Additionally, as someone meditates upon Christ as the Bridegroom of the soul, that person will experience a “flaming, burning love to Christ.”  Jesus reciprocates and offers sincere and inward love of Himself to the hearts of His devoted followers. Ambrose wants his readers to realize that the more they meditate upon the biblical passages on Christ, the more they will know the transformative knowledge of Scripture and the experiential depth of belonging to Christ.

  A second benefit of meditation, especially meditation on the nature and promise of heaven, is strength to combat suffering and protection from temptations. Ambrose alerts his readers that “looking on Jesus will strengthen patience under the cross of Christ.”15 Further, heavenly mindedness has the potential to reduce the fears of worldly anxiety.

Third, those who intentionally meditate on Jesus will deepen their intimacy of union with Christ or spiritual marriage with Him. He also offers specific suggestions of how to maintain heavenly conversations, including advantageous reading and meditating on Scripture, prayer, and avoidance of formality when performing spiritual practices. Because the Holy Spirit is the person who primarily guides individuals, Ambrose significantly challenges his listeners to become more attentive to the presence and movement of the Holy Spirit within their lives.

Fourth, meditation and contemplation have the potential to transform believers into Christ’s likeness. Contemplation is a looking, beholding, and gazing upon an object in a sustained loving and grateful manner. When this is directed toward Jesus, a person is changed more and more into Christ’s likeness. Ambrose frequently quotes Saint Paul’s declaration in 2 Corinthians 3:18 on the transformative nature of God’s glory. The final outcome of gazing on Jesus is that the sight of Jesus’ glory will make us more like Christ.

Fifth, heavenly meditation yields a growing sense of enjoyment and delight in God and Jesus. Every opportunity for meditation that gazes upon Jesus as our heavenly bridegroom provides an initial foretaste of the heavenly joy as well as an expectation of that consummation with Christ in heaven. Closely connected with this enjoyment of God is the awareness that meditation creates a deepening experience of admiration and adoration of our triune God. Once again we recognize the reciprocal nature of our relationship with Jesus in spiritual marriage; as He communicates His joy and delight to us, we respond with heartfelt worship and celebration.