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Two things remarkable in the text. The repetition and enforcing of it again (ver. 7). The benefit that came by it; it brought them to repentance. Doctrine — Serious meditation of our sins by the Word is a special means to make men repent. Meditation is a settled exercise of the mind for a further inquiry of the truth. Four things in meditation —

1. An exercise of the mind.

2. A settled exercise. Not a sudden flash of man's conceit, but it dwells upon a truth.

3. It is to make a further inquiry. It would fain know more of those truths that are subject to it. Meditation pulls the latch of the truth, and looks into every closet, and every cupboard, and every angle of it.

4. It labours to affect the heart. Meditation musters up all weapons, and gathers all forces of arguments for to press our sins, and lay them heavy upon the heart. Meditation, having bundled up all items against the soul, and brought in all hills of account, fastens sin upon the soul, makes the soul feel it, so that it must needs be convinced without any evasion. It is with the Word as it is with a salve. II a man have ever so good a salve, it will not heal if it be constantly taken on and off. Only if it be let lie on will the salve heal the wound. What shall we think of them who are loth to practise this duty of meditation, but keen enough to meditate on their own worldly affairs? The poor man thinks he has no time for this tedious duty; the rich man thinks he needs it not; the wicked dare not do it; so no man will. The lets or hindrances of serious meditation are —

1. Vain company.

2. Multitude of worldly company. He that over-employs himself, his meditations of heaven are dreaming meditations; his thoughts dreaming thoughts, he can never seriously meditate on the good of his soul. A good meditating mind no man came to surfeited wire employments.

3. Ignorance. A man cannot meditate of a thing he knows not, nor thou of thy sins, if thou be not skilful in God's catalogue of thy sins.

4. Averseness of the heart; which consists in three things —

(1) In the carelessness of the heart.

(2) In runnings of it. The heart is like a vagrant rogue, he would rather be hanged than tied to his parish.

(3) In the wearisomeness of the heart. This may serve for terror unto all those who, for all this that has been spoken, dare sit down without it. If thou wouldest meditate aright, separate yourself for other things. Observe the times of privacy: morning, evening, when the heart is touched at sermon or sacrament. Rub up thyself and thy memory. Rouse up thy heart. Use meditation for reprehension; for men usually make slight account of their sins. But you will say, How shall I come to feel my burden? Three things are here to be discovered.

1. The ground upon which our meditation must be raised.

(1)  Meditate on the goodness, patience, and mercy of God, that hath been abused by any of your sins.

(2)  Meditate on the justice of God; for He is just as well as merciful.

(3)  Meditate on the wrath of God.

(4)  Meditate on the constancy of God.

2. The manner how to follow meditation home to the heart.

(1) Weigh and ponder all these things in thy heart.

(2) Strip sin, and look upon it stark naked; for sin has a way of covering and disguising itself with pleasure, profit, ease.

(3) Dive into thy own soul and heart. There is a tough brawn over thy heart, that it feels not its sins.

(4) Anticipate and prevent thine own heart. Meditate what thy heart will one day wish, if it be not humbled; and tell thy soul as much.

3. How to put life and power into meditation.

(1) Let meditation haunt the heart, dog thee with the hellish looks of thy sins, and follow it with the dreadful vengeance of God.

(2) Let meditation trace thy heart, as it should haunt thee, so let it trace thee in the same steps. Because the heart is most cunning, and hardest to be tracked by its scent, when the heart hath taken up with abundance of good duties, and attained unto sundry graces. These good duties and common graces drown the scent of the heart's wickedness.

(3) Hale thy heart before God, and let meditation bring it before His throne. Make complaint to God; and thy complaint must be full of sorrow. It must be a full complaint of all thy sins, and of all thy lusts. It must be with the aggravation of all the circumstances of thy sins, which may show them to be odious. It must be a self-condemning complaint. Let meditation, when it hath haled thy heart before God, there cast thee down before Him. Motives —

1. It is a folly not to meditate.

2. Thou wouldst be loth to have the brand of a reprobate.

3. Thou wouldst be loth to rob God of His honour.

4. Or that all the worship thou givest to God should be abominable; but so it will be without meditation, before it, and after it.

(W. Fenner, B. D.)

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KJV: Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.

WEB: Now therefore this is what Yahweh of Armies says: Consider your ways.