Subjects to Ponder

The Psalmist wrote, “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord” (Psalms 19:14).  This implies that meditation or pondering in and of itself isn’t necessarily a good thing—we should seek to ponder those things that please the Lord.  So what should we ponder?  The scriptures provide several examples.  One answer comes from Proverbs: “Ponder the path of thy feet” (Proverbs 4:26).  This is similar to Haggai’s charge to the Jews who had failed to build the temple after their return to Jerusalem: “Consider your ways” (Haggai 1:7).  Both of these imply a need to think about and consider our current actions and where we are headed in life.  Another answer comes from the Lord’s counsel to Joshua: “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night” (Joshua 1:8).  We have received similar direction in our day: “Treasure up in your minds continually the words of life” (D&C 84:85).  So we should ponder the scriptures and the words of the prophets.  The Prophet Joseph F. Smith followed this counsel; he recorded the following: “I sat in my room pondering over the scriptures” (D&C 138:1).  He also stated that he was “reflecting upon the great atoning sacrifice that was made by the Son of God, for the redemption of the word” (D&C 138:2).  So in addition to pondering the words of the scriptures, we should specifically reflect upon the atonement and great sacrifice of the Savior.  The scriptures also show us the need to ponder upon the instruction and revelation that we have previously received from the Lord.  When the Savior was among the Nephites, He told them, “Ponder upon the things which I have said” (3 Nephi 17:3).  After Nephi’s miraculous revelation of the chief judge’s death, Mormon recorded that he “went his way towards his own house, pondering upon the things which the Lord had shown unto him” (Helaman 10:2).  Similarly, after Mary was told by the shepherds the wonderful declarations of the angel, Luke wrote that “Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19).  These examples show the importance of reflecting upon revelation that we have already received.  So putting these together, there are at least four different subjects to ponder that we see in the scriptures: (1) Our current path in life, (2) the scriptures, (3) the atonement of Christ, and (4) revelation that we have already received from the Lord.  Keeping those subjects consistently on our minds will surely mean that the meditation of our heart will be, as the Psalmist hoped, acceptable in the sight of the Lord.