Meditating on the Law

Ἀλλ' ἢ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ Κυρίου τὸ θέλημα αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ αὐτοῦ μελετήσει ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτὸς. Μελετᾷ τὸν νόμον Κυρίου ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτὸς, οὐχ ὁ τὰς λέξεις τοῦ νόμου χωρὶς τῶν κατ' αὐτὰς ἔργων εἰς τὸ μνημονεῦσαι ἀναλαμβάνων, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ ἐπὶ τὰ κατάλληλα ἔργα ἐρχόμενος μεμελετηκὼς αὐτῶν, ἕως διὰ τῆς συνεχοῦς τῶν κατὰ τὸν νόμον ἔργων μελέτης γένηται εὐχερὴς, ἀποδιδοὺς πάντα τὰ ἐπιβάλλοντα τῷ κατὰ τὸν νόμον τελείως βιοῦντι.  Οὕ τως γὰρ ἔσται δυνατὸν τὸ δι' ὅλης τῆς ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτὸς μελετᾷν τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ νόμον. Εἴτε γὰρ ἐσθίει, εἴτε πίνει, εἴτε πᾶν ὁτιοῦν πράττει κατὰ τὸ λεγόμενον παρὰ τῷ θείῳ Ἀποστόλῳ, πάντα εἰς δόξαν Θεοῦ ποιεῖ ὁ τοιοῦτος· ὥστε καὶ ἐν τῷ τοῦ ὕπνου καιρῷ κατὰ τὸ δέον γινομένου τῆς προσοχῆς καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦτον φθανούσης, καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς φαντασίας τὰς ἐν αὐτῷ. Διὰ τούτου λύεται καὶ τὰ παρὰ τῷ Ἀποστόλῳ ἀπορούμενα λέγοντι· Ἀδιαλείπτως προσεύχεσθε. Πῶς γὰρ κοιμώμενός τις εὔξεται, καὶ πράττων τι τῶν εἰς ἀνθρώπους καθηκόντων, ἢ τὸ ἑαυτοῦ σῶμα θεραπεύων; Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπὶ τούτου φαμέν· ὅτι κέκραγε πρὸς Θεὸν, καὶ αἰτεῖ αὐτὸν τὰ κάλλιστα προκαλούμενος ἐπὶ τὸ παρασχεῖν ὁ τέλειος, πάντα κατὰ τὸν λόγον ποιῶν, ὥστε πᾶσαν αὐτοῦ πρᾶξιν εὐχὴν εἶναι.  Ὥσπερ δὲ ἐπὶ τοῦ μελετᾷν τὸν νόμον οὐκ ἀμελητέον τοῦ αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἰδικοῦ, οὕτως οὐκ ἀμελητέον αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἰδικῶς εὔχεσθαι, ἐπεὶ μελετᾷν ἐστι καὶ εὔχεσθαι πράττειν ὁτιοῦν κατὰ τὸν νόμον Κυρίου. Ἐπιστήσει δέ τις εἰ κατὰ νόμους ἀναγωγῆς ἡμέρα μὲν δύναται λέγεσθαι ἡ ἀπερίστατος ἡμῶν κατάστασις, νὺξ δὲ ἡ περιστατι κὴ διὰ τὸ σκυθρωπότερον. Δεῖ δὲ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ πειρᾶ σθαι εἶναι οὐ μόνον ὅτε τὰ ἔξωθεν ἡμῖν οὐκ ἀντι πράττει, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅτε τοῖς καλουμένοις πειρασμοῖς περιπίπτομεν.   Ὠριγεν, Εἰς Ψαλμους, Ψαλμος Α'

'But in the law of the Lord is his will and on His law he will meditate day and night.'1 He who mediates on the law of the Lord day and night is not he who places into his memory the words of the law without works, for by meditating on them he comes to the works consistent with it, until, with the teachings of the disciplined meditations of the works of the law, he is prepared for excellence in all the things that apply for living perfectly according to the law. So he is able to be that one who day and night mediates on the law. Whether he eats or drinks, or whatever it is he does, according to the word of the holy Apostle it is, for he does it all to the glory of God. So even during sleep it is the time to do this, and his attention he directs to it even in dreams. Thus is resolved that matter of the Apostle where he says, ‘Pray without ceasing.’2 For how does one pray even when sleeping, or when about some other human office, or caring for one's own body? About this we say that the perfect man cries out to God and asks Him to bring the finest things to be, while everything he does according to reason, thus his every action is prayer. Just as in meditation no particular should be omitted, so nothing should be overlooked that is proper to prayer, that meditating in prayer we do it according to the law of the Lord. And let it be known that according to the law allegorically,  day is able to be understood as the times when we are untroubled and night as the state when we are beset by things more gloomy. And one must remain in the law not only when external things are opposed to us, but truly even when we fall into temptation. Origen, On the Psalms, Psalm 1 1 Ps 1.2 2. 1 Thes 5.17