First Degree Righteousness

"How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not whither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers."
Psalm 1:1-3

Now, I've read this verse dozens of times, and every previous time, I have thought of "meditate" in terms of contemplation or musing...mulling it over, so to speak. This is a good thing to do - mulling over God's Word in your head - and is Biblical. But this time that I read it, I looked up the word 'meditate' and found:
"Meditate: (verb) 1. (used without an object) to engage in thought or contemplation; reflect, muse. 2. (used with an object) to consider as something to be done or effected; intend, plan." (dictionary.com)

he | meditates : law

That's a make-shift diagram of the key clause in that sentence. The word "in" is used, but based on the context, I would not consider it to create a prepositional phrase, as one does not literally meditate "in" the law of the Lord, as if it were a place. Therefore "His law," in my estimation, is the direct object. 'And he meditates on His law day and night,' could be another way to phrase it.

If 'His law'' is the direct object of 'meditates,' then the second definition given is the more accurate one. This 'blessed' man meditates on God's Word "considering it as something to be done!" He plans on DOING God's Word! This makes perfect sense. You see, I'm sure you've noticed that righteousness is not natural. It is always brought about by something, if not a number of factors such as conscience (which is gift of God to the saved and the unsaved), the prompting of the Holy Spirit, the conviction brought by God's Word, etc, etc. Point being, we cannot sit idly by and expect righteousness to just happen! At the very least we must take action to simply be sensitive to our consciences. We preserve our conscience by not walking in the counsel of the wicked, or standing in the path of sinners, or sitting in the seat of scoffers. We must not allow ourselves to get comfortable with sin (note: walk -> stand -> sit portrays progressive comfortability). We invite the prompting of the Holy Spirit by communing with Him and delighting in His law. We guarantee the working of the Word by meditating on it day and night; and not just musing either! We must consider it as something to be done! We must pursue "first degree righteousness" - fully planned, and intentionally pursued - premeditated.