I have seen you in the sanctuary, and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. (Psalm 63:2-6 NIV)

In my opinion, cows are one of the most adorable creatures, especially those little fluffy Highland cows (how could you resist something that cute?!). Aside from being a charming part of creation, cows are biologically unique. You will often see a cow chewing on what looks like nothing, but in reality, they are re-chewing some of their digested food to get more nutrients out of it. As weird as that may sound to us, that is a daily occurrence for any animal that goes moo. The fancy word for that chewing of cud is “ruminate.” If a cow did not ruminate, it would not get nearly as many nutrients and minerals from the grass as it does. 

Cows chew their cud, but we humans don’t. But “ruminating” can also mean “to think deeply, ponder, reflect upon, and consider.” So, in a way, ruminating cows are an image of us digesting God’s Word and works.

This is just what we see David doing in this psalm: a short 11 lines that are filled with imagery about the glory and goodness of God. He sees God’s glory in the sanctuary and glorifies Him when he feels His love. He praises Him for his entire life, and he even thinks about God before he goes to bed. So, in everything that he does, on a day-to-day basis, and all throughout his life, he is somehow thinking about God. You could say that he spends his days ruminating on God and His goodness. 

David is showing us both definitions of the word “ruminating.” He is ruminating in one sense because he is spending a lot of time thinking about God. But David is ruminating on, is re-digesting, the spiritual food that God has satisfied his hunger with - His glory, His love, the life he has been given.

How are you going to ruminate this week? Are you going to re-digest some incredible Bible verses or powerful ways God has worked in your life? Are you going to think deeply about God and how you can best praise Him in your life? Maybe you will ruminate so much this week that you will “moo!”