Psalm 1 Meditation

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"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish." (Psalm 1, ESV)

We have a CD that we keep on repeat in our mini-van that has Scripture set to music for kids (find this great work and others here). One of the tracks is simply children quoting Psalm 1, which naturally gets into your head after a while. But as God has used that in my heart, I have grown to love this psalm even more as my go-to due to its simplicity and how it compares righteousness and wickedness.

The word "blessed" carries more than an eternal thought; it certainly has that but it also affects one's daily disposition. Like in Matthew 5 when Jesus preaches the Sermon on the Mount, His beatitudes imply an eternal benefit no doubt, but, for example, when He says, "Blessed are the meek," He teaches that pride goes before a fall and that humility and servanthood are the way to go. If you want to avoid destruction by your own doing, be meek. And that's obviously better for you. So in Psalm 1, when David writes that God-delighters are "blessed," he is using that word in an eternal sense but also that a pursuit of God and a rejection of wickedness will benefit you in this life as well--"in all that he does, he prospers."

You also think of a healthy tree with deep roots due to its constant water source. When "the wind" comes against it, "its leaf does not wither." On the other hand, for a person who has not planted himself by the stream of God but instead by the poison of the wicked sinners and scoffers, "the wind drives [him] away" and he "will perish."

What simple thoughts here. You are either planting your life by Jesus' stream of living water or you are immersing yourself in the way of the wicked. There appears no middle ground here. You may just be a sapling in the course of growth, but your leaf is at least budding. A perished tree has no life and is not producing the fruit of righteousness.

So which one would characterize your life? Which tree would you rather have? Then, how can you better plant your life by the living water of Jesus in His Word this year? Get a plan and ask the Lord to empower you to delight in Him and His Word more fully every day. For His glory and your good.