Psalm 1: Blessed Is The Woman

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Today, I was reading Psalm 1.

Here’s the text of the first three verses:

Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
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,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.

Whenever I slow down enough to think about Psalm 1, I always get a blessing. I’d like you to get a blessing, too, so let’s slow down and do a bit of what they call meditating on God’s Word together, shall we?

What does it mean to “not walk in in the counsel of the wicked, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers”?

I think it has to do with listening to the wrong people when it comes to making decisions on how I’m going to live my life. Perhaps at times it might mean not hanging around certain people if I find that their influence is dragging me down more than my influence is lifting them up. It’s a fine line, isn’t it? Jesus loved and associated with all types of people. But the Son of God didn’t allow the priorities of those with worldly goals to affect or change His priorities. And that’s what the psalmist is referring to here, I think. That we must not allow our minds to become molded by those with foolish priorities.

So what are the right priorities? Whatever God thinks is important.

“But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.”

So I ask myself, does God’s Word still delight my soul? Do I find myself literally meditating on it, allowing it to renew my mind and my spirit? The Holy Spirit teaches us, and breathes life into us – but we have to give Him a chance to do it. And I think it’s important to ASK Him to do it, too. “Holy Spirit, would you renew my mind? Would you please teach me today, and breathe Your life into me today, so that as things come up today, I tackle them with the wisdom that You give? And not with my same old, predictable, exhausted, sinful responses? I want Your mind to operate inside of me, please. I’m so tired of failing.”

(Does this kind of prayer tip you off that I have a teenager?)

“He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.”

Whenever I read this part of the psalm, the same picture comes to my mind. When we lived in Nashville, we had a creek (that creek of beaver and snapping turtle fame) in our backyard that had beautiful trees growing beside it. These trees were magnificent. Had they fallen, they would have completely decimated our little house. In springtime, a beautiful purple wisteria plant climbed my favorite tree, and then the tree would burst into full leaf, and provide shade and shelter, and really, it was so huge it seemed to reach into heaven. But the reason that it grew to become so tall and magnificent was that it was firmly planted by a stream of living water. That creek nourished it lovingly, and the tree, consequently, flourished.

And that’s how I want to be. Nourished by the living water of the Word of God and His Life-Giving Spirit. Equipped to do the job I was made to do. To yield my fruit in season, my leaves not withering. This morning those words “yielding my fruit IN SEASON ” jumped out at me. That right now (in particular with my teenager) I’m not seeing much fruit from my work. But if I will persevere, in season, and at the proper season, I will see fruit.

So anyway, that’s what I was thinking about this morning.

As the psalmist almost says, “Blessed is the Woman”.

Delight in God’s Word. Meditate on it. You’ll bear fruit. That’s the way these things work, and you can bank on it, if you will just persevere.