Psalm Saturday: Psalm 1

I’ve really enjoyed starting this blog and posting regularly. Thank you to everyone who reads it! I hope and pray that my experiences can encourage and challenge you in your walk with Christ. In structuring the blog, I’ve decided to make it a 7 day per week task. Monday through Friday will consist of the usual life-lessons from everyday experiences. From now on, Saturdays will now be known as “Psalm Saturdays,” where we will take a look at a Psalm (or part of one) and apply it to our daily lives. Sundays will now be “Days of Thanks” where I will make a short list of some of the things for which I’ve been particularly thankful that week. I’m making these changes as much for myself as for anyone, but I hope that these new weekend “additions” will encourage you to dive deeper into Scripture and to continually live a life of praise.

Follow Him.
- matt
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Psalm 1

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
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This Psalm gives us a great illustration related to everyday life. If you have a lawn or a garden, you know that water is essential for its prosperity. If you don’t water your plants, they die, and they produce no fruit. If you live in Georgia, you know what dry, dead plants look like in late July, early August.

God’s word compares us to such plants. The righteous man is like a tree planted by water. It is vibrant, lush, and fruit-bearing. It is a prosperous plant. The wicked man is like nature’s waste. It is dry, dead, and produces nothing worthy of eating. It is a useless and futile plant.

Which plant are we? Do we plant ourselves by the streams of God’s living water, being refreshed, renewed, and nourished by God’s Word, or do we distance ourselves from the Lord, doing things the way that we want to? Do we separate ourselves from the trappings of this world, or do we get caught up in the entangling weeds of sin, which choke us from the spiritual nourishment we need? Is our tree growing upward toward the Lord, soon to be in fellowship with Him, or are we satisfied with no growth whatsoever, receiving our rewards here on the earth?

God’s Word is very clear. He demands righteousness, and righteousness begins and ends with God. We start by feeding ourselves on God and His word, and we end up dwelling in those things forever. On the other hand, if we seek wickedness, that begins and ends with the world. We start by attempting to nourish ourselves on worldly pleasures and lusts, and we end up finding our home here forever, in separation from God and the divine.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve got a tree to go water.