Psalm 1 - A Tree Planted by Streams of Water
The very first Psalm is full of great encouragement for us as Christians. It’s pretty short and sweet - only 6 verses - but there is a wonderful message of hope I want to share with it’s great truths.
1 Blessed is the person who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
2 But his delight is in the Law of the Lord,
And on His Law he meditates day and night.
3 He will be like a tree planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season,
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.4 The wicked are not so,
But they are like chaff which the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the wicked will perish.
The first verse of the Psalm seems instructional as it tells us that if we want to be blessed, we won’t walk, stand or sit with those who reject our faith. This certainly doesn’t mean that we would never spend time with those who don’t share our faith, it simply means that we want to avoid their secular or even evil influences, attitudes and deeds. Hopefully, we can be “salt and light” to them rather than them influencing us.
The second verse encourages us to “delight and meditate” on the Word of God. This is the process of hiding God’s Word in our hearts. It’s one thing to understand and believe the Bible but it is another that we hide it in our hearts and practice it. This is what transforms our lives.
Do not miss the transformational message of hope and peace in the third verse. It tells us if hide God’s Word in our hearts, we will be like a tree planted by a stream producing fruit and prospering in whatever we do. Most trees rely on the moisture that they get from the soil and from rain to be nourished. However, this Psalm is telling us that since we are rooted in God and his Word, we will be able to continuously draw from the underground streams of the river. The streams will always be there for us to nourish us and no matter what the season or circumstances - there will never be a drought!
Hiding God’s Word in our heart means that we will always be able to draw hope, meaning, joy and strength from something much bigger than the circumstances around us.
Stay hungry,
Big E