Psalms 1

There is something about the placement of this chapter, being the very first chapter to the poetic book of Psalms, that I think has great significance. If you read it, (which you'll have the chance to, because I will type it out in this blog), it couldn't have fit in a better spot than right here, at the beginning of this book of 'real life stuff'.

David wrote most of the Psalms, and a lot of those are about him crying out to God to save him from his enemies, or praising Him for vindicating him from his enemies. There is a whole lot in the Psalms that I do not understand, and I wonder if I ever will. I doubt that God has it in the plans for me to be a 'marked woman', like David so many times was. Perhaps, in some lesser degree, God will bring me through trials that cause me to search the Psalms of David for hope and encouragement, but I don't know.

Psalms 1 doesn't give credit to an author. I don't know if David wrote it, but that doesn't matter to me. Whoever wrote it was speaking with wisdom, and the Holy Spirit obviously directed the hand of the writer because the truth this Psalm holds is mighty.

Since I read this Psalm a month or so ago, God has brought it to remembrance many times. Here it is:


"How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stand in the path of sinners,
nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and in His law he meditates day and night.
He will be like a tree firmly planted by
streams of water,
which yields its fruit in its season
and its leaf does not wither;
and whatever he does, he prospers." vs. 1-3 (from the NASB)


Like any passage of holy scripture, there is so much that can be taken out of these three verses. A Christian would do well to read over them time and time again, meditate on these words and allow the Spirit to make the heart changes that would come as a result. I don't want to go into great detail about what these mean, or rather, what my finite mind understands about what they are saying. I only want to share what the mean to me, and what God is teaching me through them.


Vs. 1:
"How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stand in the path of sinners,
nor sit in the seat of scoffers!"

When I read this I hear, "Audra, this is what a righteous man/woman of God does, and does not do." Christian, we are BLESSED when we do not go to the unbelieving people to ask of them their counsel. I don't know how often we do that, but doesn't it just make sense? God has said that His ways are not our ways, nor are His thoughts our thoughts. When the writer is talking about "our", He is referring to the human mind. If, then, you seek the counsel of a non-believer, how do you expect they will give you counsel that is in alignment with God's heart? If we do, however, seek their counsel and walk in it, is that because we knew that if we were to have gone to another believer, they would have corrected us and the Spirit would have brought conviction to our wrong motives?

We are blessed when we do not walk in the way of the world. The world is wicked and the people of the world have a lot of ideas on how to do things in their ways. The world tells you to pursue money so that you have nothing to worry about. God tells you to pursue Him and His kingdom and you will have nothing to worry about (Matthew 6:33). The world counsels you to follow your heart. The Bible says that the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). The world tells you that physical discipline of your child is wrong, but Proverbs 13:24 reads, "He who withholds his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him diligently." Now I know that last one could really stir up some controversy, and in response I would quote Gerry Breshears, a professor at Western Seminary, "Lets talk with our Bible's open". (And by mentioning his name I am not claiming anything in regards to what he holds to. I'm merely giving credit where credit is due). The world has a lot of decent sounding ideas, but God's word ought to be the final authority in the Christian's life.

The psalmist also mentions that a man is blessed when he does not, "stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers!" The picture I get is of the Christian who makes his best friends those whom the Bible would call "sinenrs" and "scoffers". "Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?" 2 Corinthians 6:15. Yes we should befriend unbelievers, but if Paul (who wrote 2 Cor.) in wisdom wrote these words, what makes us think that we could become best friends with one who scoffs at our God? My husband is friends with a man who used to scoff God. He did it in ignorance, of course, not understanding the God that loved him, but still it made their friendship difficult. Praise be to God this friend is now a brother in Christ and fellowship has been restored! Had, however, this friend continued down a path of not knowing the Lord as his savior, my husband and him would eventually have to break the ties of their close companionship. More than having to, it tends to be inevitable for the Christian who is seeking after God's will for their life. We can not have fellowship with the unbeliever who scoffs at the God we love. We will miss out on many blessings if we do, and like I heard it once said, "It is easier to pull someone down from standing on top of a chair, than it is to pull a person up from standing on top of a chair."


Vs. 2:
"But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and in His law he meditates day and night."

This is the kicker for me. This is the vs. that continually resonates in my mind. What it says to me is this, "Audra, is your delight in the law of the Lord?" If my delight was, than doing what the next sentence says would come naturally. However, I very often do not find my delight in God's law. By law I am not talking necessarily about the Old Testament law, though that is implied because this is from an O.T. book, but there are also the laws given to the Christian. The ones like, "Love your neighbor as yourself" or, "This is my commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you." John 15:12. Those are the laws that I have to stop and ask myself, "Is my delight in the law, 'love your neighbor as you love yourself'?" Do I find joy and restoration in reading God's law and implementing it in my life? If that isn't the case, than how do I get it to be that way? Well I will pray and ask God to make it so! That is the only thing I know to do, but I have heard that is the best thing to do. The next line also alludes to one other thing that will make this a possibility for me. If I do not "meditate" in His law day and night, than what chance do I have at finding any delight in it? Now I don't think that is what this part of the vs. is talking about necessarily, but that is still the truth. How can you grow a love for something if you never take any time to invest in it? And didn't God say that a man is blessed when he does take the time to do this? (He did, in vs. 1).

What I really find challenging in this vs. is the string of words, "And in His law he meditates day and night". How often do I not even meditate in His law neither day nor night! But the promise that comes in vs. three is what causes my heart to long to do so.


Vs. 3:
"He will be like a tree firmly planted by
streams of water,
which yields its fruit in its season
and its leaf does not wither;
and whatever he does, he prospers."

Oh what a sweet promise! Here is what I read, when I read this: "If you discipline yourself to meditating on His law day and night, Audra, than when the strong winds of doubt rise up and try to knock down the walls of your faith, they will not fall. If you will meditate on His law, than when trials come from seemingly out of no where and blind side you with pain, you will be able to endure because you will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water - living water. Cares of this world will try to overtake your mind and cause you to worry about all the details of the day, but if you meditate on My law, your mind will remain sound and you will have joy inexpressible as you watch Me carry all your worries away." Our God is an awesome God to do all these things for us, His kids. It blesses my heart to read the words of this psalm and hear the gentle exhorting voice of the Lord translating them in a way that I can understand them, and they in turn make my heart glad.

Like I said before I don't understand a lot of the psalms, especially a lot of David's with all his strife and enemies trying to constantly overtake him. But this psalm, at least this first half, (there are three more vs. I haven't quoted), I think I got a tiny glimpse of what it's saying.


"He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season."