Read Psalm 1
1 Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.
4 Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that 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 watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.
If Psalms are meant to quiet one’s soul, then this one seems to torment mine! I am attracted to the life of the one who delights in the law of God, day and night and yet in my life I seem to stumble from failure to failure. Or at least one step forward and two steps back. My faith can be shaky. My prayer life anaemic. I lack spiritual strength and vigour. Don’t get me wrong, I love this Psalm but it scares me to death. What a great joy it is to know of the son of David, the Messiah, the King. I love when Jesus is tempted in the desert for 40 days, he resists the temptation by submitting himself to Gods Word. It becomes very clear he has meditated on God’s words day and night. So much so, that when God’s greatest foe tries to bring him down, he fights back with the power of God’s Word in Matthew 4:4. Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
I don’t need to be scared to death by this Psalm. Rather, we celebrate the one who died for me. The righteous for the unrighteous.
By Stew Playsted (Lead Pastor & Gospel Community Vision Coordinator)
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