Psalm 1
Welcome to my Psalm series! Over the past couple years, I’ve been slowly working my way through the Biblical book of Psalms as part of my morning quiet time. I’m not a scholar, seminary student, or Bible expert by any means. These are just my thoughts that I wrote out while meditating on each Psalm. I hope you enjoy my ramblings.
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,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
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.
Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.
Psalm 1, NIV
The book of Psalms is full of good advice, praises, laments, prayers, and songs. But this first psalm of them all is both promise and warning: People who walk in the way of the Lord will be blessed, but the wicked will definitely not. Here, the author defines what it means to be “blessed.”: those who “delight…in the law of the Lord and who meditate on His law day and night.”
This doesn’t actually mean all day and all night, 24/7 (at least, I hope not). The way I see it, there are two meanings here:
We’re to find our joy in and with God.
We’re to live a life completely focused and centered on Him and His Word, the Bible.
Sounds a bit challenging, especially in today’s world, right?
This interpretation of the text is also supported by the next verse: “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.”
For those of us who have been in the church or Christ-followers for a while, haven’t we been told over and over that to have faith in and a relationship with God, we need to have a firm foundation, whatever that means? Well, this verse shows us what it means: being planted like a tree, richly nourished by nearby streams of water — i.e., studying God’s Word and living a life according to His will and purpose for us.
In the world we live in today, it seems like everyone has an opinion and their opinion is best. The world is constantly screaming at us, hawking solutions for problems it created in the first place. Everything and everyone around us wants to tell us, “This is what you should do! This is what you need to try!” They all want us to put down roots in their soil, build a foundation on their beliefs. But nothing and no one ever truly tells us how.
To be honest, most days I feel like I’m just one wrong move away from the concrete of my faith foundation crumbling to dust. Oh sure, it was built up throughout my childhood as a result of being raised in the church, but it wasn’t/isn’t the strongest because I was never taught how to study the Bible, how to pray, how to live for God. I never learned how to pursue God with the eagerness and joy that seems to come naturally to so many other Christians around me.
But despite my lack of practice in these things, the psalmist’s words, to me, are clear: We need to focus on God first, before anything or anyone else.
I’m preaching to myself here. Putting God first sounds simple enough, but in the world of constant noise and distraction we live in, it’s much easier said than done. Anything can be a distraction if we let it take up any more space or worry than it should. Bills, work, school, chores, relationships, social media, movies, TV shows, books, hobbies, family, friends, addictions…ouch.
We have become so good at letting these distractions become the main focus of our lives. Whether they’re enjoyable or worrisome, we spend days, weeks, months, maybe even years trying to deal with distractions… but they never really go away. And if we get too caught up in them, they can lead to coping mechanisms that we never thought we’d turn to — drugs, partying, sex, alcohol, bitterness, regret, hatred… all of which lead us down to the path to “wickedness,” as the psalmist puts it.
For me, the busyness of life and the stress of constant change in our world led to a habit of sexual impurity from a fairly early age. I don’t remember how or when it began. All I know is that it was the first thing I turned to for years when I was overly stressed or tired or needed comfort in the midst of chaos. And for years, I was continually let down by a coping mechanism I had convinced myself would make me happy and provide comfort, when all it led to was more unhappiness, more emptiness, and a deeply rooted, constant sense of shame.
(I’m in my twenties, by the way. You don’t have to be in your forties, fifties, sixties, seventies, and so on to have made mistakes and regret them.)
The good news is, there is a God who loved me through that darkness and led me back into the light. The good news is, there is a Savior who has already washed me of all my sin and shame, who can clean and heal the deepest wounds. The good news is, just like we’re not automatically set to the path of blessedness, we’re also not stuck on the path of wickedness. We can get off the carousel anytime we want.
How?
By realizing that we’re missing out on that foundation, that beautiful relationship with God, that feeling of being firmly rooted in good soil near a nourishing stream. We live in a world ruled not by distractions, but by a good, loving God, who wants to know us, be known by us, and bless us. It’s Him, not our addictions, coping mechanisms, idols, etc., who brings us back to ourselves and back to what’s real and true.
We can run back to Him by starting small. Prayers don’t have to be grand or lengthy. Praise doesn’t have to be on-key or fancy. Reading the Bible doesn’t have to take two hours a day (although that would be nice). A simple “thank You, God,” when you wake up in the morning, or listening to a worship song or two on the way to work, or writing down a Bible verse to look back at throughout the day is an excellent, easy, achievable start.
Build one simple habit, and the desire for and ability to sustain more will follow.
Life, for everyone, Christian or not, is a series of backwards and forwards steps. We can be making all the progress in the world, when all of a sudden, we take a few steps back and feel like nothing’s changed at all. It happens to everyone; it’s called being human.
When we fall back into old habits, become distracted again, and find ourselves stuck, weary, broken, and wondering if anything will get better, our first step can be to look not to this world, but to God. As Romans 12:2 says,
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Good, pleasing, and perfect. Doesn’t that sound like a plan worth pursuing, even in our mistakes and brokenness? Doesn’t that sound like a will to live by?
One of the most beautiful things about God is that there are no smoke and mirrors. There’s no trick, no catch, no fine print or hidden fees. He offers this plan — this good, pleasing, and perfect plan — completely free. All we have to do is follow Him, by delighting in His law and meditating on it, as the psalm says. All we have to do is focus in on Him.
When we’ve been distracted for a while and finally realize — once again — what we’re missing, we can start praying again, start praising again, start reading the Bible again. We can shift our focus and our purpose in life back to God. And the even better news? We’re never out of chances to start again, because His mercies are new every morning. (Lamentations 3:22-23)
The point is…
