Psalm 1 - A Song of Living Water
I am not destined to become a farmer.
I grew up in the country, around cows, horses and rows and rows of tobacco. But the "green thumb" that all country boys are supposed to get? I didn't get one of those. I can't even grow mold on a piece of old piece of bread! But one thing I was getting good at growing (before moving to the city) was fruit. Especially apples and grapes. My mom and sister would can apples and make apple butter, as well as make the very best grape jelly in the world (so good, that my mom paid off one of the family's debts with it)!
Raising various fruits was a lot of fun...but also a lot of hard work and care. One of the jobs in that work was having to water each plant with enough water so it could survive the hot months of July and August. Each plant needed about a good bucket or two, both in the early morning and the late evening hours. That sun would simply bake the plants bone-dry in a couple of days without that water.
We are the same way without the living waters that flow from God's word.
When David started recording his psalms, he wanted his very first one to be important enough to say, "This is how badly I need God's word in my life." While being a shepherd, he knew how important water is to keeping your flocks and cattle alive. It's very important that you keep them within grazing distance of a large water supply, like a well, or a stream. The shepherd that led his flock too far from water wound up with losing his lambs to thirst. A shepherd had to know the right paths to the right places in order to keep his flock alive in that arid land.
With those things in mind, he begins to write the very first psalm as a way of explaining how God's word was like the paths and places a shepherd would use and go to in order to stay alive. Open your bible and look at the first verse in this psalm. Note how it begins with a blessing for those that not only stay away from those that are willfully ignorant of God, but also refrain from mimicking their ways of living.
"Wicked...sinners...scoffers" - Three types of men that while they may seem to be the same, they're actually quite different. The "wicked" refers to those that just don't know about God. The "sinners" are those who have some knowledge, but not the whole picture; therefore they make unwise decisions. And the "scoffers" are those that know that what they're doing is wrong, but simply don't care. Note how each group is a little worse than the previous one. The next paragraph explains why.
"Walk...stand...sit" - Three actions that note the progression of slowing down to a final stop. Each group's actions were determined by their spiritual state. The "walking of the wicked" led them to somewhere they didn't want to go. This is the result of anyone that makes choices apart from God's word. The "sinners' stand" is where the "experts on everything" tell others who are walking by how to get to the "good" life. They think that they know how to do it from whatever little knowledge of God's word that they remembered as a child. But the truth is that they are just as lost as everyone else...like every other husband behind the steering wheel in the world (and all of the wives in the congregation said, "AMEN!") And the last are the "scoffers" that have come to a dead stop in the wilderness and have decided that it's better to just "sit" where they are at with God, and try to pass judgment on him for what they think is the miserable "job" that God is doing in running the universe, thinking that if they will just get rid of God from theirs, and everyone else's, minds then God will simply vanish from existence. (You can tell that I wrote this part while watching Bill Maher on Larry King Live, can't you?)
But what these three groups forget is that if you do these things in the wilderness, with everything from wolf packs, to bears, to thieves that will cut your throat out there, the only destination that your decisions would bring you and your flock to...would be an early grave!
That's why David was a good shepherd: he stayed in the paths and the areas that were safe for him and his flock, thinking of ways to get through those paths with as little "weariness" as possible. This would require a bit of mental effort. The shepherd would "meditate" on the right pathways and places to stop and rest, away from possible threats.
Meditating upon God's law does the same for our lives. If a loved one has died, we meditate upon the verses that show us that they're safe with God, now. If we lose our job, we can turn to Job (sorry, couldn't resist!) to see how God brought him through his trials. And when the news tells us of another terrorist attack, we can turn to Revelation and see Jesus triumphantly end the evil in this world, once and for all time.
The results of this? Look at verse 3, "He is like a tree, planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in season, and it's leaf does not wither, but in all that he does, he prospers." Remember my fruit trees? One year, the summer was so hot that we had to spray them with water constantly. After a month, we noticed that the ones that did the best through the heat waves were the ones that were planted closest to the drainage ditch where our house's sink water came out. They were the ones that had the most fruit on them.
The same results happens to us spiritually when we constantly drink down the "living waters" that come from spending so much time meditating upon God's word. The "roots" of our spirits are revitalized and refreshed from the moisture that comes from the verses of holy writ. We become trees that bear much fruits onto salvation that helps to give life to the lost sinners that we come across, as well as a cooling shade that helps bring rest to other Christian believers.
As for the fate of those that don't? They "become like chaff...blown away by the wind...won't stand in the judgment...won't rest with the righteous...but their way will perish." (v.4-6) One who has truly "fed upon" the verses of the bible is forever changed to where, like Lay's potato chips, "you can't eat just one"; you need more and more of it because it gives you life, light and love. The sinners and the rest just use it for decorative purposes for their coffee tables, and to collect the sun's rays sitting in their car's rear window. Paul talks about them in the second half of the first chapter in Romans. They know nothing about God and will continue to live (and die) without Him.
Apples...grapes...and Lay's potato chips...
Is anyone else hungry? I could go for some toast with grape jelly right about now!
I grew up in the country, around cows, horses and rows and rows of tobacco. But the "green thumb" that all country boys are supposed to get? I didn't get one of those. I can't even grow mold on a piece of old piece of bread! But one thing I was getting good at growing (before moving to the city) was fruit. Especially apples and grapes. My mom and sister would can apples and make apple butter, as well as make the very best grape jelly in the world (so good, that my mom paid off one of the family's debts with it)!
Raising various fruits was a lot of fun...but also a lot of hard work and care. One of the jobs in that work was having to water each plant with enough water so it could survive the hot months of July and August. Each plant needed about a good bucket or two, both in the early morning and the late evening hours. That sun would simply bake the plants bone-dry in a couple of days without that water.
We are the same way without the living waters that flow from God's word.
When David started recording his psalms, he wanted his very first one to be important enough to say, "This is how badly I need God's word in my life." While being a shepherd, he knew how important water is to keeping your flocks and cattle alive. It's very important that you keep them within grazing distance of a large water supply, like a well, or a stream. The shepherd that led his flock too far from water wound up with losing his lambs to thirst. A shepherd had to know the right paths to the right places in order to keep his flock alive in that arid land.
With those things in mind, he begins to write the very first psalm as a way of explaining how God's word was like the paths and places a shepherd would use and go to in order to stay alive. Open your bible and look at the first verse in this psalm. Note how it begins with a blessing for those that not only stay away from those that are willfully ignorant of God, but also refrain from mimicking their ways of living.
"Wicked...sinners...scoffers" - Three types of men that while they may seem to be the same, they're actually quite different. The "wicked" refers to those that just don't know about God. The "sinners" are those who have some knowledge, but not the whole picture; therefore they make unwise decisions. And the "scoffers" are those that know that what they're doing is wrong, but simply don't care. Note how each group is a little worse than the previous one. The next paragraph explains why.
"Walk...stand...sit" - Three actions that note the progression of slowing down to a final stop. Each group's actions were determined by their spiritual state. The "walking of the wicked" led them to somewhere they didn't want to go. This is the result of anyone that makes choices apart from God's word. The "sinners' stand" is where the "experts on everything" tell others who are walking by how to get to the "good" life. They think that they know how to do it from whatever little knowledge of God's word that they remembered as a child. But the truth is that they are just as lost as everyone else...like every other husband behind the steering wheel in the world (and all of the wives in the congregation said, "AMEN!") And the last are the "scoffers" that have come to a dead stop in the wilderness and have decided that it's better to just "sit" where they are at with God, and try to pass judgment on him for what they think is the miserable "job" that God is doing in running the universe, thinking that if they will just get rid of God from theirs, and everyone else's, minds then God will simply vanish from existence. (You can tell that I wrote this part while watching Bill Maher on Larry King Live, can't you?)
But what these three groups forget is that if you do these things in the wilderness, with everything from wolf packs, to bears, to thieves that will cut your throat out there, the only destination that your decisions would bring you and your flock to...would be an early grave!
That's why David was a good shepherd: he stayed in the paths and the areas that were safe for him and his flock, thinking of ways to get through those paths with as little "weariness" as possible. This would require a bit of mental effort. The shepherd would "meditate" on the right pathways and places to stop and rest, away from possible threats.
Meditating upon God's law does the same for our lives. If a loved one has died, we meditate upon the verses that show us that they're safe with God, now. If we lose our job, we can turn to Job (sorry, couldn't resist!) to see how God brought him through his trials. And when the news tells us of another terrorist attack, we can turn to Revelation and see Jesus triumphantly end the evil in this world, once and for all time.
The results of this? Look at verse 3, "He is like a tree, planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in season, and it's leaf does not wither, but in all that he does, he prospers." Remember my fruit trees? One year, the summer was so hot that we had to spray them with water constantly. After a month, we noticed that the ones that did the best through the heat waves were the ones that were planted closest to the drainage ditch where our house's sink water came out. They were the ones that had the most fruit on them.
The same results happens to us spiritually when we constantly drink down the "living waters" that come from spending so much time meditating upon God's word. The "roots" of our spirits are revitalized and refreshed from the moisture that comes from the verses of holy writ. We become trees that bear much fruits onto salvation that helps to give life to the lost sinners that we come across, as well as a cooling shade that helps bring rest to other Christian believers.
As for the fate of those that don't? They "become like chaff...blown away by the wind...won't stand in the judgment...won't rest with the righteous...but their way will perish." (v.4-6) One who has truly "fed upon" the verses of the bible is forever changed to where, like Lay's potato chips, "you can't eat just one"; you need more and more of it because it gives you life, light and love. The sinners and the rest just use it for decorative purposes for their coffee tables, and to collect the sun's rays sitting in their car's rear window. Paul talks about them in the second half of the first chapter in Romans. They know nothing about God and will continue to live (and die) without Him.
Apples...grapes...and Lay's potato chips...
Is anyone else hungry? I could go for some toast with grape jelly right about now!
Views: 25
Comment
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Comment by Pamela Phillips on April 21, 2012 at 6:42am -
Good point on the "walk, stand, sit". I always thought it meant the progression of sin in our lives if we give in to temptation: we walk into a situation, stand and survey the possibilities, and then sit when we give in to the sin.
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Comment by Donna King on June 24, 2010 at 8:31am -
I just read this and what a read it is!!! I love the thoughts and insights in this reading. Thank you so much for sharing....I got more out of this than you will ever know.
Blessings to you,
Donna
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Comment by Haelie on February 22, 2010 at 11:11pm -
Love your thoughts on this passage! Thanks for sharing...Country Boy!
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Comment by Rick Bavera on February 19, 2010 at 11:49am -
Thanks for sharing this, Jeffrey! Your "country boy" story makes me think of my grandfather, who grew up in North Georgia. He could make anything grow anywhere, I think. He moved north, met my grandma, got married, and always grew things in his yard-flowers, veggies, fruit....and also made furniture. An amazing man!
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