Psalm 1

Written by Calum Piper

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.

I often say that Psalm 1 is one of my favourite psalms, and that's not just because it's the first Psalm in the whole book, but it's an introduction into the wisdom that we receive through reading these songs of worship, these meditations, most of which we believe were written by King David.

I love the imagery, particularly of verse three, that image of a tree in season, blossoming and flourishing that's near a stream, a brook. The trees I'm surrounded by down here at Happy Valley aren't in season. They're not blossoming and looking like they are flourishing, but there is work going on as they sap the strength of the passing water as they prepare for spring.

We're told in Psalm one, that those who delight in the law of Lord, those that spend their time focusing and learning the commandments of God and seeking to live them out in their daily lives, they are like that tree nearest the stream blossoming and flourishing.

Remember King David didn't live in Natural England, where there is water a plenty, especially up here in the Northwest. King David lived in the Middle East with it's dry and arid land, and so trees that have blossom, that needed strength to flourish needed to be near these streams of water and we can take that image a bit further.

The law of the Lord is nourishing for those that seek to learn from it. As Christians we’re invited to read Jesus' words to feed on them, that they might give us life, that they might help us to flourish, and in that we might know God's full joy, God's full love, God's perfect peace.

With these days of Lent, take time to delight in the law of the Lord. To delight in Christ's words as written out in scripture and as you read them to wait upon God. As you meditate through the words of the psalms may your joy and strength in the Lord grow. May your love for the Lord grow and may you find yourself flourishing in the life that he offers you.