with Pastor Smith

With Pastor Smith.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Psalms in the Night: Psalm 1

Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;  But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.  He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.  The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.  Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

A "delight" in the law of the Lord leads the "Blessed man" to meditating on His law "day and night." Meditating is the idea of bringing the creative forces of your mind to bear on a thought effortlessly. Often times we day dream about a hobby of ours, or a trip we would like to go on. In our minds we build it up, create scenarios, tear down assumption, think of possibilities, and run our mind over a thought from multiple angles without even thinking about what we are doing. This is the "meditation" the psalmist is the talking about. When something is so pleasurable or "delightful" to a person they can continue to think about it creatively late into the night even if they are not required to. 

    Our days are for work and our nights are for rest and relaxation, but when our work is our rest and relaxation we do it day and night. The Blessed man is truly "blessed" or "happy" because his work is his rest. That work is meditating on the Word of God. 

The "blessed man's" work is not without reward; "He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season." The word "rivers" is the Hebrew word "Peleg" it means to divide earth. "To Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother's name was Joktan." (Genesis 10:25) The word "planted" or "shathal" means to transplant, or intentionally place a tree or branch in a garden. The picture we see painted with these words is one of an orchard. The purpose of an orchard is to yield fruit. The creation of fruit is not an unintentional process on the part of the the farmer, or the tree. Farmers do not direct water in front of a tree without purpose. Also trees are not a passive channel that water flows though one end and out the other. Trees through a creative act take in the water happily, and use it to create fruit that is pleasing to the farmer. God is the "Farmer", the Word is the "water", and we are his "Orchard." God promises to use His Word in our lives to accomplish His goals. "so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." (Isaiah 55:11) 

Jesus gave us the truest account of how God plans to accomplish His plans in us. He says in John 15:1-8 ""I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples" The way we are supposed to bear fruit is by "Abiding in" Christ. The grape get's it's nutrient by "abiding" or staying attached to the vine, thus we as Christians are to stay attached to Christ our true vine. Everything flows to us in the Christian life through Christ. Through Him we are granted forgiveness of sins, through Him we are restored into fellowship with the Father, and through His death we are given His righteousness on our account. Our old life is taken away, and a new life is given to us because of what God the Father accomplished through Jesus Christ on the Cross. 

No comments:

Post a Comment