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. (Psalm 1:1-3). The Psalm describe the characteristics of the godly what she does,  and does no do, and the pay off of these things. In terms of what not to do, there are three aspects that concern our walk, firstly what we keep in our head (listening to ungodly counsel), secondly our behaviour (walking in the wrong path, performing sinful acts), and lastly the fellowship of scoffers (perhaps those who are the furthest from repentance). We do of course need to be in the World, but not of the World (1 Corinthians 5:10).

Our delight is to be in the Word, and to meditate on it “day and night” (verse 2). Christian meditation is not like Eastern meditation,  which is essentially about emptying the mind. This form of meditation is about filling our minds with the Word of God (not the council of the ungodly), and chewing on it.  The picture is of a cow eating grass, which lies down and regurgitates the grass, chewing the cud.  We need to memorize Scripture to do this well, and there are many aids to memorization. This is very different from having a five minute devotion, no matter how good the guide! Not all we need to do is recorded in a single passage of Scripture. For example while we need to delight in His Word, we also need to delight in the Lord. When we do both, we will prosper in all that we do (verse 3),  and He will also give us  the desires of our heart (Psalm 37:4).  The point is that when we do this, our desires will be pleasing to Him.

The picture of the fruitful tree planted by the water, whose leaves  shall not wither, speaks of the long term, or as one author put it, a long obedience in the same direction. In this way the “tap roots” of our spirituality can go down deep into the good soil.  And as a parallel passage put it, it  we “will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will it cease from yielding fruit” (Jeremiah 17:8). Indeed the promise then, is that whatever we turn our hand to,  we will prosper (verse 3 again).

Father,  the Psalm goes on to say it is not so with the wicked. I was there Lord, there was no peace, and even my success was empty. Truly Lord, Your ways are best, they give provision,  protection and comfort and strength in the “year of drought.” The  Psalm concludes with “the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish” (verse 6). I was shortsighted Lord, but in Your mercy You turned me round, and now I see that Your ways are not only the way of righteousness,  but also the way of peace and true prosperity. So help us Lord to delight in You and  Your Word, and we will give You the  Glory  in Jesus Name Amen