Monday, January 7, 2008
Blessed Is Psalm One

In day 1 of the year of Sabbath, we started off with the very first psalm. Personally, this very psalm was really encouraging to me and I thought that it was an interesting psalm to begin with.
In summary, Psalm 1 talks about how God would bless the way of the righteous and what are some of His definitions of righteousness.

In v1, it says ‘Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.’
Many of us have different revelations as well as interpretations even though reading through the same content. In fact, we may even receive different revelations whenever we re-visit the verse that we might have been so familiar with. The first time I encountered this verse at the beginning of my SLTC, I thought that it meant blessed are those who do not mix around with the evil-doers of this world. However, after meditating through it again, I felt that the Holy Spirit was telling me that:
1) Blessed are those who stand firm in their faith,
2) Blessed are those who do not prevent the sinners from coming to know the Lord,
3) Blessed are those who do not conform to the ways of the world.

Ps 1:2, ‘But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.’
This verse was an encouragement for me to read and meditate on God’s word. After reading this verse, I made the decision to start off my day meditating His word and ending my day by meditating what I have meditated in the morning. I was amazed to find that by doing so, I was reminded that God has indeed spoke to me through the psalm that I was reading on that day. Truly, I find my delight by spending time with God and meditating on His word for I get to know God at a deeper level each time. I realized that the first 6 psalms which I have read so far, all pointed out that God is a God of righteousness.

In v3, it says ‘He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.’
Basically, this verse spoke out to me that he who meditates on the law of the Lord will prosper. By breaking down the elements, I gathered 3 points:
- ‘He is like a tree planted by streams of water’ referred to someone who puts his faith in the word of God
- The yielding of its fruit referred to his success
- ‘The leaf that does not wither’ meant that he does not fail
Hence, this verse gave me an understanding that he who meditates on the word of the Lord and acts on it will prosper.

In v4, it implies that the wicked are like chaff. I found out from the student bible that chaff was something which was utterly useless even for a fire and it disappears in the wind. It goes on to say in v5 that the wicked will not stand in the judgment. From what I understood after reading v4-5, I realize that God’s judgment day is what makes the wicked seem like chaff.

Finally in v6, it states that God watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. It clearly shows that our God is a righteous God.

I felt really blessed after reading this psalm as it really ministered to me. A few weeks ago, I made the decision to seek God more often even though my exams were like packed closely with each other. I really thank God that He honors one who draws near to Him for I did really well for my exams. Praise God for that! Just as God is always willing to bless me, I believe that he wants to bless you to.

Would you be that Psalm 1?

Labels: Devotion, PSALM devotions