Psalm 1.1-3 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. - Anonymous
In the Book of Psalms, there are 150 entries. 100 of the
Psalms are credited to specific authors, of which King David has the most (73).
But that leaves 50 which are not specifically given accreditation of who the
author was. Psalm 1 is one of the 50. Psalm 1 begins with the word: Blessed.
Blessed means happy. In our country, we celebrate life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. (Or at least, we’re supposed to...) The
pursuit of happiness is the pursuit of blessing and whoever wrote Psalm 1 made
it clear that blessing comes from following a path: a path which includes the study
of, the appreciation of, and the application of the wisdom and teachings of God’s
law.
God’s law is
not the Mosaic Law, or the Ten Commandments. Those are specific laws given to
specific people, at a specific time, for a specific reason. Certainly, there
are principles found in the Mosaic Law that may apply to our present living,
but the Bible also makes in very clear that we, today, are not under the Law
given to Moses in order to be saved (I would hasten to say, or to live).
But the Psalms, Proverbs, and other places in the Bible
refer to the Law of the Lord. The Law
of the Lord is not necessarily written out for us – it is an implied Law, and
one that God writes upon our hearts. It is a way of thinking and living that is
in accord with all that God has for us. The Law of the Lord begins and ends
with Love. Love is both tangible and abstract.
The tangible part of the Law of the Lord is how we live
and how we treat each other in love. The abstraction is: we cannot put your
hands on love – we can only express it to others through thought, word, and
(importantly) deed. The writing of God’s laws upon our hearts is not a tattoo
process, but the real-life/time change in who we are is as a result of our
hanging around, listening to, and living out God’s desires. That is where we
find blessing.
Our problem with Law and blessing is we tend to view
these things improperly. We tend to view Law as production, and blessing, as
possession. To us, Law and blessing are linear, not circumspect. Law and blessing
are subjective, not objective. But simply stated above, blessed is the one who doesn’t
hang out with the wicked or do what they do. Blessed is the one who thinks
about and delights in God day and night. Blessed is the one whose life
resembles a tree planted by streams of
water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever
they do prospers. That’s blessing and it has nothing to do with production
or possession but everything to do with perspective.
Blessing is both perspective and possibility. Whatever
they do, prospers in ways that enrich life for others and for themselves.
Father, may I be
blessed today as I learn to think the way You think, and act the way You act.
May my purpose on earth be solely for life and blessing to others, so that my
life may be blessed as well. Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment