“But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.”
~ Psalm 1:2
Hi James and Ellen,
When two teams are chosen, do you like to be the first kid who is selected by a team leader to be on his or her team? When a teacher asks a question, do you like to be the first kid after you raise your hand because you know the answer who the teacher asks to answer the question that he or she has asked? When your dad and/or ma plays a table game with you, do you like to be the first to roll a dice, pick a card and/or . . . do you always like to be the first to complete a test and to always be the one who does the best on a test? Do you always like to be the first chosen to be on a team and to always be the one who is the best player on the team. Do you always like to choose the game that your dad and/or ma are willing to play with you and to always be the one who wins the games that you choose. How do you think that Psalm 1 felt to be chosen to be the very first psalm song in the collection of 150 psalm songs that make up the Psalms Book? Why do you think that this psalm song was selected to be the first psalm song in the Psalms Book? Your grandpaa has no idea why this psalm song was picked to be the Psalms Book first psalm song. No one knows who scribed this psalm song, when this psalm song was scribed and what sparked this psalm song to be scribed. The message of this psalm song is very clear and direct. This psalm song speaks of two ways – the way that sinners favor and the way that the righteous favor. This psalm song clearly and directly delineates between who the sinners are and who the righteous are. How would you define a guy, gal or kid who is a sinner? How would you define a guy, gal or kid who is righteous? Every guy, gal and kid who is presently walking the righteous way once walked the sinner way. Every single guy, gal and kid who is now walking the sinner way may at some time walk the righteous way if he or she makes a decision of faith to accept God – as God the Son, as his or her Lord and Savior because of what Jesus – Who is God the Son and the Lord and Savior, did on a cross through His bodily suffering and His shed blood to redeem as a ransom payment the sins of every guy, gal and kid who God – as God the Father, specially elected for Himself before He molded a more or less spherical, egg-like orb called planet Earth.
This psalm song is a ‘wisdom’ psalm. This ‘wisdom’ psalm song is an introduction to the essential themes or foci of the psalm songs in the Psalms Book for guys, gals and kids who have made and will make a faithful response to God’s directives and expectations that they while they are living on planet Earth will always live their lives in a godly, holy piety before Him. The unknown author of this psalm song obviously has recognized and understood how blessed he is to be able to walk in the ways of God’s laws versus in the ways of an ungodly sinner. The author of this psalm song conveys being very grateful and thankful that he is no longer walking in the counsel of the wicked, no longer standing in the way of the sinners and no longer sitting where scoffers sit. The author of this psalm song conveys being very appreciative and pleased that he is no longer a member of the commune of wicked guys, gals and kids as he had come to the comprehension that a wicked guy, gal or kid is no more than chaff which the evil one will blow – like the wind, in whatever direction that the evil one wants the guy, gal or kid to be blown. The author of this psalm song had clearly accepted and internalized that only the guys, gals and kids who were being watched over by God – as God the Father, because of God having divinely led them to unconditionally believe in Him, will stand in judgment one day before Him. The author of this psalm song conveys that he knows that he is a member of an assembly of guys and gals who trust in God – as God the Father.
This psalm song’s author shares in verse 2 the kind of daily, intimate relationship that he had with God, “But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.” Do you daily delight in the law of the Lord? Do you meditate day and night on the law of the Lord? Do you hide the Word of God in your heart? What is written in the Bible is the law of the Lord. This psalm song’s author uses a tree as a simile to describe a righteous guy, gal or kid. A righteous guy, gal or kid will grow if his or her life’s roots are next to a stream of water – the stream of water being the word of God or the Bible. A righteous tree – who is a guy, gal or kid who is rooted in Biblical truths, will produce fruit – which is the fruit of the spirit, and he or she will continue to prosper because of never having his or her life wither because of a lack of water. The other simile that the author of this psalm song used – chaff, can only be an irritant. During threshing times on your grandpaa’s dad’s farm, chaff blew in whatever direction the wind was blowing. Chaff would sometimes get down the shirts of the guys who were pitching bundles into the threshing machine which caused an annoying itch. Using the manure spreader to do it, your grandpaa’s dad had your grandpaa in the winter haul bedding from the large stack of straw from threshed oats for the cows and calves that were being kept in your grandpaa’s dad’s barn. If the wind was blowing, your grandpaa would at times have the chaff that had gotten blown into the straw stack be blown into his face. Your grandpaa has good memories of trees. The apple tree that was right behind the chicken coop and the crabapple tree that was close to the entrance of the homestead where your grandpaa’s dad’s dad and ma lived – which was across the road from the farm where your grandpaa grew up as a kid, produced delicious apples. Your grandpaa’s dad and ma had apple trees in their yard behind their house. Do you want to grow up being the best tree – believers, or being the best chaff – sinners?
Psalm 1 (885)