Planted

The most “liked” picture from our Alaska cruise in August 2021 is from one of the formal nights. I wore a black and white dress (a $9 bargain from Poshmark online). The last several days I have felt much like the stark contrast between the black and white in my dress. The black is sorely tempted to give into the world’s way – be defensive, protect my own image, seek my own glory, turn justified anger and hurt into a sinful response. The white is grieved that I would even consider trampling on the grace so richly lavished on me. The white desires that God alone be glorified, that His name is honored not my own, that I trust God as my defender.

Before I write, I pray a prayer from The Valley of Vision called “A Minister’s Preaching.” The first sentence confesses, “I am desired to teach today, but I go weak and needy to my task.” I am weak and needy, but I am grateful that my Savior is not. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Maybe you are feeling weak and needy this week too. Psalm 1 encouraged me. It is a sharp contrast between two types of people, two lifestyles. Mark Futato, in his commentary on Psalm 1, demonstrated how even the structure of this Psalm shows the drastic contrast. “First, note that the opening word, ashre [835A, 897] (joy), begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, while the closing word, to’bed [6, 6] (destruction), begins with the last letter of the alphabet (see Ps 112 for this same poetic device). The psalm is thus an “incipient acrostic” (Petersen and Richards 1992:94), articulating the diametric opposition between life and death: The two are as far apart as Aleph and Taw.”[1]

1Blessed is the man

who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

2but his delight is in the law of the Lord,

and on His law he meditates day and night.

3He is like a tree planted by streams of water

that yields its fruit in its season,

and its leaf does not wither.

In all that he does, he prospers.

4The wicked are not so,

but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

5Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;

6for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked will perish.

As I read this Psalm, I stopped on the first word, blessed. With all my back-and-forth struggles of being a child of God and a slave to righteousness yet still having a sin nature that raises its ugly head, this word blessed stands out. God is so abundantly good. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and no one does good, not even one (Psalm 53:3). The only completely righteous person was and is Jesus, yet this God-inspired Psalm starts with “Blessed is the man…” God chooses to bless His children. (That is not to say God blesses our sin, but He does bless us knowing that this side of heaven we continue to sin.)

I’ve read that there is not any one English word that truly captures the Hebrew word for blessed. Happy is another translation, but ashre is more than happy. The Reformation Study Bible explains it this way, “to enjoy God’s special favor and grace.” This blessed man lacks nothing. It reminds me of how Paul describes the work of God’s Word in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, or the end work of sanctification that God promises in Philippians 1:6. When Jesus taught what we call the Beatitudes, He gave us a peek into at least a portion of what it is to be blessed by God (Matthew 5:1-12).

Futato reminded his readers that Psalm 1 needed to be taken within the context of all the Psalms. The word blessedprompts me to do that. Blessed admonishes me that this Psalm is not about my self-righteousness. I am not blessed because I follow the “simple” steps in Psalm 1. I am blessed because of God’s grace towards me, and Christ’s righteousness given to me. If not for God, I would be in the wicked category. The Psalmists make these truths clear throughout the other 149 Psalms.

There are three things the blessed man doesn’t do (presented as a dangerous, downward progression) and two things he does do. He does not heed the advice of sinners (walk in the counsel of), act on that counsel (stands in the way) – sin or become characterized by wickedness (sits in the seat of scoffers). Again, I am thankful. Sadly, there are days when I listen to the wrong voice. I heed the wrong counsel. There are even times when I sinfully act on that counsel. However, because I am in Christ, these don’t characterize me before the Father. He will always see me clothed in Jesus’ righteousness. Jesus, who in my place, never once followed the counsel of the wicked or acted on it. Paul struggled with doing the sin he didn’t want to do and not doing the good he did want to do (Romans 7:19), but he also knew that sin could not have dominion over him; he was not under law but under grace (Romans 6:14, see all of Romans 6).

The blessed man does delight in and meditate day and night on God’s Word. We need food to live just as we need God’s Word for spiritual life and sanctification. Jesus who is the Word (John 1:1) also said He was the bread of life (John 6:35). I do not eat once a day. I typically eat three meals every day. Sometimes I snack between or have dessert. Even when I am not inputting food, my body is processing the food I did eat. Food is really an all-day, everyday event. And I know there are certain foods like tacos or my peppermint hot chocolate (technically a drink) that I delight in. I look forward to. I savor. This is but a dim picture of delighting in and meditating on God’s Word, and it is what characterizes the blessed man.

What does a man delighting in and meditating on God’s Word look like? The Psalmist states that “He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.” I like the word planted. It reminds me of being anchored. The tree may sway, but it will not be moved. A planted tree is not just one that has simply been stuck in the ground. No, it’s roots run deep. Not only do they run deep, but they are connected to streams of life-giving water. They have the nutrients they need to make the tree grow and thrive which is evident by the fruit the tree bears and its leaves that don’t wither. We witnessed this when we planted two peach trees in our front yard. The first couple years, the roots were barely in the ground. We watered the trees, and they grew. As the roots took hold in the earth, peaches popped out. Each year, we have gotten more and bigger peaches. Our peach trees are planted and thriving, so much so that we must prop their fruit-ladened branches up.

This kind of tree or person is one that has lasting impact, lasting fruit, and eternal life. This description of the blessed man is compared to the wicked who are like chaff that the wind drives away. The wicked are brief. They don’t persevere. This truth becomes even clearer when we think in light of eternity. Those in Christ will know the fullness of God’s blessing forever and ever. The wicked will perish (vs 5, 6b).

In closing, the blessed man is most blessed because the Lord knows him intimately (vs 6a). The Father’s eye and sovereign hand are always on us. His ear is always inclined to our cries. He knows every sinful and obedient act. His Son died for us while we were still sinners and His enemies (Romans 5:8, 10). He promises that He is for us, and nothing can ever separate us from His love (Romans 8:39). God knows everything about us even before we were born (Psalm 139:1-16). So even on the days that you or I struggle with heeding and acting on the counsel of the wicked, and we are far from delighting in God’s Word, He loves us still and calls us His own. He is pouring out His blessing. He has planted us by His abundant streams of life, is sanctifying us, and is causing our lives to bear fruit and our leaves to stay green.

Reflection

1. Make a two-column chart to show the contrast between the righteous man and the wicked man. This makes the differences between the two stand out even more.

2. Who we keep company with and whose advice we follow have a substantial impact on our lives. Whose counsel are you seeking and following? Is it rooted in God’s Word?

3. Is God’s Word a delight or a drudgery to you? Often, we fluctuate between the two. When it feels more like drudgery, ask God to help you delight in His Word and to give you fresh understanding. Some ways to meditate on His Word are to talk about it with others, do a deeper study, memorize part or the entire passage, journal what you learned, focus on the characteristics of God you discover in the passage and praise God for who He is or what He has done, or purposefully return to the passage throughout the day.

[1] Futato, M. D. (2009). The Book of Psalms. In Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, Vol 7: The Book of Psalms, The Book of Proverbs (pp. 32–33). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.