Psalm 1 teaches us that a person who avoids the advice and patterns of wicked and godless people will be blessed with contentment. Such people are not rooted in a way of life that is common to sinners, and they are not counted among the arrogant people who mock God or his principles. Instead, they delight in God’s law, and they meditate on it day and night (Psalm 1:2). Sinners and the arrogant derive pleasure from godlessness, and they practice sinful things as a way of life. In contrast, the lover of God derives enjoyment from God’s principles, and constantly thinks about them. In fact, he disciplines himself to meditate on those principles. The Hebrew term from which we translate the English word “meditate” means to utter, speak or groan, and by implication, to ponder. The lover of God is constantly speaking God’s truths under his breath and in his mind, both day and night, while contemplating God’s precepts. These meditations become a river of nourishment to his spirit and life.
In fact, the psalmist argues that such delight and meditation will keep a person from being planted in the lifeless and diseased soil that sinners share. He then compares the person who meditates to a tree that is planted next to a stream of water (Psalm 1:3). Such a tree thrives and produces fruit. One who takes delight in God, and who develops the discipline to contemplate God’s word as a way of daily life becomes nourished, healthy, and able to withstand dry seasons. Notice how the psalmist points out that the sinners and scoffers are like chaff that the wind blows away (Psalm 1:3-6). The godless dry up and become like dust. They are swept away and destroyed because they have no water to nourish them. When the transient pleasures of sin disappear, so does their ability to thrive. Or worse, when infection from the soil in which they are planted permeates their lives, they have no strength to grow through the challenge.
This theme is repeated throughout the scriptures. Pay attention to the context of Isaiah’s words in a passage where he is comparing and contrasting the discipline of true fasting against the perils of false worship (Isaiah 58). He contends that the discipline of true fasting and worship will turn a community into a thriving and well watered garden (Isaiah 58:11)! However, false and meaningless worship, Isaiah says, will leave that community wondering about the absence of God's life, nourishment, blessing, and presence.
Jesus, himself, teaches the woman at the well that those who worship in spirit and in truth, and drink the spiritual water that he gives them will have springs of water welling up inside of them to eternal life (John 4:7-26). Planting yourself in Jesus gives you access to eternal streams of water!
So take time this coming year to develop the discipline of worshiping in spirit and in truth. Discipline yourself to avoid ways of life opposed to God. Meditate on God’s words and ways both day and night, and learn to take delight in them. Discipline yourself to speak his principles quietly during any moments you have, and then ponder their meanings and purposes. Apply them to every domain in your life. Do this, and you will be a strong tree planted near nourishing streams of living water.
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