You can find more about my weekly Bible readings HERE.
This week I am focusing on Psalm 1 (Monday, June 29 – Sunday July 5)

1. Lord, this week I am looking at Psalm 1. The punchline for me this morning is that You are watching over the righteous. But who are the righteous, certainly not the sinless? It is the journey, not the destination. No one has arrived at the destination of perfection. But we can choose to walk on the path towards it. I want to be more loving, more holy, more patient, more forgiving, more just. I am definitely not there yet, but that is where I am planting my roots… so I can prosper.

2. How does Psalm 1 connect to Jesus? Jesus spoke of the blessed life, but He also lived it. He is the fulfillment of Psalm 1, flourishing in ‘the way of the righteous’. His delight was in the substance of the Law, not just the form of it. He understood the kind of holiness that God wanted, and He pursued it. He is the living, flourishing tree, or the ‘true vine’, bearing good fruit. Jesus shows the truth of Psalm 1, and echoes it in Matthew 5.

3. Lord, You are the Righteous One, our model of the God-pleasing life. If I want to know what “the way of the righteous” looks like, I can look at You. Your life is the perfect picture of prospering the God way, a fruitful life. Your way did lead through the cross, but it led to the crown. As hard as Your life was, the Father was watching over You. And You were spared from destruction. As I read this Psalm, I see what You are, and what I want to be. Like You, I want to meditate on the Law of love day and night. I see the sin of self-love as a cancer to avoid.

4. Do I want to experience the life blessing God wants for me? Life that is fulfilling, satisfying, meaningful, hopeful? The everlasting or enduring life that Jesus offers, life to the full? Do I want to be happy, joyful, content, at peace, flourishing? Having a productive, effective experience of life? Then I need to think very carefully about the way that I live!

5. There are healthy and unhealthy ways to behave. Lying, cheating, stealing, hating, abusing, gossiping, fighting, killing… Crime, pride, arrogance, greed, selfishness, cruelty, bullying, promiscuity… We know these things are not good, yet how many of them do we practice in some way? To some extent, we are guilty of crossing the line on all of these. We may think we are not as bad as the truly wicked or sinful, but we are “in step” with them. No amount of these qualities or behaviors is healthy. A small spot of cancer and a full grown tumor are both dangerous, both unhealthy.

6. In step with, in the way of, in the company of… This suggests more than occasional lapses, it suggests willingness, agreement. To justify our little sins is to justify their big sins. To allow a small spot of cancer on our bodies is to make room for the large tumor. Obviously, to fully join with people in these sinful behaviors is bad. But even small or subtle compromises hinder the blessed life. We need to hate sinful behaviours in our own lives, avoid them, root them out, surgically remove them.

7. Who are the ‘wicked’? To some degree we all have sin (wickedness) in us, but some are more twisted than others. Yes, we all fall short of the glory of God, but some seem to dive deeper into perversity and cruelty than others. I do not use the word ‘wicked’ to describe our general sinful state, but to describe those who have become extremely vicious, cruel, hurtful, depraved, mean, greedy. They reject moral boundaries, they act as if they are a law to themselves, they don’t care about others, they inflict abuse or shame or misery on others.

8. In light of Talia’s comment, who am I to say who is wicked and who is not.  Good point. And yet, someone who willingly tortures or abuses someone, ignores their pleas for mercy, and finds pleasure in others pain… would this not qualify someone as wicked (in the original sense of the term ‘twisted’)? I can’t judge their eternal destiny, only God knows that. But they have reached a low point on the way of wickedness. We should be very hesitant to describe someone as wicked, but it seems to me that there are some who have reached this extreme – as evidenced by their violent, callous and cruel behaviors. This label is not meant to dismiss them, but to see their desperate need for Jesus, and mercy, and help. ‘Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.’

9.This Psalm contrasts those who are sold out on righteousness, and those who are sold out on sinfulness. These are the two paths, the broad (easy) and the narrow (difficult) roads. Our natural tendency, or where we start in life, is on the way of sin and death. If we do not choose otherwise, we will drift into wickedness. But with God’s help, we can change the direction of our lives. Which path am I on? Which path do I want to be on? What am I doing to strengthen myself in the right direction? If I am doing nothing, then I am drifting the wrong way.

10. For the OT Jew, the Law of Moses was their guide. As NT followers of Jesus, we understand that the Law of Moses has fulfilled its primary purpose. We are now under the Law of Christ, which is best summarized with the words ‘Love God heart and soul, mind and strength’ and ‘Love your neighbor’. Jesus’ life and teaching (as described in the four Gospels) serve as our Law, our guide. Our delight is in the Law (life and teaching) of Jesus, and on this Law we meditate day and night. If I want to walk in the way of the righteous, then I spend time reflecting on His life and teaching, and finding ways to shape my life according to it.

11. At some point I need to make some practical applications.

• When and how am I actually meditating on the Law (Life and teaching as revealed in Gospels) of Jesus? Once this “Summer In The Psalms” series is done, I think I will pick readings from the Gospels for my weekly bible reading.
• While going through the Psalms, maybe I can find a Gospel parallel or illustration, something from the 4 Gospels that echoes or gives insight to the Psalm I am reading.
• Can I name any specific areas where I am going astray, drifting off the path of righteousness, or drifting into unrighteousness? Yes, I can think of one area at least…
• Can I see how this one area of weakness is keeping me from flourishing? Yes…
• If nothing else, I need to confess this one area, and probably pray deeper to see if there are other areas of concern.
• I need to reject this one area of weakness. I need to hate it, to hate how it separates me from God, how it hinders me from flourishing, how it hurts others. If I am going to delight in God’s will, then I need to detest sin.
• OK, now what steps will I take to change this. It’s not enough to talk about it, what can I do to change it?

12. Here is Psalm 1 from The Message, an interesting way to put it:

1 How well God must like you—
    you don’t hang out at Sin Saloon,
    you don’t slink along Dead-End Road,
    you don’t go to Smart-Mouth College.

^2-3 Instead you thrill to God’s Word, you chew on Scripture day and night.
You’re a tree replanted in Eden, bearing fresh fruit every month,
Never dropping a leaf, always in blossom.

^4-5 You’re not at all like the wicked, who are mere windblown dust—
Without defense in court, unfit company for innocent people.

⁶ God charts the road you take.
The road they take is Skid Row.

13. I think of the story of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10), a man who had chosen the path of greed and self-advancement at the expense of others. His chosen path had him rich, but despised, lonely, and anxious for his soul. He was not flourishing, he was floundering (the way of the wicked). But when his desperate soul comes into contact with Jesus, Who is poor and nothing in a worldly sense, yet blessed, and when Jesus graciously joins him for lunch (but not in his sin), he is transformed… replanted into new soil, and beings to flourish (the way of the righteous). The Jesus Way (what Psalm 1 describes) is life-changing, it brings blessing for self and others.

14. This story also shows us that not sitting in the company of sinners (Psalm 1:1) does not mean separating ourselves from sinful people altogether. It means not joining with them in their sin. If God did not join us where we are in sin (without sinning), we could not be saved. Separation from sin does not mean separation from sinners. We are to love them, to seek them, to win them over, to let them know that they matter to God. As we live the Jesus life in the world, our blessing overflows into our communities, and like Zacchaeus they can be won over to Jesus too.

15. If all scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16-17), then how is THIS scripture teaching me? rebuking me? correcting me? training me?

• Teach: explaining the way things are, what is true about God, me, life, reality, sin, God’s will, the world, etc!
• Rebuke: point out where I am falling short, messing up, going against God’s will, sinning!
• Correct: challenge and inspire to change, show me what I should do, what steps I should take!
• Train: encourage and support me with strength/wisdom to follow through, to make changes, to obey!

I have not heard what the Lord is saying to me in this Psalm if I cannot answer these questions: how is the Lord teaching me? rebuking me? correcting me? training me?

16. Reflecting on this Psalm this week has been helpful for me to evaluate the path that my life is on. Is the life I am living right now taking me where I want to go? Will continuing in this direction lead me to the life I want to live? It’s not that I am on a path to destruction, but neither is it a path towards strength and fulfillment. I have allowed too many small distractions and subtle compromises to interfere with my desired goals. Even though I am not walking down the bad path, I’m stuck personally. I’m not moving forward on the right path. I want whatever is holding me back to be gone. “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24)

Please leave your thoughts below…