Psalm 1 (2/2)

 I can picture David's army chief Joab coming to tell him the Philistines have invaded. David says, 'not today Joab, I'm meditating on loving my neighbour', but Joab says, 'it's not very loving of your neighbour to let them be slaughtered by the Philistines now is it?' So off they go.

Nowadays of course we have the YouVersion Bible app where we can read the verse of the day, do Bible plans, and listen to audio Bibles. A really good practice is to memorise Scripture: as David said elsewhere to God, 'I have hidden Your word in my heart so that I might not sin against You'.

So it's all very well meditating on God's word, but what will the fruit of that be in our lives? What will we be like if we meditate on God's word?

'He 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.'

Trees are rooted and secure. We're to be planted by God and rooted in Him. We're to draw upon His word by His Spirit.

We're to be fruitful for God, bearing the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.

Our metaphorical leaves will not wither. As Paul said, 'though outwardly we're wasting away, yet inwardly, we're being renewed into the likeness of Christ.'

Biblical prosperity doesn't mean we're all going to own private jets. The Bible is a spiritual book, not a 'get rich quick manual'. Spiritual prosperity is to bear the fruit of the Spirit.

So we'll be the best carpenters, engineers, pharmacists, tutors or whatever else that we can be for God. We are to work as unto the Lord, for His glory.

It doesn't matter whether we're a street sweeper or the king of Israel, we'll prosper in what we do when we rely on God.

Verses 4-6 focus on the alternative to the blessed way of God.

'The wicked are not so but are like chaff that the wind drives away.'

Before I met my wife, I would tend to get the budget end of the porridge oats selection in the shop. Every now and then I would get a bit of chaff stuck in my teeth, like sometimes you might get when you eat popcorn. It's that worthless, disgusting skin of the good grain. Chaff is of no nutritional value.

It doesn't matter whether we're the king of England or the richest man in the world, if we don't worship the Lord, we may as well be chaff spiritually. Just as chaff gets spat out or blown away, so God will do with those who unrepentantly rebel against Him.

'Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.'

In the Sing movie franchise, Johnny the gorilla sings the Elton John song 'I'm still standing'. The question is, 'how long are you going to be standing for?'

One day, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. The difference is that those who trust in Jesus to make us righteous and good will then get to walk and stand and sit with Him in glory. The wicked won't have a leg to stand on, but will be banished into outer darkness.

'for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.’

Frank Sinatra famously sang that he did life his way. 'My Way' remains a popular song at funerals. The question is though, where does doing life our way lead us? If we don't go God's way we're going to perish.

If we've trusted in Jesus to make us righteous, God knows our way and He cares. He's going to carry us to glory.

If we reject God, we face a lost eternity.

Thankfully though, God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish- that word again- but have everlasting life.

If you're trusting in Jesus, be encouraged that God knows what you're going through and He cares for you.

If you're not trusting in Jesus, you need to do so before it's too late.