Instruction
Scripture: Psalm 1
The book of Psalms contains prayers and hymns of God’s people. It often gives language to the prayers of our hearts. The first psalm sets the stage for the rest of the book by laying out two categories that all people are separated into: the righteous and the wicked. The psalm is designed to encourage the righteous to remember the blessings God has promises, especially salvation from the final judgement that all people will face.
Teaching
As Christians we know that we become righteous in God’s sight by faith in esus. We have been
separated from the wicked because our sins are forgiven. But how should we live since we have been
claimed by God and made his people? Psalm 1 poetically probes the ethical dimensions of our lives in Christ. It urges us to reject the life of sin and to focus on God’s will as it is revealed in his law, which includes the full teaching of the word of God. The word of God becomes the focus of how we live by faith. We meditate on it, which means we fill our minds with it. It roots us so that we are not blown away by the troubles of life which test our faith, and we are nourished by it to bear fruit in our lives.
Life
God invites us in this psalm to see life differently. He gives us the lens of his word to shape our vision and to see life as he sees it. We see there is righteousness and wickedness. We see that there will be a judgement and that the things of this world, the things so many people build their lives on, will not last.
God is inviting us to put his word in our heads and hearts so that it becomes our focus and our greatest treasure. It, after all, is what reveals his love to us, proclaims Christ crucified and risen to us, and is the vehicle God uses to come to us and create faith in us.
God’s word also firmly roots us. When people speak of Christian growth they often mean outward
deeds. That is appropriate as this psalm speaks of bearing fruit, which is good works. But there is also growth that is not seen. We do not get to see the root systems of trees, especially when they dig down deeply. But deep roots sustain a tree in hard times and keep it upright in the strongest winds. God’s
word does something similar in us, and it is good for us have this word on our lips and ears so that it
gives us strength in hard times and keeps us upright in the face of all kinds of temptations.
Prayer
The theme for this prayer is Petition.
O Lord, we long to be the blessed people the psalmist speaks of. Help all your people to shun the
counsel of the wicked – the philosophies and worldviews of this age that would turn us from you. Help us to never stand in the way of sinners – content with tolerating the evil of this world. Help us never to sit in the seat of scoffers – mocking those who believe your true word and who seek to live according to it. Instead, Lord, give us your Spirit so that we might delight in everything you teach in your word. As you have made us righteous in Christ, let our lives show righteousness in how we live. Make us like a firmly rooted tree that is well nourished by you and strong because of you. Let our lives bear the fruit of faith – love, joy, peace, godliness, etc. Help us to do good works that will cause people to give you glory. Keep us every mindful of your judgement and sustain us as your people. Amen.
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