#45 Nov. 09, 2015
2015 Devotional. Our goal for these weekly devotionals is to grow in humility and to grow spiritually by memorizing selected passages, putting them into context, and by applying them to our daily living. These passages are taken from: “100 Verses Every Christian Needs to Know” by Freeman-Smith. All passages are from the NIV.
Psalm 1:1-2
1.Blessed is the one who does not walk in the council of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the company of mockers,
2. but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.
There is much to be said about the Psalms but most of it is beyond the scope of this devotional. Suffice it say that the Psalms are divided into 5 books of which Psalm 1 and 2 is an introduction and Psalms 146 -150 are a series of Psalms beginning with and ending with “Praise the Lord” that most likely is the conclusion to the book. The Psalms are mostly a collection of hymns consisting of prayers and praise.
We memorize the first two verses but Ps. 1 is best read as a whole. The Psalm is a stark contrast of the two ways of the world; one of righteousness and one of wickedness already obvious in the first two verses. The first verse is a negative, progression, one who does not, in that if one walks in the council of the wicked long enough you will stop in the way of sinners and if you stop long enough you will also sit down. The way of the wicked is like that, it takes over your whole life.
In contrast is the positive way of righteousness, one who does delight in the law of the Lord, more so, one who meditates on God’s law (God’s will) day and night. This person is one who does what is right in God’s sight. The way of righteousness has taken over his/her whole life.
There is more, verse 1 begins with “blessed is the one”; that person is blessed, v.3 like a tree planted near a clear and pure stream(God’s will). There is nothing like a healthy well watered mango tree for fruit, and for shade, something we appreciate here in the Sahel. That person is also blessed in that all he/she does prospers.
These two verses will be offensive to some I expect because there is no alternative, there is no middle way. There is the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked; in God’s economy one walks in one or the other. Do what is right and be blessed!
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Heavenhigh 