Psalm 1 - Works Or Growth? Series

In Psalm 1 we have described for us in a nutshell, all we have to do to receive blessings from God:

"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night." (Psa 1:1-2 KJV)

Blessed is the man who:

- Doesn't walk according to the advice of the ungodly

- Doesn't hang around with sinners

- Doesn't go along with the scornful

but instead:

- Delights in the law of God

- Thinks about it all the time

- Plants himself where he can receive spiritual nourishment

I think we can all from time to time become obsessed with trying to better ourselves, and naturally we would go about that by trying to make ourselves do good works. When we do this we can become very disappointed when we fail. We sometimes measure ourselves against the example of others, or of Christ, which can make us feel unworthy or worthless.

But this is the opposite to the advice of this Psalm. The Psalm suggests that if only we remove ourselves from bad influences, and plant ourselves in good influences, then we will bear fruit of righteousness. Fruit grows automatically on that tree, as it will with us. Once we make this shift in emphasis away from work to think instead about growth, we will never feel wretched at our lack of works, because instead we will wait patiently for God to bring forth fruit in us.

"And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." (Psa 1:3 KJV)