During last year’s monsoon, our neighbor’s mesquite tree was blown over by a wind gust that accompanied one of our summer thunderstorms. Before that storm, that tree appeared to be strong and healthy, but the winds of the storm revealed that large tree actually had very shallow roots.
I think about that compared to a similar looking mesquite tree that we had in the front yard of our last house which managed to put one of its massive roots right through our sewer line. When the plumbers came out to repair that line they had to dig down five or six feet and use a chain saw to cut through just one of the many massive roots that went down deep into the soil. Because of those deep roots, that tree never even came close to being blown over, even by stronger winds than those that had toppled our neighbor’s tree.
What a great illustration of our spiritual lives. Although we may not look a lot different on the surface, there are some Christ followers who actually have pretty shallow roots. And so when the storms of life come along and the winds blow, they are knocked down pretty easily. On the other hand, there are those who have put down deep roots and are therefore prepared for those storms and who can stand firm even in the face of fierce winds.
So we’re going to spend some time examining some passages that will help us develop some deep roots in our walk with Jesus. And we’re going to find that instruction in a place we might least expect – the Psalms.
The Book of Psalms is a collection of 150 songs and poems collected into a five book volume over about a thousand year period, beginning with the Exodus and concluding with the return of the exiles from Babylon. We get our English title for this book from the Greek Word which referred to songs sung to the accompaniment of a stringed instrument. The traditional Hebrew title – Tehilim – means “songs of praise”.
In a sense, the Psalms are similar to our hymnals, where a number of songs written over many years by a number of different authors have been assembled into one book that is used in worship.
But the Psalms are certainly much more than just a Jewish hymnal. They comprise the history of the Hebrew people in poetic and musical form. In particular, they record the history of their life of worship – not just that which occurred in the temple, or later in the synagogues, but a lifestyle of personal and corporate worship that was lived out on a daily basis in all areas of their lives. So it is no surprise that the Book of Psalms is quoted more times in the New Testament than any other Old Testament book, with the exception of Isaiah.
As we take some time to study a number of these Psalms in the coming months, we must keep in mind that they are written in poetry, not prose. Like all poetry, they are full of emotions, art, beauty and figurative language and are meant to draw an emotional response as well as to teach us. So we need to guard against approaching them in merely a logical, rational or intellectual manner.
But Hebrew poetry is different than most of the poetry we’re used to. It lacks the rhyme and meter that characterizes most of our English poetry. Its primary feature is parallelism in which multiple lines all address the same thought. Someone once described it as “rhyming thoughts” rather than rhyming words.
For the next two weeks, we’ll look at Psalms 1 and 2, which serve as a doorkeeper for our entry to the Psalms. So go ahead and turn in your Bibles to Psalm 1. We’ll read that Psalm in just a moment. But first let’s take a step back and look at the first two Psalms as a whole. There is widely held belief among biblical scholars, and I agree, that these two Psalms were written as an introduction to the Psalms. Unlike most of the Psalms, like we see beginning in Psalm 3, there is no superscription which either identifies the author and/or the circumstances under which the Psalm was written or is to be used. For instance Psalm 3 begins with this superscription:
A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.
The first two Psalms are also tied together in several other ways:
• Psalm 1 begins with “Blessed is…” and Psalm 2 ends with “Blessed are…”
• The word “meditate” in Psalm 1:2 is the same Hebrew word that is translated “plot” in Psalm 2:1.
• In Psalm 1:6, we read “the way of the wicked will perish” and in Psalm 2:12 we read that those who do not kiss the son will “perish in the way.”
• In Psalm 1:1, the blessed man does not “sit in the seat of scoffers” and in Psalm 2:4, God “sits in the heavens” and “laughs” or scoffs at those who would try to stand against Him.
Together these two Psalms provide the lens through which we must view all the Psalms. Psalm 1 shows us that the Scriptures are the only sure guide to life. It is primarily focused on the individual. Psalm 2 is primarily focused on the body as a whole and points the future security of those who belong to the kingdom of God.
With that background in mind we are now ready to read Psalm 1. Let’s read it out loud together:
Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
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.
The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
for the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
Psalm 1:1-6 (ESV)
The first two Psalms both reinforce that which we will see throughout the Psalms. There are two different ways or paths in life – only two – and God gives each person the choice of which way he or she will take. One way ends up in developing deep roots that allow us to stand firm amidst the storms of life and the other results in shallow roots that will prove to be insufficient when those same winds come.
The word “way” is used prominently in both Psalms. We see it here in verse 1 and then again in verse 6, where the Psalmist describes the two possible ways – the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked. And Psalm 2 also ends by pointing out that the way of the wicked ends with them perishing. It is a word that will come up frequently throughout our journey through the Psalms.
This theme of two ways permeates both the Old and New Testaments and is spoken of frequently by Jesus. Here is how he put it in the Sermon on the Mount:
Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
Matthew 7:13-14 (ESV)
In Psalm 1, we can sum up this principle of two ways like this:
My destiny is determined by my delight!
Two possible delights:
1. The world
The Psalmist begins by describing the blessed man in negative terms. The blessed man is the one who chooses not to follow the ways of this world. In verse 1, he describes what the worldly person is like and what the godly man is to avoid. This is a great example of Hebrew poetry where the Psalmist uses three parallel thoughts to describe the worldly person. Not only that, there are also three parallel elements within each of those three statements. Together this structure clearly demonstrates that the way of the world is a slippery slope which is to be avoided by the godly man.
We are warned here that becoming worldly is a process. It rarely happens all at once, but rather by degrees. We can clearly see this in the three sets of three ideas that the Psalmist uses here:
Walks > Stands > Sits
Becoming worldly begins with walking among the ungodly and then progresses until we get comfortable enough to stop and stand long enough to check out the world more closely and finally comes to the point where we settle down and take a seat with them.
Counsel > Way > Seat
We begin by being drawn in by the counsel of the world and there is certainly no shortage of that. Just ask Robert how many books there are in the “self-help” section at Bookman’s that promise people a prosperous life using worldly methods. From there it’s easy to progress to choosing those worldly principles as our consistent way of life and then finally settling into them once again and taking a permanent seat there.
Wicked > Sinners > Scoffers
The wicked here are those who would be found guilty of a single crime if they were taken to court. All of us start our lives there and if we don’t place our faith in Jesus, we will inevitably move to the second step of being a sinner – one who makes sin a lifestyle. And if we don’t stop the progression there, we’ll move to the final stage where we not only participate in a lifestyle of sin but also scoff at those who don’t join us.
We find this same warning against choosing the way of worldliness frequently in the New Testament. John probably expresses it most clearly and succinctly in his first epistle:
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world - the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life - is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
1 John 2:15-17 (ESV)
The Psalmist then goes on to describe the blessed man in a positive manner. The blessed man is the one who puts down deep roots by delighting in the Law of the Lord and meditating on it day and night. He delights in…
2. The Word
What does it mean to delight in God’s Word? The Hebrew word that is used here is the same word used in Genesis 34 and Esther 2 to describe a man delighting in a woman. That picture is really helpful in helping us to understand what it means to delight in God’s Word.
I think about when I first began to take delight in Mary, I did everything I could to make sure I had plenty of time to spend with her. I didn’t mind staying up late on Friday nights and then having to get up early to go to work on Saturday mornings. And I certainly didn’t do that out of some sense of obligation or because someone told me it would be good for me. It did it because I wanted to.
The word translated “law” here is the Hebrew word “torah”, a word that can also mean “instruction”. In fact, if you’re using the ESV translation, you will see a footnote to that effect. As you probably also know, that same word can be used to refer to the first five books of the Bible that contain the Old Testament law. The use of that particular word here is significant because it is calling attention to the fact that what is found in the Psalms is to be considered instruction that is to be studied just as diligently as the first five books of the Bible.
That is really exciting for us since we be spending a few months mining some of the riches of the Psalms. And the implication is that we’re going to find instruction there that will help us to put down those deep roots.
The Psalmist goes on to describe one of the characteristics of one who delights in God’s law – he will meditate on it day and night. We see that this is the application of a command that God gave through Joshua as the people were getting ready to enter into the Promised Land:
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
Joshua 1:8 (ESV)
Unfortunately, because of the way it is often practiced in our culture today, most of us don’t really understand what it means to meditate in the way the Scriptures describe that practice. The Hebrew word literally means “to growl” or “to moan” and it came to be used to describe uttering, speaking or musing.
In Hebrew thought, meditating on the Scriptures involved quietly repeating them in a soft, droning voice while abandoning all outside distractions. It was not a silent practice at all. But it was also not merely an outward action. When the same word is used of a lion growling over its prey, it also pictures the lion tearing up that prey and chewing it. With the Scriptures, the idea is that the blessed man is one who delights in God’s Word so much that he chews on it deliberately and thoroughly in order to understand it so he can apply it to his life. It is the process of Biblical meditation that provides the link between understanding and application.
I like how J.I. Packer defines meditation in his book, Knowing God:
Meditation is the activity of calling to mind, and thinking over, and dwelling on, and applying to oneself, the various things that one knows about the works and ways and purposes and promises of God. It is an activity of holy thought, consciously performed in the presence of God, under the eye of God, by the help of God, as a means of communication with God. Its purpose is to clear one’s mental and spiritual vision of God, and to let His truth make its full and proper impact on one’s mind and heart.
You’ll notice the emphasis on application there. The one who delights in God’s law and meditates on it day and night will apply God’s Word to every area of his life, 24 hours a day, not just for an hour or two on Sunday morning.
There are only two ways – one either chooses to delight in the world or one chooses to delight in God’s Word. There is no other alternative. And the choice that each person makes will determine their destiny:
Two possible destinies:
1. Prosperity
The Psalmist describes the one who delights in God’s law as a tree with deep roots who prospers in all that he does. But the prosperity that the author describes here is certainly not the way our culture defines that term. He is clearly not speaking here of material or financial prosperity, but rather spiritual prosperity.
Once again the Psalmist utilizes a typical three part Hebrew poetic form to describe the destiny of this man.
First of all he is planted by streams of water. It is instructive that the man does not plant himself. He has to be planted there by God, the same God who then becomes the living water that constantly supplies his needs. And as God provides that living water, the man is able to put down deep roots.
Second, he yields fruit in season. I’m reminded here of the words of Jesus:
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
John 15:5 (ESV)
As the blessed man abides in God and is nourished by His water, he will naturally produce fruit – much fruit.
Third, his leaf will not wither. He won’t be like my neighbor’s mesquite tree with shallow roots. I’m amazed that here in the desert we have trees like that. Because of their deep roots they still produce green leaves and blossoms even though they only get about 10 inches of rain each year.
Prosperity, as it is pictured here, does not mean a life free from hardship and suffering. Instead, it pictures the fulfillment of God’s will and His mission for each of us even in the face of difficulty as we are sustained by God’s presence in our lives through His Word.
And don’t you love verse 6? It says that God knows the way of the righteous. The word for “know” there is used elsewhere in the Old Testament to describe intimate knowledge, even sexual intimacy.
This is the only place in this Psalm where we see God take action. But if we read this verse carefully, we see that it is the “way of the righteous” that God knows, not the righteous person himself. That certainly doesn’t mean that God doesn’t know the righteous man, but the immediate implication here seems to be more that God will involve himself intimately in the life of the man who chooses the way of avoiding worldliness and delighting in His law.
In his message several weeks ago, Don Gailey did a really good job focusing on the need for us to live our lives in a way that is pleasing to God if we want to be intimate with Him. Although as Christ followers we can never do anything to lessen God’s love for us and His knowledge of us, we can inhibit His intimate involvement in our lives when we stray from delighting in His Word and applying it in our lives.
2. Perishing
The Psalmist uses a second picture to describe the wicked – that of chaff. When I roast coffee beans, the outer part of the coffee bean, the chaff, separates from the coffee beans. And because it is lighter than the beans, it blows away while the beans stay in the roaster because they are heavier.
So instead of being firmly planted where he can put down deep roots, the wicked man is completely unstable, being blown wherever the wind takes him. Paul described such a man in similar terms in his letter to the Ephesians:
…so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
Ephesians 4:14 (ESV)
It is no surprise that the way of such a person will perish. The word for perish that is used here comes from a root word that means to wander away or to lose oneself. In context here it pictures something that has been given up for lost or has strayed. It is important to note that once again it is the way of the wicked and not the wicked man himself who will perish.
Because of the focus on the outcome of the two different ways here rather than on the outcome of the two different kinds of people, I am inclined to think that this Psalm is not referring so much to salvation as it is to the richness and fruitfulness of our lives, not only here on this earth, but for eternity. That conclusion also seems to be consistent with the fact that the Psalms were written for those who were already worshipping God rather than as an outreach tool to those outside the community of faith.
This would also be consistent with Paul’s teaching to the church at Corinth.
According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw - each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
1 Corinthians 3:10-15 (ESV)
Here it is clear that our salvation is not at stake based on which way of living that we choose here on earth. But those who choose to delight in God’s Word and live by it will receive the blessing of rewards, the greatest of those being intimacy with Jesus Himself. On the other hand those who choose the way of the world will see all of the fruit of that life burned up and perish.
Every moment of every day we are faced with a choice of which of the two ways we will choose. We can choose the way of the world that results in being blown here and there, never allowing God to plant us and nourish us so we can put down those deep roots that will enable us to withstand the storms of life.
Or we can choose the way of delighting in God’s Word, meditating on it day and night so that we can constantly apply it in our lives. When we do that, God promises to be intimately involved in our lives, planting us by streams of living water, where he develops in us those deep roots that allow us to stand firm regardless of what storms we are faced with.
So what will you delight in, knowing that your delight determines your destiny?
