It’s February and I’m starting this new month in the book of Psalms. You’re welcome to join me. The first verses tell us what a blessed person looks like.
“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. 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, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers” (Psalm 1:1-3).
The first point I recognize is that the blessed person doesn’t hang out just anywhere. He’s discriminating. He’s delighted to think about God’s words day and night (not just a few hours a week). He doesn’t follow bad advice or spend too much time with those who reject or mock God.
The next thing I see in this psalm looks like a promise. The blessed person’s life, like a tree with a good water source nearby, stays healthy and yields fruit at the appropriate time, and whatever he does prospers.
I imagine myself the exuberant first grader raising her hand as high as she can to get her teacher’s attention. Me, over here, I want to be blessed like that!
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It’s been so valuable for me to spend every day in January learning from a chapter in the book of Proverbs; I just can’t resist, I’m diving right in to do the same in February with the book of Psalms. I’ll read a chapter (or a large section if it’s a huge chapter) and pick out a few verses that catch my eye and invite more attention.
Proverbs opened with declaring its purpose to teach us wisdom. Psalms, on the other hand, seems to point us more toward worship music, since the word psalm was originally related to singing with a harp accompaniment. Perhaps we’ll sing these in heaven one day with the folks who wrote them.
by Kathy Sheldon Davis
kathysheldondavis.com 