Dear Friends,
We hope this week's devotional will encourage you in your spiritual walk. We give thanks to Michael Lund, Library Manager, for writing this devotional.
You are welcome to share this and include it in your church newsletters if you wish; we just ask that you please give credit to NTC and the author. Thank you!
Psalm 1 (NRSVUE)
1 Happy are those
who do not follow the advice of the wicked
or take the path that sinners tread
or sit in the seat of scoffers,
2 but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law they meditate day and night.
3 They are like trees
planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.
4 The wicked are not so
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous,
6 for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
Devotional Thought
It’s a common view that Christianity is just following a big list of ‘do’ and ‘do not’ rules. While this is a misconception, it’s not entirely unfounded – there are guides in the Bible for righteous living. Today’s devotional passage contains a few of these guides for life. Psalm 1, as the first in the book of Psalms, acts as an introduction to the rest of the Psalms, a lens through which to interpret the others. Just like other wisdom writings in the Bible, it contrasts two ways of life: the happy, fruitful, righteous compared with the wicked who are like chaff and blown away, the sinners whose way will perish.
It’s unusual (in modern times) to define happiness by avoiding certain things, but this is what the Psalmist does. They advise against following the advice of the wicked or emulating their way of life (vv. 1, 5). According to the Psalm, people who do this while seeking God through his word will be happy. They will be given the best of the best, like trees transplanted alongside a river, and will be fruitful (v.3). The fruitfulness and prospering that occurs is “not so much a reward as a result” of a life connected to the source of life (May, Psalms, 1994:43). The grounded, happy person in relationship with the Lord – the Creator who sustains life – is contrasted with the wicked, swept away by the wind.
Prayer
Oh God, it's so easy to look at people with ill-gotten success, wealth, fame, or power, and want a little of that for ourselves. Help us not to follow their ways, but instead to seek You and your life-giving wisdom. Thank you for giving your Spirit who brings joy, sustains us, and watches over us.
Thank you for those around us who point us toward you, and who give encouragement and wise counsel. Help us be those people for our friends and family. Amen.
Kind regards,
Michael Lund (Library Manager)