Preaching the Gospel to Myself

Psalm 1 paints a picture of one who is called “blessed,” one who experiences the LORD’s favor. Many misunderstand this psalm to say, “If you don’t walk in the counsel of the wicked… then you will be blessed . . . If you meditate on the law of the LORD, then you will be blessed.” But the psalm never bases blessing on what we do. Rather, those who are blessed will delight in and meditate on the law of the LORD . . . in all they do, they will prosper. Why? It is because they have been planted by streams of water that they yield fruit.

By default, if left to my own train of thought, I daily tell myself that I must do in order to be blessed. But as I read the Bible, God tells me the exact opposite: because I am blessed, I will do. I cannot prosper myself in anything I do! Unless he has planted me by streams of water, I will not yield fruit in due time. Therefore I must trust him to bless me out of his generosity. It is the LORD who plants, and those who are blessed yield fruit and prosper.

There are many actions in Psalm 1 (walk, stand, sit, meditate, yield, etc). And in the first few verses, there is a progression from walking to standing, and from standing to sitting. There is movement from mobility to immobility, but immobility is not the issue. The issue is: Will I sit in the seat of scoffers, or will I be planted by streams of water? Of course the latter, but how? I must delight in and meditate on the law (literally “instruction”) of the LORD constantly. God plants me by his Word, and as I delight in it and meditate upon it I will yield fruit and prosper.