Happy those who do not follow the counsel of the wicked, Nor go the way of sinners, nor sit in company with scoffers,
Rather, the law of the Lord is their joy; God's law they study day and night.
They are like a tree planted near streams of water, that yields its fruit in season; Its leaves never wither; whatever they do prospers.
But not the wicked! They are like chaff driven by the wind.
Therefore the wicked will not survive judgment, nor will sinners in the assembly of the just.
The Lord watches over the way of the just, but the way of the wicked leads to ruin.
Arg. I just typed a response for 20 minutes and then it disapeared while trying to sign in, so now you'll get the condensed version.
ReplyDelete"the law of the Lord is their joy"
This is an analogy I tell my kids: I have a bunch of young children, so I put a fence in my backyard. Is that because I am mean and I don't want my children to explore the world boundary free? No, of course not. I do this out of great love for my children whom I wish to protect from any danger. In the same respect God puts fences in our life: The 10 commandments, the golden rule, Church laws... these are for our safety. I also speak from experience of having crawled over that fence and explored, boundary free. Years later I jumped back over that fence, happy to live within it's boundarys. But, not without the physical and emotional consequences of my "exploration". So it's up to us whether the "law of the Lord" will be a burden or a joy to us.
This has always been one of my favorite passages. For what it's worth, I like the KJV of this where it says that "he meditate[s] day and night" instead of "study[s] day and night". To me, meditate has a much deeper and 'involved' feel to it than to study.
ReplyDeleteNevertheless, it is interesting that it says he studies day and night. Not just occasionally. And in so doing, he is like a tree planted by a watering source. Of course the watering source is the Word of God.
When I read this I thought about the fruit that this person immersed in the law has. The fruit of the Spirit was brought to my mind from Galations 5:22-23, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." How wonderful would it be to be able to have these fruits when you need them! Wouldn't it be nice to be patient when you needed patience? Wouldn't it be nice to be gentle when a gentle word was needed? Wouldn't it be nice to have more self-control? And here we have at the beginning of Psalms a recipe for having just that: meditate on the law of God. Meditate on the Word.
Lord, help me to spend more time in your Word. Not just reading. But in praying your Word. In studying your Word. In coming to know your Word.
I was reading "The Pilgrim Continue His Way" the other day and I came across this passage...
ReplyDelete"How much disaster we meet with just because was are lazy about seeking light for our soul through the word of truth. We do not study God's law day and night, we do not pray about it diligently and unceasingly. And because of this our inner man is hungry and cold, starved, so that it has no strength to take a bold step forward upon the road of righteousness and salvation! And so, beloved, let us resolve to make use of the methods, and so often as possible fill our minds with thoughts of heavenly things; and love, poured down into our hearts from on high, will burst into flame within us."
It's when I let the daily duties and busy-ness of life get in the way of taking time for prayer and spiritual study that I find myself most stressed and anxious. I do feel starved and weakened, I hunger for peace and contentment. I also find that when I am intentional about making prayer time a priority, when I spend time meditating on God's word even in the midst of the busy-ness, I am so much more at peace. I find can joy in even the mundane daily tasks that always require my time and attention. I feel rooted and it is then that my efforts yield the most fruit. I just wish that I wouldn't always have to be reminded of this the hard way!