Journey through the Psalms: A 7-Day DevotionalSample

Blessed

The very first word of the very first psalm reveals what God wants for his people—blessing. Nothing compares to the reward of living out a close walk with him. Such a walk entails a continual rejection of one way and a wholehearted embracing of another. Truly blessed people are those who guard their hearts from the allure of the world (v. 1) and fixate on the ways of God (v.  2). Turning from worldliness isn’t a onetime choice; it’s constant—every moment of every day. Whose counsel will guide us? What will fill our time, and with whom will we fill it? The psalmist makes it seem so simple, and it actually is that simple—it’s just not easy. But by fixating on God’s Word, it gets easier. That’s because we’re changed in the process. Over time, the pull of worldly power is weakened, and our delight in God’s ways grows stronger (v. 2). So does our wisdom, for we realize that delighting in God’s ways isn’t something to do as a way to get more blessing—the delight is the blessing. Even so, as we drink in the water of God’s Word and ways, we become like a wellwatered, fruit-producing tree, and we find that every part of our lives and work and relationships prospers in practical, tangible ways (v.  3). To know this blessing for ourselves, it helps to see the world as it really is. The promises of easy pleasure and avoidance of pain inevitably evaporate into nothing (v. 4), and those who choose that path, rejecting God and those who love him, will be gone (v. 5). In the meantime, the Lord intimately “knows” his own, which means we aren’t left to ourselves as we seek to walk with him (v. 6).

It’s a struggle at times to fixate on God’s Word and avoid falling into worldly temptation. There is only one person who ever did—Jesus. He is the only One who has ever lived out Psalm 1 as God intends. But in union with him, we can become the flourishing tree we find in this psalm, because in him are the streams of water that well up to eternal life (John 4:14).