In the Lord I Take Refuge: 31 Days in the PsalmsSample

The first psalm serves as the gateway to the entire book of Psalms, stressing that those who would worship God genuinely must embrace his Law (or Torah)—his covenant instruction founded on his redeeming grace. This psalm addresses topics also found in the Bible’s wisdom literature and makes them the subject of song. When we joyfully sing this psalm, its values become ours. We are changed.

In a sustained contrast, Psalm 1 reminds us that, in the end, there are only two ways to live. And whatever else happens in our lives today, the crucial, bottom-line question is: which of the two ways described in this psalm will we embrace? Beneath the never-ending list of “to-do’s” clamoring for our attention lies the fundamental choice to receive instruction and influence either from God or fools. Will we listen to the voice of life or the voices of death? Will we breathe in God’s life-giving instruction, sinking deep roots (v. 3), or will we breathe in the empty instruction of those who “will not stand in the judgment” (v. 5)? Will the trials still to come in our lives prove us to be deep-rooted trees, incapable of being blown over, or will they show us to be chaff, blown away by the slightest breeze?

Happily, this psalm and its two ways to live are not a choice between stoic obedience or gleeful disobedience. The first word of the psalm makes clear that true, solid happiness—what the Bible calls “blessedness”—is found in God and his Word. Verse 2 reiterates—“His delight is in the law of the Lord.” Nothing can compare with the blessedness—the fruitfulness, flourishing, prospering, and delightfulness of a life saturated with the Word of God.

Walk with God. Soak in his Word. Take his yoke upon you (cf. Matt. 11:29). You will be blessed—truly happy, with happiness the winds of trial cannot blow away.