Songs of the Soul: A Lent DevotionalSample

My wife has a green thumb: every room of our flat is filled with flourishing plant life. She works constantly at keeping our plants healthy, but I often think it’s more than just proper watering and sunlight that help them prosper. It’s her constant company, good spirit, and joy-filled hope that feed their health.

This opening to the psalmist’s collection states a theme that will run throughout the psalms, which is that a person who delights in and cherishes godly principles and reflects on them, making them a part of their life during the day and the night, will be blessed in ways that lead to their endeavors prospering.

The imagery used is of a tree planted by a flowing stream that yields seasonal fruit and does not wither away. In the same way, we can think of God as a Gardener who tends to His people, giving them everything they need to thrive. He gives us principles throughout Scripture and is constantly at work nourishing what He has planted into the soil of our lives. We’re blessed by Him and can healthily prosper if we feed on what is graciously given. This is the abiding Truth of this psalm.

But the psalmist begins by framing this message as a warning, knowing how we might fail to keep ourselves planted by Living Water because of the deceptive ways of evil. In three visual images, the psalmist paints a picture of the progressive pull of what counters the Presence of God. First is the image of someone casually or unintentionally walking in step with wickedness, where they’re not fully engaged but are in close proximity to wicked things. Next comes the image of a person actively living a lifestyle of sin, or “standing in the ways that sinners take”. Instead of walking away, they’re now taking part in what is against God’s delight. And this leads to the third image of someone who fully sits in the company of mockers and actively ridicules what God has established.

The fact is that you are blessed if you protect yourself against this progressive allure of evil. God desires that any onslaught on you will not take hold because you actively find ways to delight in the Creator God, each and every day. Our God desires for all that He has created, including you, to prosper and flourish.

Rick Bates
Pastor

Prayer:

God, as I enter this Lent season, I desire to be healthy and prosper in my life. Please assist me to drink deep from Your Living Water as I delight in and meditate on You, Lord, day and night. Amen.