Foreward
It has been a while since I have last posted and will be starting a new series with the book of Psalms as I am currently seeking wisdom from the Lord. I know that my journey will be a fruitful one and am looking forward to the blessings God has in place for me.
Passage
The Two Ways
1 How happy is the man
who does not follow the advice of the wicked
or take the path of sinners
or join a group of mockers!
2 Instead, his delight is in the LORD’s instruction,
and he meditates on it day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted beside streams of water
that bears its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does propspers.4 The wicked are not like this;
instead, they are like chaff that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not survive the judgment,
and sinners will not be in the community of the righteous.6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to ruin.
Thoughts
What is happiness?
This passage sums it up with this: Follow the Lord’s instructions and He will provide you with happiness.
We commonly define happiness as to be in a situation where things are easy or seem to work out in the way we want it to. We can also say that we are happy when we pray and get an answer favorable to what we want.
Who are we revering when we define happiness in this way? Me. I want to be in a good situation. I want to have my prayers answered in a way that pleases me. I want that job. I want that promotion. I want that new car. I want that man or woman. Me, me, me, me and more me. Why does God have to please us? What did we do to deserve an almighty God to bend to our selfish desires? The only thing that comes to my mind is our disobedience and crucifying His one and only Son. How does this action justify that God, who is holy and almighty, bend to our will and get what I want.
Side note: Notice how in the English language, we are capitalizing ‘I’ when it referrs to me? If you look at ‘God’, we capitalize the first letter to show importance.
God of the Bible is not that being. He is greater than all things, and is the maker of the entire universe. Let’s not treat him as a genie who does our bidding and someone who we wish to have things done the way we want it. Let’s continue to look at the Scripture to see what else God has in store for us:
2 Instead, his delight is in the LORD’s instruction,
and he meditates on it day and night.
Verse 1 is the outcome. Verse 2 is who that person is in order to attain it. Don’t we go through something like this on a daily basis? When we watch ads, we see the final outcome to get us hooked or ‘sold’ in order to pay attention and take heed to what is about to come next. Whether it is a surprising part of a movie or some sort of item we buy, we are inclined to listen only when we see the benefit. Verse 3 tells us who the person is and what his character is. When we are rooted in God’s word, we are solid and will prosper.
Although verse 3 talks about prospering, it does not specify earthly riches. It merely says that we will bear fruit and not wither. So where do we prosper? In what way does this promise of bearing fruits and not withering come into play? I think that the Psalmist is pointing towards hope in the fulfillment of God’s instructions. Where does God’s instructions come from? It comes from the Word of God, the Bible.
Apostle John talks about Jesus in the first verse and relates it to the Word:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God - John 1:1
This is a reference to how Christ was there in the beginning with God and was in perfect union. When the Psalmist wrote Psalm 1, he or she did not know about Jesus.
Jesus Christ should be the central point of our lives. When we continue to meditate on God’s word, it should point us to Christ and how His sacrifice on the cross was an act of love. We did nothing to deserve this unbiased, forgiving love and under normal circumstances, there is nothing we can do to claim that it is rightfully ours. Yet, the Gospel says that we can call it ours because of what Jesus did. Paul paints a beautiful picture to the church members in Philippi:
Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus,
who, existing in the form of God
did not consider equality with God
as something to be used for His own advantage.
Instead He emptied Himself
by assuming the form of slave,
taking on the likeness of men.
And when He had come as a man
in His external form,
He humbled Himself by becoming obedient
to the opint of death–
even to death on a cross.
For this reason God highly exalted Him
and gave Him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee will bow–
of those who are in heaven and on earth
and under the earth–
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:5-11
We did not deserve this savior and yet God provided that to us. He did that not only to show that He is God and He can do whatever He wishes, but did it for us. He knew what was going to happen yet did it anyway. He knew that Adam would fall but He also had a plan for us to have our relationship restored. Let’s not cheapen this gracious gift by doing things to say we DESERVE it. Let’s face the reality of the situation here: We did not deserve this wonderful gift.
Let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that God owes us anything when we do things for Him. We should do all things for Him because we are thankful for the things He did. Who would send his own son to die for someone who was against him the whole time? Only God, the good Father would.
Let’s not be like the wicked of the world, fellow brothers and sisters for they will not survive the jugment of the righteous and holy God.
If you have not accepted Jesus Christ to be your Savior and Lord, please think about what Jesus did on the cross. He did it because He loves you so much and wants you to join His family in perfect union. We, Christians, are not here to badger you and annoy you to death about Hell. We are simply letting you know the Truth and want to offer you to join us in the family of God.
To those who are not sure about what it means to call Jesus Christ as Lord, please let me know in the comments below and I will address it in the future!
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