Psalm 1 has long been one of my favorites. It’s short, so I’ve included it below:
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”
This passage provides such a stunning picture of a deep-rooted tree that simply cannot be moved. A tree whose roots are so firm that regardless of what storms it may need to weather, it stands. It won’t budge. I don’t think it’s coincidental to find this chapter as the starting point for the book of Psalms. At the beginning of a book of honest worship and supplication, and before the wisdom literature of Proverbs, we are given a glimpse of what steadfastness looks like. Wisdom is found in the Lord and security comes through righteousness.
I pray that 2012 will find both me and you more firmly rooted in Christ. Let’s cease striving in our own efforts and yearn to grow more confident only in being found rooted in Him. That we “may know him and the power of his resurrection” (Phil. 3:10).
Did you catch that?! “That we may know Him.” There is no higher goal. There is no greater joy.
