Blessed is the one …whose delight is in the law of the Lord and who meditates on his law day and night …Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
Psalm 1:1,2,4
It’s not often that the word ‘chaff’ pops up in conversation, particularly in modern, urban, environments…but the bible talks about it a lot.
When I read Psalm 1 again recently, 4 words stuck out to me…Blessed - Meditate - Chaff - Delight
Blessed - The Hebrew word ‘esher’ is translated Happy almost as often as it is translated Blessed…so is God giving us a secret to happiness here? This word ’esher' is also plural, which means ‘perpetual blessings’. The Psalmist suggests it’s possibly to experience, not just temporary happiness based on circumstance, but a deep and sustained blessedness (or absolute well-being) by following God’s direction in life.
Meditate - Our lives are unbelievably distracted, we are experts at multi-tasking. God calls us to meditate (to patiently ponder), not to empty our minds completely, but to allow God and His word to penetrate our minds, hearts, and wills more deeply...consistently, slowly, carefully — it takes work and involves the will, and is part of the key to blessedness
Chaff - At times living a life ignorant of God appears to be the way to success, acceptance, and prosperity. Trees may be slow growing, and fruit can take some time to grow, but the prosperity of the wicked is fleeting, for they are like chaff blown away by the wind. The Psalmist is encouraging us to be the tree, not the chaff!
Delight - As someone who regularly falls short of it, how can I be someone who ‘delights in God’s law’? Here’s the wonderful thing about God’s law…it’s been fulfilled by Jesus. So when I'm meditating on God’s law, and aware of my constant falling short, I’m drawn again to the wonder of the gospel and the glory of grace - that Jesus fulfilled the whole law when we weren’t able to, and because I am ‘in Christ’, I stand before the Father justified - just-as-if-I’d done nothing at all.
I’d much rather be the deep rooted tree, than the chaff blown by the winds of life. The more I meditate on the wonder of what Jesus achieved on my behalf, the deeper my roots go down, and the more blessedness flows to me.
Comments