Digging into the Psalms (Part 1)

Over the next few months, I plan on doing a personal study in the Psalms. I’m really excited about it so I’ll probably post more often on what I’m learning as a I study. Today I started with Psalm 1.

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.
(Psalm 1:1-6 ESV)

What a great introduction to the Psalms! The Psalmist starts the Book of Psalms with a description of those who delight in the law of the Lord and those who do not (the mockers). The line that always stands out to me from this Psalm is, “…and on his law he meditates day and night”. Until today I thought that meant that I literally had to sit and pray and read the Bible for hours on end. Well, as a mom of young children that’s almost impossible. As I type my daughter is watching Mickey Mouse while my son is crying in his crib because he decided to finish his nap a little earlier than I’d planned. So much for meditating in peace!

Then it hit me. When the psalmist speaks of delighting in God’s law and meditating on His word, he’s describing a lifestyle, a manner of living if you will. From the moment I wake to the second I close my eyes in sleep, I should desire to do the will of God and glorify Him in every area of my life. Does that mean I will spend some time in His word and have moments of dedicated prayer? Yes! But, it also means that while I’m making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and wiping noses and changing diapers and running carpool and watching my daughter at gymnastics I can delight in God’s word and glorify Him as I go about my day. And as I do that, I’m also teaching my children to “delight in the law of the Lord.”

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
(Deuteronomy 6:4-9 ESV)

The Word of God should be my delight and I should meditate on it day and night by living out His will when I talk and I sit and I walk and I lie down. As I do that, my children and all those around me will experience the blessings of one who lives for Him.

Reading Psalm 1 has gotten me really excited to dig into the Psalms. I hope you’ll join me!