DEEP ROOTED BLESSINGS
Orbiting high above the earth, satellite images of the middle-eastern region present a stark contrast, as a vast sea of white sand is suddenly split in half by a river of green vegetation. The Nile River and its massive delta emphatically promise the presence of life in the midst of an enormous wasteland filled with certain death. The presence of water makes all the difference here and the trees grow fruitful and strong in this oasis. This scene must have been similar to the one that the psalmist envisioned when he sat down to write the first of many great psalms of God’s faithfulness. Although he was most likely looking to the Jordan River and not the Nile, the precept remains the same, and the spiritual metaphor is clearly understood: strong, deep rooted trees that bring forth abundant fruit need a constant source of life-giving water or they will wither and die.
The life-giving water to which the psalmist referred was not the empty philosophy and man-centered counsel that so commonly finds expression in the human experience, but to the living water of God’s Word and His law contained therein. Two distinct sources of wisdom are represented here, and two very different destinies are achieved as a result of heeding them. And so the story goes, as it has from the very beginning; there are two paths set before mankind and we all must choose which one to follow. As Warren Wiersbe said, “"Bible history seems to be built around the concept of 'two men': the 'first Adam' and the 'last Adam', Cain and Abel, Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob, David and Saul, and Bible history culminates in Christ and Antichrist. Two men, two ways, two destinies.”1. This is a universal truth that the most ardent heathen will acknowledge. Even one of the most hedonistic rock bands of the 1970’s, Led Zeppelin, was forced to acknowledge in their famous anthem, ‘Stairway To Heaven’, “…Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run, there's still time to change the road you're on.”2.
Just as the Nile River slices narrowly through the desert of Northern Africa, the path of God’s blessing is a narrow one as well. Consider what Jesus told His disciples in Mat 7:13, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”3. Following the Law of God in the time of David was equally as narrow, if not more so, as following Jesus is today. The nations that surrounded Israel then all worshipped and served a wicked pantheon of false deities and molded images, each having their own perverse system of beliefs, ethics, and moral codes with which to inform their conduct and manner of living. Israel stood alone in acknowledging one true and living God who created and sustains all things. A choice had to be made then, as it does now, to serve the one true and living God, and to seek after Him for the wisdom and truth found in His word, meditating and delighting upon it day and night; or to walk in the counsel of the ungodly, to stand in the path of sinners, and to sit in the seat of the scornful.
But the ‘proof is in the pudding’ as they say; for the destiny of a life spent adhering to the correct path will be justified in the fruit that was brought forth in its season.
Certainly a righteous life is expected to ultimately bear good fruit, but even an unrighteous person can produce what appears to be good fruit for a season. However, Psalm One is not primarily concerned with the temporary nature of this life, although considerable benefits can be gained by wise living since, “…whatever he does shall prosper.”4, but the text clearly demands that the, “…ungodly shall not stand in the judgement…” nor, “…in the congregation of the righteous…” because, “…the way of the ungodly shall perish.”5. These are obvious references, not to temporal discomforts in this life but, to the curse of eternal life separated from the peace and blessings of God’s presence, “…like the chaff which the wind drives away…”6. Conversely, the blessings that arise from a covenant relationship with God, in which we know Him and He knows us intimately, and which ultimately culminates in everlasting life are immeasurably fruitful, “…like a tree planted by the rivers of water…”7.
Jesus used this metaphor when he spoke to the woman at the well, saying, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”8. Of course, those hopeful days are still yet in the future for those of us who trust in Christ, but in the meantime we continue to delight in God’s word and meditate upon His truth day and night, because of the peace it brings to our troubled souls, and the light that it brings to the dark path that lies ahead of us. Dr. Perowne captures this sentiment well in his commentary when he states, “The very expressions, ‘his delight,’ and ‘meditates in it’, show clearly enough that the law to such a man was more than a mere rule, after which he was to frame his outward life; that it was the food and aliment of his spirit.”9., and so should it be for us.
Works Cited
1. Wiersbe, W., The Bible Exposition Commentary: Old Testament Wisdom and Poetry, p. 85.
2. Stairway to Heaven, Led Zeppelin IV, Written by Jimmy Page, 1971, Atlantic Records
3. New King James Version, Holy Bible, Thomas Nelson, Inc. Publisher, Mat 7:13-14.
4. New King James Version, Holy Bible, Thomas Nelson, Inc. Publisher, Psalm 1:3.
5. New King James Version, Holy Bible, Thomas Nelson, Inc. Publisher, Psalm 1:5-6.
6. New King James Version, Holy Bible, Thomas Nelson, Inc. Publisher, Psalm 1:4.
7. New King James Version, Holy Bible, Thomas Nelson, Inc. Publisher, Psalm 1:3.
8. New King James Version, Holy Bible, Thomas Nelson, Inc. Publisher, John 4:13-14.
9. J.J. Stewart Perowne, D.D., Book of Psalms Notes, Warren F. Draper., Publisher, 1876
