my good buddy rob lloyd just got me a new bible because my old one was literally falling apart and i like the idea of starting again in a sense – rediscovering old favourite passages, underlining new ones, breaking the bible in so to speak…
and as i sat and thought where to begin i decided to start with the psalms, and i don’t know that i will necessarily read one per day but i am going to start today and see how it goes and i thought it might be nice to bring other people with me, or maybe you were looking for a new place to read and want to read along with me – i am going to read a psalm and write a comment or a thought or reflection and would love it if you wanted to write yours in the comments below so together we can learn from what God is saying to us as we take this journey…
so today, starting with psalm 1, what jumps out at you? what don’t you understand? what has God whispered as you read it? what is one idea you just really enjoyed? i would love to hear what you got out of it…
this is a great psalm – first thing that jumped out at me was line 1 ‘blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked’ – and to be honest i think i always read that as ‘council’ as in meeting-place or gathering, instead of counsel which surely means ‘being advised/counselled by’ which changes it completely… complete tie-in to one of my favourite proverbs ‘wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses’ [27.6] or ‘they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear’ [2 Timothy 4.3] and a reminder that even though it might look strongly appealing to have yes-people around us, it will be a blessing and better life choice to not live life being advised/counselled by these people but rather people who will speak truth in love.
and then verse 3 which talks about being ‘planted by streams of water’ – the result being that whatever you do will prosper – echoes of being firmly rooted like in the story of the house built on the rock [Matthew 7.24] or the need to be in constant connection to the vine which is God [John 15] and how as a result the fruit will naturally happen – not so much by work or effort but by inviting God to work it through you as you stay holding on to Him.
so that’s a good start to this journey – the reminder that as a Christ follower my number one focus must be on being nourished by my Father in heaven and that i should look to surround myself with people [at least in terms of those who advise/bring counsel to me] who actively follow Christ and will unashamedly speak truth in love to me [even if sometimes that might be hard for me to receive]
[To continue to Psalm 2, click here]
[To return to the start of this series on Psalms as well as some other Bible things, click here]
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Aaaaaaaaaweshome dude! I think this is like a really nifty idea…two things that jumped out when I read ps 1…1…that looooooong psalm we gona have to do in segments :). 1.(Yes I am one of those number illiterate ppl and I did put a double one haha) verse2…was a shoker coz do I really go thru every moment of my life actively thinking of Gods will and word?! Instead of just thinking about it in the mornings when I do devotions…mayb my days will b less of a soap operah and more of a love song to God if I did. And now drrrrrr dish 2. Verse 3…that bears fruit in season…O MY HAT! I ve recently been feeling sooooo unfulfilled! Like I’m just struggling thru life lesson after test after lesson after test…failing test getting lesson and test again…and again…but when does the results come ?! When do I say..oooooooh light bulb moment! Now I can see the use of that lesson and the results of that test! But here they say the fruit shows in its right time! When God knows its the right time! So rather than wanting to rush thru the test or just scan thru the lesson I am thinking I shud lean into the hard times and leave waiting impaitiently for the fruit for Abba? 3. )Es a third thought has crossed my mind…all this talk about fruit has made me acutely aware that I haven’t had breakfast…
Hey Brett,
good stuff… just went to a Vineyard retreat recently led by Alexander Venter using his latest book ‘Praying the Psalms’. It was an awesome time and an eye opener, to realize just how God speaks so profoundly through David’s songs.
I should really be taking up your challenge…!
There’s no reason for a but, but, but, but… maybe I should turn off the out-bored… de-motor-vater!
Bless you as you walk through the Psalter and hear God’s voice egging you on to higher stuff.
love to Val,
Ian
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I am a year behind you but I think the more of this kind of blog the better. I am working through the Bible chronologically, just up to Deuteronomy so far, and I also do a verse by verse blog on Galatians that I just started on calebseye II. I bet there are dozens of other blogs that work through one book of the Bible or another.
What most strikes me this time in Psalm 1 is the blessing of not sitting in the seat of the scoffers. It is such a pervasive part of our world to laugh at everything, to be cynical, and I admit I get as pulled in as anyone. But it is a bleak world to always be laughing at everything and take nothing seriously and respectfully. So I intend not to sit in that seat, and when I realize I’m doing it to stand up and leave.
Blessings on you. Clearly you have persevered for a while now.
appreciate your insight Carroll and you make a strong point – even with just the idea of leaving when talk gets bad [what came to mind immediately for me was more gossip and slander and how sometimes those situations come up when people are bad mouthing others and you don’t know what to do – first prize is probably taking them on which i would hopefully do for the most part, but for those who might be too timid to speak up then leaving is another choice option – choosing not to be associated with that kind of speak] – thankx a lot.