Hi, friend!

In August of 2023, I wrote a series of posts on Psalm 107, and in the first post of that series, I shared some insight into the original title of this devotional blog and its matching Facebook page, “Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So”. Since then, I have received some clarity from the Lord on my identity and calling in Christ and have changed the name of this devotional blog to “The Fruitful Educator” and my Facebook page to “Andrea Lemon, Author/Teacher”. Though I have made those title changes, Psalm 107, especially verse 2, continues to provide guidance in my life.

God has made it quite clear that my years of using the excuse of working for the government or getting paid by tax dollars to be quiet about my faith have come to an end.

He’s also made it quite clear in recent weeks that Psalm 107 isn’t the only psalm He’s going to use to speak to me or through me. So, here we find ourselves, you and me, walking together through The Book of Psalms. We’ll look at Psalms 1-3 this week, and then we’ll see where Holy Spirit leads from there.

In my Bible (reference at end of post), the preface for The Book of Psalms shares that the Hebrew word for psalms is “tehilim”, meaning praise and that our English title for the book comes from the Greek translation, meaning “songs of praise”. That said, not every psalm in The Book of Psalms is a song. All of the psalms are written in poetic form, but some of the psalms are actually prayers and would not have been sung. Also, some of the songs and prayers are clearly filled with praise, while others lean more toward lament or petition. Many of the psalms are attributed to King David while others are attributed to his son Solomon or to different members of the Levites who served in the tabernacle and temple. The psalms are not organized by author or chronological order, but are a collection of 150 psalms written over several centuries.

Whatever the specifics, I think we’ll find that all of the psalms include elements of worship and a clear message that God is God alone, sovereign over all, and He alone is worthy of our praise and capable of answering our prayers and petitions. Though the psalmists knew only the promise of a Messiah, I have a feeling we’ll see how Jesus and our great need of Him is revealed through the psalms. For the history buffs, we’ll also uncover more about the psalmists themselves and the events they discuss as we study.

Let’s dive in today with Psalm 1 (CSB):

1 How happy is the one who does not
walk in the advice of the wicked
or stand in the pathway with sinners
or sit in the company of mockers!
2 Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction,
and he meditates on it day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted beside flowing streams
that bears its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.

4 The wicked are not like this;
instead, they are like chaff that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand up in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to ruin.

In the Christian Standard Bible, the title under Psalm 1 is “The Two Ways”.

This opening psalm presents a theme that is clear throughout The Book of Psalms:

Each of us must choose one of two ways to live – God’s way or not God’s way.

In Psalm 1, verses 1-3 show what life is like for the person who chooses God’s way. Verse one shows us that the person who chooses God’s way does not:

• seek or take advice from people who do not choose God’s way
• make a practice of sinning
• fellowship with people who mock others, especially God or His way

Verse 2 shows us that the person who chooses God’s way does:

• delight in the Lord’s instruction, which looks like:
  • eagerly studying the Bible
  • continually seeking God’s counsel in prayer
  • intently listening to godly teachers and counselors
  • actively fellowshipping with other people who seek and speak God’s way

Verse 3 uses the image of a tree planted by the water to show us the blessings that choosing God’s way brings to us. A tree planted by the water has constant access to one of its most needed resources. Likewise, the person who chooses God’s ways, who delights in the Lord’s instruction has constant access to Living Water through Jesus Christ, our Savior (John 4; John 7:37-38).

For the tree, this access to water helps it to bear physical fruit and prevents its leaves from withering; essentially, the tree is in good health and fulfills its purpose. For the person who chooses God’s ways, constant access to Living Water, provided to believers through Holy Spirit, helps us bear spiritual fruit as individuals such as we see in Galatians 5:22-23 and also collective fruit of service and ministry that has eternal outcomes like people being saved, people realizing and accepting their God-given calling, etc… (John 15).

This constant access also keeps the believer who chooses God’s way from withering, spiritually as well as emotionally, mentally, and often physically. Isaiah 40:31 reminds us that the person who puts their trust in the Lord will not faint or grow weary because God will renew their strength and lift them up.

For those who choose God’s way, verses 1-3 provide rich encouragement to continue to choose God’s way, to delight ourselves in His instruction, to actively draw close to Him. The ending of verse 3 is especially uplifting for the person who chooses God’s way: “Whatever he does prospers.”

Who doesn’t want to prosper?!

I know I certainly enjoying succeeding and doing well over failing or doing poorly. I feel like this is likely why my King James Bible features the title “Blessings on the Godly” under Psalm 1. Being prosperous in whatever you do is a great blessing indeed!

But not all of Psalm 1 is about blessings on the godly. There is another way that is addressed in verses 4-6 of this psalm. These verses paint a very different picture.

For today though, let’s stop here, reflect a bit, and pray. We’ll pick up on verses 4-6 tomorrow.

Reflection and Discussion:

As we journey through the psalms, I think we’ll find that the psalmists often wrestled with applying what they knew about God’s way to their daily lives. As a Christian, I must confess that I share their struggle. I think we’d be hard-pressed to find a believer who doesn’t wonder if they are correctly applying one or more parts of God’s instruction to their lives. Let’s take a look at applying God’s way as it is written in Psalm 1:1 and please, please, please feel free, and encouraged!, to click “comment” below and respond to some of these questions. Discussion with other believers helps us grapple with and apply the more challenging parts of choosing God’s way, and I’d love for this to be a place you feel safe doing that.

Using the King James Version and Christian Standard Bible, I summarized verse 1 to make these points about what the person who chooses God’s way does not do:

1. seek or take advice from people who do not choose God’s way
2. make a practice of sinning
3. fellowship with people who mock others, especially God or His way

Point one seems fairly straight-forward – don’t ask for or follow the advice of someone who’s going a way you don’t want to go – but what about points two and three?

• The KJV writes what I’ve called point two as “standeth in the way of sinners” and CSB writes it as “stand in the pathway with sinners”. What is the way of a sinner, or the pathway of a sinner? What does the Bible say about sin? Is there a difference between sinning and making a practice of sinning?

• What I’ve called point three is written in the KJV as “sitteth in the seat of the scornful” and CSB writes it as “sit in the company of mockers”. What does it mean to be a scornful person or a mocker? Why would someone who chooses God’s way not want to sit with those who scorn or mock others? What about those who scorn or mock God? What does the Bible say on the matter?

• From God’s word, we know that we are all are sinners, fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23-24), that Christ came to save ALL people from the sickness of sin (Mark 2:17), and that Christ commands us to go into all the world and make disciples in His name (Mathew 28:16-20). Yet, we see in Psalm 1 and even some New Testament verses, such as 1 Corinthians 15:33 and 2 Thessalonians 3:6, that we are to keep away from people who do not choose God’s way. This raises one of those questions that we must wrestle with God’s help in order to apply it to our lives:
  • How do we reach out to all people in Jesus’ name to make disciples if we only fellowship with other people who choose God’s way?
  • How do those who choose God’s way see the eternal fruit promised in Psalm 1:3 if we do not reach out to sinners to tell them about God’s greatness and goodness and His redemption plan made possible by the obedience of the Son, Jesus Christ our Lord?
  • Is there a difference between fellowshipping and reaching out?
  • Jesus was called “friend of sinners”. Is it possible to be friends with sinners and not be drawn onto the pathway of sin? What does this look like in our daily lives? Is there a difference between being friends, being friendly, and fellowshipping?

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for the collection of psalms found in Your Holy Word. Teach us, Lord, to delight in Your instruction. Grant us discernment to know how to apply Your instruction to our daily lives. Father, we are not perfect as Your Son Jesus, our Savior, is perfect. We believe You redeem the spirits of those who call on You, and so we are the Redeemed, but Father, we struggle with our unredeemed flesh and its desire to sin. Help us, Lord, to be a friend to sinners as Jesus is a friend to sinners without falling onto the pathway of sin ourselves. Sustain us in Your way as the tree planted by the water is sustained. We share Your desire that none be lost and, Father, we desire not to lose the way ourselves. We place our hearts and our minds in Your perfect and powerful care. Teach us. Transform us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Make sure you don’t miss the next post on Psalm 1:4-6 and the wrap up for Psalm 1. To ensure you never miss a post, sign up for email notifications below:

Reference for the study Bible I use at home:

Holman KJV Study Bible. 2012. Holman Bible Publishers. Nashville, TN.