Saturday Psalm (1a)

I would like to start something a little different – on Saturdays, instead of a normal post, we will look at a Psalm, or just a few verses of a Psalm.  I hope that it will be a blessing and an encouragement to you.

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.  But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.  And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.  The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.  Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.  For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Psalm 1:1-6

This week, we will look again at the first Psalm and the characteristics of the “blessed man.”  The Bible says here that “he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season…”  The blessed man is going to be like a well-watered and fruitful tree.

Over the last two summers, we have had a bit of a drought in my area of the country.  Many of the trees look dry and withered during the heat of the summer.  Some fruit trees have died or not produced much fruit.  But it is different along the river.  The trees along the river are still lush and green.  They are still producing fruit.  They still have a source of water.

It is the same with the blessed man. The blessed man produces fruit while others are withering under the heat of the world.  The blessed man has a source of blessing that will never dry up and never go away.  The blessed man is just blessed!  Let us be one of those blessed men today and every day!

Search Me

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 139:23-24

I used to think of this verse as David telling the Lord to search him and “see if there be any wicked way in me…” because he knew that there was no wicked way in him.  I thought that David was saying that he was confident that there was no evil in himself.  But today as I was reading these verses, I read it with a slightly different perspective.  It may be true that David was saying that his heart was right with God and thoughts were pure before Him.  But it could also be taken as David’s desire for the Lord to purify him, which is something we can all desire.

At the end of the verse, he asks the Lord to “lead me in the way everlasting.”  He wants God to lead him and help him, which is a great prayer for any of us.  And, in order to be “led in the way everlasting,” he first needed the Lord to search him, try his heart and his thoughts, “and see if there be any wicked way in me.”  I think that this was a legitimate request – he wanted the Lord to search him and try him, so that he could eliminate any wrong thoughts and motives and eliminate any wicked way that the Lord might find.

All of us could stand to ask the Lord to search us and try us, and find any sin in our lives, so that we can get rid of it and draw closer to Him.  The problem is, most people don’t want the Lord searching their hearts and thoughts and ways because they don’t want Him pointing out their pet sin that they are trying to hang on to.

How are we doing today?  Would we be willing to ask the Lord to search and try us and help us get rid of anything evil that He might find?