Psalm 1 ~ like a tree

Psalm 1

^{English Standard Version, David Cochran Audio Bible}    

Blessed is the man^[a]
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

² but his delight is in the law^[b] of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

³ 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.
4 The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

 

⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
⁶ for the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

Footnotes:
a. Psalm 1:1 The singular Hebrew word for man (ish) is used here to portray a representative example of a godly person;
b. Psalm 1:2 Or instruction

We have had an incredible year for the trees here in the Houston area. Record drought. A stunning number of trees are still standing and dead as a doorbell. Being a gardener, a friend called me to show me her incredible composting skill. That couple can really make dirt. Anyway, they called me to show me their patio tree, one of 3, shading their patio, died in the middle of the drought. It had been fertilized, watered and it just keeled over. It was the 'one' they relied upon for shade. "Why?" They asked. I said my cousin worked for the Louisiana State Forestry Commission and when he visited he said record drought is not record drought. It is just an event that has occurred again and again over the millenniums we have no record of. It is nature's way of making the forest stronger.

But they said, "The tree had all the necessary things for life." I said," It's still the stress of the event of constant wind, constant heat and it got to the tree. "

And I have to add here, we lost a 120 year old Oak that I was passionately in love with during Hurricane Ike, 2008. That grand old lady had a tornado hit her and she politely leaned over and slowly did a whole lot of damage to the next door neighbor's home. An 18 wheeler crane had to come, from Colorado, to remove that beautiful, still green tree covered in acorns. Our area township building authority saw the 3 story crane appear and drove over to see what the crane, he could see over the housetops, was doing. We had just learned our daughter, at 33 weeks gestation, was not going to live.

And wouldn't you know, Psalm 1 was my reading that tornado/hurricane evening. I felt worse than worse. It set me on a journey. What did the book of Job mean and how did it relate to me...

Psalm 1 is about hope and believing we can trust God. The acorns left by the 120 year old Oak left a tree. We are the tree that survived this year's drought. Some day, we will be the real Christmas tree that will just be glorious for this particular season. But in God's promises - all those lights of Christmas - Jesus the Light - continue to shine.


John 1:
5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
 9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. ¹¹ He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. ¹² But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, ¹³ who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.



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