Like a Tree

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, 2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. 3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers. 4 Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand 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 destruction.

God’s instructions and rewards in Psalm one are so simple yet beautifully filled with power. The beginning proclaims blessing, but for who? For those who do none of the following things; follow in the footsteps of those that do not know God, stand beside those that offend God, or sit with those that mock God and His ways. The blessing is for those who stand firmly on God’s words, wisdom, and promises. Who choose to live in God’s light despite those that mock and revile them for doing so. It reminds us to live separately from the world, and prepares us for the reaction we will receive because of that choice. Then it offers us a practical solution of how to maintain the path we have chosen by providing encouragement and presenting the reward for holding fast.

It is very easy to overcomplicate what it means to follow God, and in this Psalm we find a simple solution. That solution in that if we delight in the “law” or instruction of the Lord and if we meditate on it continuously that we will thrive. Jeremiah 31:33 prophesies the New Covenant stating, “I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God and they shall be my people.” This is the same promise Paul is referencing in Hebrews when he writes, “I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they will be to me a people...” (Hebrews 8:10) With the New Covenant, we have access to God through the Holy Spirit thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. The Holy Spirit is who writes God’s instructions on our hearts and minds. He is our Comforter and our Guide, and when surrendered to His work in us, He begins to change us. We can begin to start understanding that change by reading God’s word. God’s word helps illuminate the changes happening within us through the power of the Holy Spirit, and it is through the Bible that we can lean into the power of the process we are undergoing.

When we do this, this Psalm promises us success and fruitfulness. We will become like a tree planted by a stream and bearing the fruit of God’s work within us, effortlessly through the power of the Holy Spirit. The process of surrendering to God won't always be effortless, but the fruit that comes after the surrender will be. Each harvest of fruit will mature in its' season. We will prosper when we are guided by Him. Trees do not have to tarry to bear fruit, it is simply their nature to do so. Yet, just like a tree needs the proper conditions to flourish, so do we. Our proper conditions are met when we meditate on God’s instructions; seeking to understand the changes happening within us. Then we must embrace them, lean into them, and separating ourselves from those that oppose who He is and what He is doing within us. This is not to say we stop witnessing to people, but we cannot put ourselves in a position that allows those without God to impede God’s voice in our life. When we do this, fruit will naturally flow from God’s process within us, not of our own effort, but from His presence within us. We just have to focus on preserving the proper conditions for our faith’s growth.

Following this promise we see the consequences of those who reject God displayed. It serves as an invitation and a warning. The chaff of a grain is the outer shell, the nutrition-less husk. This is the same concept John the baptizer speaks of when he states, “He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.” (Luke 3:16-17; Matthew 3:11-12) Don’t get me wrong, we all have bits of chaff that will need to be burned from us in our spiritual walk, but will there be fruit remaining when Jesus brings his winnowing fan to the grain of our life? Or will he only find chaff? Will he find any quality in us that has eternal value? He will if we abide in Him, if we, like the Psalm says, meditate on His word continuously and separate ourselves from the ungodliness of this world. Are we will to do this?

We do not have to do it in our own strength. Truthfully, we cannot. We simply have to mindfully maintain the garden of our life keeping it in a state that is conducive to our spiritual prosperity. He promises to do the rest.