PSALM 1

Psalm 1
1 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.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
3 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.
4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6 For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

The Lord is certainly good to us. Though have read this Psalm probably hundreds of times, referred to it literally scores of times, preached from it and heard others preach from it dozens of times I never had anyone point out (to my knowledge) what the Lord laid on my heart recently.

Of course much can be said about the whole Psalm. It is a wonderful start to a wonderful book of the Bible! But verse three is what grabbed my attention this time. The blessed man will bring forth his fruit in his season--- that's a promise. But another promise is "his leaf also shall not wither."

Whereas the first speaks of fruit (conduct, converts, character) produced in and by our lives the second refers to our testimony itself. The blessed man, the man in the Word(v.2), the man separated from the world (v. 1), is a continual testimony! He is an evergreen as opposed to a tree that shed its leaves and appears dead for a time. It was for this reason that Boniface, an early Christian missionary chose the evergreen as a symbol for God as he witnessed. [search Boniface in this blog and see the origin of the Christmas tree- it wasn't of pagan origin!]

What kind of tree are we?