The assigned Psalm for this past Sunday in the lectionary was Psalm 1.  At the worship service Cheryl and I attended, the pastor used this as his text and did an excellent job of tying it in to the other lessons read that day:  Jeremiah 17:5-8, 1 Corinthians 15:1-20, and Luke 6:17-26.  Take a moment to read this Psalm right now.

Psalm 1 “¹ Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. ² But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. ³ He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does 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 will perish.”

One of the things the preacher pointed out that caught my attention was verse 1. It mentions “walks”, “stands”, and “sits”, things you do every day of your life. In other words, the Psalmist is saying “as you go about living your life, avoid sin and sinners.” Such a simple, straightforward suggestion, one that makes all the sense in the world. So why do we fail to heed it?

We are even given a better option as well. Verse 2 encourages us to delight in the law of the Lord and meditate on that. (It should be pointed out that “law” is being used here to mean all of God’s Word, not just the Commandments or the “dos” and “don’ts.”) If you spend your time thinking about what God has told us, what He has done for us, and how He would have us respond, that is going to make a difference. Considering the whole counsel of God, you can apply what you hear and read in God’s Word to your daily living.

I know that is true for me. I’m a long way from being the ideal follower of Jesus. I mess up constantly. But when I reflect on what God did by sending Jesus into this world, I am overwhelmed. His life was lived for me. His death paid for my sin. His resurrection is my guarantee of eternal life. And that is my motivation to live a better life.

“The Lord watches over the way of the righteous.” That’s me, not because I have done good, but because God declares me righteous for Jesus’ sake. Hopefully that is you, too.