Psalm 1 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 1 on biblegateway.com
Verse 1Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers;
Verse 2but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night.
Verse 3They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.
Verse 4The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
Verse 5Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
Verse 6for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
Devotion
This past summer, my wife and I walked the Camino de Santiago from Saint Jean Pied de Port, France, to Santiago, Spain. The middle portion of the way passes through the Meseta, a huge, hot, and arid plateau. We could see the Camino unfolding for miles ahead. Occasionally, we could also see a dark line of trees signaling that a stream or small river flowed across the landscape. On a good day, the Camino bent toward the stream with its trees and we enjoyed temporary relief from the sun.
The Psalms commence with a reflection on the difference between “happy” persons and the wicked. The “happy” (other translations read “blessed”) delight in and meditate upon the torah or instruction of the Lord. Like a tree beside a stream, the blessed cannot help but prosper and bear fruit because of their proximity to God’s word. In my own experience, such happy people also provide relief and blessings to others along life’s way. Who is a metaphorical tree in your life?
Prayer
Thank you, Lord, for those blessed people who have brought me comfort in the blisteringly hot seasons of my life. Help me, like them, to remain rooted in the waters of my baptism that I also might be a blessing to others. Amen.