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.
Psalm 1 remains one of my favorite psalms. I memorized it when I was young. It speaks clearly about recovery. I always wanted to picture myself as the well-watered tree. This seemed to be something far from my life until just recently.
Verse one speaks of a person whose life becomes more and more stagnant as he goes from “running the good race” to “walking in the counsel of the wicked”, and then “standing in the way of sinners” and finally to “sitting in the seat of mockers”.
Someday we may wake up, and find our lives at a standstill. No growth no joy. BUT there is recovery for that person.
What does it mean to be blessed? Blessed is an old fashioned word. Joy is a better word, and those of us who know what recovery is all about about know this joy for ourselves.
As we place our delight in the kingdom of God, and make it the place we dwell in both day and night, our lives get moving again. New life fills our veins and we start moving ahead again. New growth appears, and we are like the planted by the streams of water.
What it boils down to is choices. Life is a series of choices. We choose to do the things that our conscience tells us is right, or we choose to follow the urging of what might make us feel good even if it’s just for the moment. In the long run, when all of the marbles are counted, a joyful life comes from making the right choices.
Seek the Lord while you can. Find the new life that can come from recovery of your relationship with Him.