Dial-a-Devotion -- January 27th

In the name of Jesus our Savior, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church welcomes you to ‘Dial-a-Devotion’, this is Vicar Tom Schlund.  Our text for today is Psalm 1:1-3 which reads:

“Blessed is the man
 who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 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
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.”

Today our text is the first Psalm in a book of 150 Psalms.  It is a short Psalm; only 6 verses.  And yet there is so much written there about the life of the righteous person.  It can make us stop and think about how we live our lives. 

Where do you get your best advice?  Do you have a parent or spouse that you speak to when you’re trying to make a decision? Maybe it is a friend or a co-worker.  Whoever you choose to talk to, it is usually because they have demonstrated some wisdom and knowledge and they’re able to give good advice. 

However, sometimes we find ourselves getting bad advice.  This may be because we ask the wrong people or because or because the right people are giving the wrong advice.  If we were to live all of our lives getting bad advice then we could find ourselves down the wrong path, experiencing all sorts of problems. 

The Psalmist talks about getting bad advice, but for him it is much worse than just bad advice about a haircut or an outfit.  He speaks about actually living in the bad advice of the wicked or living proudly as a sinner.

Instead, he instructs his hearers to delight in the law of the Lord and meditate on it day and night.  He says that those who do that will be blessed.  The English word law here is a little deceiving because the Hebrew is probably more accurately translated as teachings.  We are to meditate on the teachings of the Lord day and night.  Doing this is like being a tree near running water.  We are the tree and the teachings of the Lord are the running water. 

Just as the running water nourishes the tree and allows it to bear fruit, so also do the teachings of the Lord nourish and preserve us and cause us to bear fruit.  This fruit takes the form of our love and honor for God and our love and service for each other. 

So let us strive to remain firmly rooted in the flowing waters of God’s teachings so that we can bear much fruit that shows the great love that we have received from God to our neighbors near and far. 

Let us pray:

Dear Father, thank you for planting us near your flowing waters.  Help us to meditate on your teachings day and night so that we may bear much fruit for our neighbors.  Allow them to see your love through us and give us the strength to resist walking in the way of the wicked.  We ask this all in Jesus’ name, Amen.