#DailyDevotion Blessed Are You When You Delight & Meditate On God’s Word
Psalm 1: 2but delights in what the LORD teaches and reads it thoughtfully day and night. 3He’s like a tree planted by streams of water: It produces its fruit in its season, and its leaves don’t wither. He succeeds in everything he does.
Blessed is the man the psalm starts. Now in verse two we see what such a blessed does as opposed to what he doesn’t do. He delights in the Torah, i.e. the teachings of the LORD and reads it thoughtfully day and night. I was told a joke about a pastor who visited a couple and after the pastor left the wife told her husband she thought he stole the silver spoon he had used during the visit. A year later the pastor visited again to find out how they were doing and the wife accused him of stealing her spoon. He told her he didn’t steal it. He hid it in her bible. Well if we are reading the scriptures day and night, we won’t be that husband and wife. If we are delighting in the written word of the LORD day and night, we won’t be that couple who didn’t find the hidden spoon.
But note not only are we to read it day and night but we are to read it thoughtfully. We ponder what it says and what it means. How does what it says correct my thinking or behavior? Does what it says impact on what I talk about? How does it help me better understand what my God thinks about me and his attitude towards me? Are there things I need to start doing that I’m not doing? We should read it out loud so our ears can hear it and our minds hear it. We do think about things differently when we say it out loud.
Do we delight in the teachings of the LORD? Is it a chore to spend some time in God’s word? Or do we take up like an old friend who we like catching up on? There’s a reason Christians have always tried to produce a literate society: we want people to be able to read God’s word. Blessed are you if you delight in reading it. Sure, there may be things you don’t understand. I have trouble understanding some people I like hanging around with though. They think differently than me. I have to ask questions because their way of thinking is a lot different than mine. And God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts and his ways higher than our ways. But if we read his word and contemplate on it, discuss it with ourselves and even discuss it with others, we will gain insight into the mind of God.
What will we be like if we do this? David says, we will be like a tree planted by streams of water. That tree produces fruit in its season. It’s leaves don’t wither. He succeeds in everything he does. Who does that? Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Yes, this is fulfilled in Jesus. He has done this for us. Yet, he calls us to be joined to him and join him in delighting in the instructions of the LORD. We may not do it perfectly, but he will produce fruit in us if we trust his word and take up his practice. Trees planted by streams of water have strong roots that suck up the water and nutrients around it. As we delight and meditate on the Word of God, we too will have strong roots that will produce in us every spiritual fruit. Jesus reminds us in Matt. 7, 24“Anyone who hears and does what I say is like a man who had the sense to build his house on a rock. 25The rain poured down, the torrents came, the winds blew, and they beat against that house. But it didn’t go down, because its foundation was on the rock.” We will not be so easily moved when life and the devil throw their worst at us or their best. Our roots, our hearts and minds, are grounded in God’s Word. As Jesus succeeded in what he did, accomplishing our salvation, we will succeed, as we delight and meditate on God’s Word, in being saved for that gives us faith in our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Merciful and gracious Father, give us your Holy Spirit that we we pick up your Word, we may delight in it, meditate on it, and bear the fruits of the Spirit, as our faith in Christ Jesus is strengthened and formed according to your will. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.