In What Do You Delight? Psalm 1

In What Do You Delight?

Psalm 1

Humble purpose-like reading of the word omitted. What plant can be unwatered and not wither?

Robert Murray M’Cheyne 

Trees have long been a symbol of stability, longevity, resiliency, and strength. The Scriptures often use the picture of a tree to communicate a person who is strong in the Lord, trusting Him. Psalm 92 says the righteous man will “flourish like a palm tree, He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon” and these flourishing trees will “still yield fruit in old age; they shall be full of sap and very green” (92:12-14). Isaiah declared of God’s people that “they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified” (Isaiah 61:3). Jeremiah also pictures the one who trusts the Lord as a tree planted by streams of water, without fear or anxiousness, with green leaves and yielding fruit (Jeremiah 17:7-8). Psalm 1 uses this imagery as well, saying that he who delights in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night, “is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither” (Psalm 1:2-3). Delight is extreme satisfaction and pleasure in something, and is akin to joy.  “The Book of Psalms is fundamentally a manual for abundant living, experienced through godly living” (Futato). And Psalm 1 teaches us that in order to have an abundant, blessed life, one pictured by the fruitful, firm tree, we must be ones who delight in the law of the Lord and meditate on it day and night (Psalm 1:2).

The psalms are rich in images and as good students of the Word, we want to consider what the psalmist is communicating when he gives us the image of a tree planted by streams of water.  A tree planted by streams of water will have constant nourishment, a strong root system, healthy growth, and longevity. However, its benefit will not only be for itself, but for the environment in which it grows.

First, just as a tree planted by streams of water will have constant nourishment, a person who delights in and meditates on God’s Word will have constant nourishment for his soul. Jesus said, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). His Word is life-giving. In whatever circumstance, and at any moment of the day or night, if we have diligently given ourselves to His Word and internalized it, we can go to it constantly for the nourishment needed in the moment. To meditate means to growl, groan, sigh, mutter, to ponder. What do I mutter under my breath? My groans and my sighs, are they pleas for help and reminders of truth or are they grumbles of discontent? Are the things I mutter to myself quiet cries for help from the Lord and reminders of His truth? Spurgeon says, “He takes a text and carries it with him all day long, and in the night-watches, when sleep forsakes his eyelids, he museth upon the Word of God. In the day of his prosperity he sings psalms out of the Word of God, and in the night of his affliction he comforts himself with promise out of the same book. ‘The law of the Lord’ is the daily bread of the true believer.” Spurgeon describes the man who has nourishment for his soul day or night, affliction or prosperity. We, too, can experience the nourishing benefits of texts carried with us all day long, if we purposefully give ourselves to the Word of God. In his diary, Robert Murray M’Cheyne said, “Humble purpose-like reading of the word omitted. What plant can be unwatered and not wither?” His Word is the nourishment we need in order to grow and not wither.

Next, a tree planted by streams of water will have a strong root system which gives it stability. Likewise, the one who delights in and meditates on God’s Word will be firmly rooted and stable. In his letter to the Colossians, Paul told them he rejoiced to see their good discipline and the stability of their faith in Christ (2:5). A stability which was the result of them “having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude” (2:7). Notice that their stability and rootedness were “in Christ.” Knowing Christ, relying on Him, growing in Him will likewise lead to a stability in our faith, and the pathway to Christ is through the Word. We cannot rightly know Christ and the Father if we do not immerse ourselves in the Word. His Word must richly dwell in us (Colossians 3:16). This is a lifelong pursuit. Oh, how I wish that whenever I met trouble throughout the day, I would immediately turn to the Lord and rest in His Word in that moment. But so often I do not. And yet, I want to so give myself to His Word that more and more I would rely on Him in my everyday moments. “Why delight in the word of God? Because it is sufficient and relevant for every moment of life” (Hambrick). Stability comes from faith firmly resting on the promises of God and the God of those promises. 

Third, a tree planted by streams of water will have healthy growth, just as is seen in Psalm 1, the tree yields fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither. “The idea is that of a tree which, at the proper season of the year, is loaded with fruit…It is green and flourishing” (Barnes). This image of fruitfulness is often used in Scripture to demonstrate that the believer’s life produces something. Abiding in Christ, we will bear much fruit (John 15:5). This fruit, the character we live out, the words we speak, the actions we perform, become the evidence of what lies in our heart. We are known by our fruit (Matthew 7:16). “Even so, every good tree bears good fruit; but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit” (Matthew 7:17-18). Jeremiah 17:7-8 offers us a beautiful picture of the key to fruitfulness even when the temporal necessities may be scarce, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit.” Trusting in the Lord will cause us to bear fruit in season, even if that season is a time of scarcity. Hambrick says, “Unlike trees, our fruit can change. Like trees, fruit takes time to grow.” God will use His Word to change us and produce His fruit in us, but we need to persevere and not lose heart. Fruit does take time to grow. But when day after day, week after week, year after year, we give ourselves to savoring the Word of God, we (and others!) will see healthy, fruit-bearing growth. 

Fourth, a believer, delighting and meditating on God’s Word, will be steadfast. Like the longevity of a tree, God’s Word enables the believer to be steadfast, enduring, and persevering in their faith. Picture a great oak with a thick, sturdy trunk with many large branches going out from the trunk, covered with leaves. Or a vast cedar tree with its multiple vertical striations, reaching toward the sky. Or even the slender, flexible, and sturdy trunk of the palm tree. This sturdiness, this immovability is what the Lord produces in His children by the transformative power of His Word. If we long to be “steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58), let us delight ourselves in His Word. Let us keep His Word in the forefront of our minds and on our lips. 

Finally, a healthy, nourished tree benefits its environment, and so does the flourishing believer. Trees offer shade that cools the water of the stream it is planted near, it provides food and habitat for small creatures, it removes pollutants from the water. Likewise, those who are savoring the Word of God, taking it in as their daily bread, meditating on it throughout the day, will be a source of encouragement and help to those around them, especially within the believing community. They will be laboring diligently in prayer for others (Colossians 4:12), refreshing others’ spirits (1 Corinthians 15:18), and encouraging others (Colossians 4:11). Simply put, they will be building up and edifying those around them. 

The righteous man of psalm 1, living the abundant life, has nourished himself well in the Word. He has made it his delight, and it has been his mind’s occupation day and night. Because of this, he has prospered. What are we delighting in? How is this delight manifesting itself in our daily experience? Let’s seek help from the Lord to “Open [our] eyes that [we] may see wondrous things from Your law” (Psalm 119:18). And not only see, but delight.