Biblical Counsel for the Year Ahead (Part 2)

In Part One, we considered the opening verse of Psalm 1 and were reminded that to receive God’s blessings there are certain things we must avoid – bad counsel, bad courses, and bad character.

In this second part, the psalmist turns our attention from what we must avoid to what we must pursue: a life rooted in God’s Word and the lasting fruit that such a life produces.

2. There Is a Practice for Which We Aim

“But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night” (Psalm 1:2).

How does the blessed person avoid the snares of ungodly counsel? How does he avoid traveling the sinful paths of the world? How does he avoid taking his seat with the scornful?

According to the psalmist, the solution is to be saturated in God’s Word.

Matthew Henry said, “A godly man, that he may do that which is good and cleave to it, submits to the guidance of the word of God and makes that familiar to him. This is that which keeps him out of the way of the ungodly and fortifies him against their temptations.”

It is of particular interest to note the choice of words the psalmist used when he said the blessed man’s “… delight [is] in the law of the Lord” (Psalm 1:2).

Most of us would not typically describe ourselves as taking “delight,” or pleasure, in any kind of laws, rules, or regulations. That seems counterintuitive.

By nature, we value our freedom, which we perceive as the absence of restrictions or boundaries.

How then can the Christian delight in laws – the restrictions, the prohibitions, the “do nots” of Scripture?

Because we know that God, and therefore His Word, is actually for us.

God’s commands do not exist to restrict our joy but to protect it. They are not given to rob us of freedom, but to guide us into true freedom. This is why James refers to God’s Word as “the perfect law of liberty” (James 1:25).

True freedom, both now and after this life is over, is not found in doing whatever we want, but in living within the wise and loving design of our Creator.

The psalmist goes on to say that the blessed person meditates on God’s law “day and night.” This involves more than simply reading Scripture.

In view here is actually meditating on God’s Word, which means taking God’s Word into our minds and hearts, pondering the words and meanings, and allowing it to change us.

Charles Spurgeon wisely noted “It is not only reading that does us good; but the soul inwardly feeding on it, and digesting it.”

Matthew Henry said that to meditate on God’s Word is to “… discourse with ourselves concerning the great things contained in it, with a close application of mind, a fixedness of thought, till we be suitably affected with those things and experience the savour and power of them in our hearts.”

3. There Is a Product We May Anticipate

What then is the result of such a life – of avoiding those things described in verse 1, and following the command of verse 2?

“And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper” (Psalm 1:3).

The psalmist uses the image of a tree to describe the outcome the believer can anticipate if he follows the exhortation of the first two verses.

This tree is not wild or struggling for survival, but rather, has been intentionally planted and is well supplied.

The rivers of water picture constant provision, and for the believer, that provision is found in Christ and in the Scriptures.

In the same way a well-nourished and healthy tree produces fruit, so does a healthy believer. A life constantly supplied by God’s Word will naturally bear spiritual fruit. Paul describes this fruit in Galatians 5:22–23 as love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control.

The psalmist also notes that the tree’s leaf does not wither, pointing to the eternal value of spiritual endeavors. Jesus spoke of this when He said that His followers were chosen to bear fruit – fruit that would “remain” (John 15:16). Like leaves that won’t wither, anything done in obedience to Christ carries eternal significance.

Finally, Psalm 1 declares of the blessed man that “whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”

This is not a promise of ease, wealth, or a life free from hardship. In fact, the prospering spoken of here, in an ultimate sense, is not man's, but God's.

The psalmist is reminding us that whether in sunshine or storms, in the valley or on the mountaintop, whether with a whole lot or just a little, God takes what the believer does, and He uses it for His purposes and His glory.

The Apostle Paul echoed this truth when he said, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Psalm 1 sets before us wonderful counsel for the year ahead.

Not only does it remind us to avoid certain things that will cause great harm, but it also points us toward what will bring about true blessings in our lives.

May we be rooted in and sustained by God’s Word, bearing eternal fruit, and advancing the Lord’s work.