Psalm 1
1 Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do 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 leads to destruction.
Where was this psalm when I was in high school?
Of course, the answer is obvious: right where it has always been, in the Bible.
I desperately wanted to fit in during high school. I wanted a friend group, and there were times when I stood in the counsel of the wicked in order to get one. Looking back some twenty-five years later, those are decisions I regret.
Now, as a father with a son of my own, this passage rings especially true. I know my son is constantly being invited to become one kind of person or another. You can make friends by walking with the wicked. You can feel important by standing with sinners. You can feel powerful by sitting with mockers.
For a time.
But as the psalmist says, those ways of being human have a temporary shelf life, both in this life and in the next. Practically speaking, the wicked, sinners, and mockers are finally looking out for themselves. That means the community you find in their company may look valuable at first, but in the end it is fool’s gold.
Not so with those who set their hearts on God. Jesus says the greatest commandment is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” and the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
The love Jesus describes is self-giving love. It is the kind of love that lets go of something for the sake of another. It is in giving our time that we receive the gift of deeper quality time with others. It is in giving our resources to those in need that we help build stronger communities. It is in letting go of our egos that we create space for others to flourish.
Sacrificial love is the way to true community—not sin, not wickedness, and not mockery.
And not just any community, but a community that lasts, takes root, and bears fruit like a tree planted by streams of water.
What kind of relationships are you seeking today? And what kind of person are those relationships helping you become?
– Pr. Jason
God, help me discern which relationships are forming me into a person after your own heart. Give me the courage to walk away from relationships that draw me toward sin, selfishness, or mockery, and lead me toward relationships rooted in your self-giving love. Make my life like a tree planted by streams of water, bearing fruit for the sake of others. Amen.
