“Psalm 1” by Kim Hill
Blessed is he who will follow the Lord
He will not stand in the path of the sinner
He will not sit in the seat of the scoffer
For the law of the Lord is his delight
In his law he meditates, day and night
He will be like a tree planted by water
He will yield his fruit in its season, his leaves won’t die
In whatever he does, he will prosper
Blessed is he who will follow the Lord
He will not stand in the path of the sinner
He will not sit in the seat of the scoffer
For the law of the Lord is his delight
For the lost, they are like chaff that the wind drives away
They are not safe at any time their life could perish
Blessed is he who will follow the Lord
He will not stand in the path of the sinner
He will not sit in the seat of the scoffer
For the law of the Lord is his delight
The Lord holds the plans, and the paths of all who follow him
The righteous will stand secure and last forever
Blessed is he who will follow the Lord
He will not stand in the path of the sinner
He will not sit in the seat of the scoffer
For the law of the Lord is his delight
Dear God, this is the second Kim Hill song I’ve thought of over the last couple of days, and there probably aren’t many people who remember her music enough to think of two songs by her in the span of three days. I guess I have a unique knowledge of 90s Christian music.
In this case, the verse of the day from Bible Gateway was Psalm 1:1-2. I pulled up the whole psalm and then this song came to mind since it’s literally called “Psalm 1.” Here is the NLT version of Psalm 1:
1 Oh, the joys of those who do not
follow the advice of the wicked,
or stand around with sinners,
or join in with mockers.
2 But they delight in the law of the Lord,
meditating on it day and night.
3 They are like trees planted along the riverbank,
bearing fruit each season.
Their leaves never wither,
and they prosper in all they do.
4 But not the wicked!
They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind.
5 They will be condemned at the time of judgment.
Sinners will have no place among the godly.
6 For the Lord watches over the path of the godly,
but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.
I was talking several days ago as I prepared for my friend’s funeral about psalms of orientation, disorientation, and reorientation. I would put this psalm squarely in the realm of orientation. The world makes sense to the psalmist. Those who follow you are blessed. The wicked condemned. When I am disoriented, it seems like those who follow you are abandoned and the wicked thrive. And then when I am reoriented, I can see beyond the physical world and realize that you hold those who love you, whether we can see it or not.
As I look at the first stanza, the one line that hits me is that I will not “join in with mockers.” Oh, how that is so easy and tempting to do. I want to mock those who disagree with me. I want to roll my eyes at people I see as foolish. The frustrate me, and I want to join in with like-minded people and mock them. I want to scoff. I want to make the insecurities I have in my disagreements with them, and use scoffing and mocking to elevate myself over them. That’s my human, carnal solution to it. What should my solution be? I suppose I should be looking to you, examining my thoughts and my heart for and then laying them before you to see if they are your thoughts and your heart. Then, if there is disagreement between you and me, I need to repent. If there is agreement, I need to simply love those who disagree and perhaps develop enough relationship with them where I can speak into their lives.
Father, help me to live up to all of this. It is so much easier to say/type than it is to live. But I want to worship you. I want to represent you to the world. I want to love you well. You are my God, and I want the roots of my life to be deep into your presence. Help me to be that throughout this day.
I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,
Amen
Emails to God 