Prevailing Purpose

Welcome to a new series on the psalms! In this series of blog posts I will be reading through the book of Psalms and writing a brief reflection. I will not have a post for every psalm, nor even every line of the psalm in question, but I hope that you will join me in reading through this book and considering some of the wisdom that it offers.

Psalm 1: The Way of the Righteous and the Wicked

The title of this first psalm makes the psalmist’s intent clear, these verses contrast the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked. In my initial reading, I considered myself clearly on the side of the righteous. After all, I am a follower of Christ, redeemed child of the Most High, and justified before him. Right?

While there is truth in the above statement, I was forced to pause as I read through this psalm a second time. Yes, I am justified. Yes, I am considered righteous before the Lord. But this was not always the case. While it has been more than 10 years since my salvation, I do not always live as someone on the way of righteousness as is described by the psalmist. All too often I find myself listening to and heeding advice from unbelievers (v1). Especially in a culture that champions looking within and following “your truth,” it is tempting to follow suit.

What is more, I have not be walking upon the path of righteousness for long. Being saved in my late teens, I haven’t been saved for even half of my life. The pilgrimage of the believer is a long one, from the moment of salvation until we stand before the Lord we are on a journey of sanctification. While I am thankful for the time that I have had, I still have, Lord willing, many years ahead. And even more humbling, it was not by my own doing that I received salvation. It was only because of Christ’s mercy (1 Peter 1:3) and because he first loved me (1 John 4:19) that my heart was drawn to him.

With these things applied to your own story, I encourage you, reader, to consider the psalm again. What would your life look like apart from Christ? Where would you be if you still walked the path of the wicked? Any fruit that we bear (v3) is only because we are connected to the True Vine (John 15:5-11). Any interest or love that we have for God’s Word (v2) is a direct result of his interest in and love for us (1 John 4:9). And the fact that we will not perish, but have ever lasting life is because of Jesus’ atoning death and resurrection (John 3:16), not because of our “good” deeds (Isaiah 64:6).

As it is clearly stated in the refrain of “Jesus Paid it All”:

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