Walk with the Lord

Guest post by Matthew Coleman

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. Psalm 1

One thing about God’s Word that I absolutely love is the metaphors God uses to help us understand ideas that He wants us to grasp. A lot of the metaphors He uses come from creation/nature and they help us understand a little more of what we are like as beings made into the image of God.

God is Spirit, the very essence of His being, but He also became flesh and assumed mankind’s physical nature to give us glimpses into a higher realm of the Spirit. He is, no doubt, of an incomprehensibly higher order than we are. It’s so laughable sometimes how we can even think we know better than God when He’s done things like measuring ” the waters in the hollow of his hand,” “with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens,” and holding “the dust of the earth in a basket” as Isaiah 40:12 outlines.

If this is the case then let’s bring it to scale and think of the size of a being (if you can) that has a hand that can hold the universe in one hand and then compare that to average human beings. How much of a speck we are in the eyes of God! It all becomes incomprehensible and it just shows how laughable our carnal minds can be at times.

In God’s infinite wisdom He chooses to use something as simple as trees and how they grow throughout His Word to teach us how we can grow as beings made in the image of God. Let’s unpack this metaphor so we can get more into the mind of our creator and what He wants us to learn…

First, what do trees need to grow? Trees need water, sunlight, soil to grow in and good environmental conditions. If the tree gets the right amount of all of these it can flourish and become a very fruitful tree but if something like the roots don’t grow deep enough then when bad weather conditions come about, it can become uprooted and the tree will die. Psalm chapter one tells us the exact prescribed conditions to become that flourishing tree.

Doesn’t walk in the counsel of the ungodly
Doesn’t stand in the way of sinners
Doesn’t sit in the seat of mockers
Delights in the law of the Lord
Meditates on it day and night

Incredibly, the Word is telling us here that if someone were to do these 5 things and follow this, as our Great Doctor has ordered, that person would become a flourishing tree. Now what does a flourishing tree look like with respect to Christ’s followers? The Word tells us that that particular person would prosper in all that they do. “Prospering in all that we do” sounds like a very favorable place to be in life!

Now picture yourself as a tree. What are some of the specific things that need to happen in your life to become rooted in the Lord, a fruitful tree that can weather the storms of life? Consider where you’re at in life and what favorable conditions would be conducive to your growth. Perhaps you need to attend that mid-week prayer meeting in addition to Sunday service or other fellowship gatherings to gain more encouragement. Maybe there is a certain book or bible verse that would be helpful to meditate on. Perhaps you need to cut out negative factors such as worldly entertainment or company that you’re keeping that you know isn’t good for you. Whatever the particular ingredient is that we need more of, we can be sure that we could all do more things to feed our Spirit such as more of the Word, prayer, fellowship, worship, etc…

Now that we’ve unpacked this metaphor in detail, let’s remember that as students of God’s Word it is important to unpack more of these profundities in God’s Word so that we can meditate in the depth of their meaning in order that we can apply it’s truth to the realities of our lives!