Wondering about my Wanderings

Devotion

December 12, 2013

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.

The hinge upon which Psalm 1 rests is on the door that enters into the place of blessedness. My affections dance with the realities that lead me to either enter or stay away. Who wants to go into a place that is more trouble than it is worth. I am faced with the fact that I can no longer straddle the fence. I can not expect blessedness to come out of nowhere. Blessedness is dependent on my perception of God. I am I satisfied with a life of searching or is there something worth finding and clinging to?

The tree in the Hebrew bible represents nature, while the man on the other hand is a potential ruler. In Genesis we read about the tree of knowledge. Adam and Eve were told not to eat of the fruit and they did any way. Up until that point they had been in dominion over all God created. After the fall they are put in the awkward position of looking for a way to reestablish that rule.

The tree in chapter 1 speaks about one way know a connection with God that is lasting. The tree is seen as a source of bearing fruit, sitting by water that allows for it to be nourished in an eternal context. Man is like that tree, as long he meditates on the word. Because of this just like the leaves of the tree never wither the man's righteous fruit is eternally available.

The chaff on the other hand is the refuse of the corn or wheat. It is the casing of the grain, not useful for anything and is therefore left to blow in the wind. The chaff is like a bad weed. At one point it had a purpose and meaning. We can look back at God's origional intent to have man rule. Unfortunately that bodily shell is nothing but chaff when sin is added to the equation. No one can rule effectively without being in relation to the Creator of all things. Once out of relationship with the creator a person is out of relation with all that God created. Without God who represents life and love, person lives only to die. They might as well blow away.

In Hebrew lore the tree symbolizes hope. It can come back to life with the presence of water. I would like to take this one step forward and look at the source of our redemption, Jesus who died on a tree (the cross). Jesus blood the new source of new life that we can compare to the tree by the water. Because of Jesus we know resurrection and in relation to Jesus we know what it means to rule. It is through service and love to others that we reveal to God and all creation renewal because of a tree a source of certain death to a place where one can be released from the pallor of death and know resurrection.