Slow down and listen

As I work my way through the Bible I have decided to intersperse each book with a few Psalms. As they are so varied it does not matter if they are not done continuously and I feel that doing all 150 in one go might be too much. So, having finished the book of Philippians, I thought I would easily do my first ten this morning. Wrong!! Psalm 1 only contains six verses but after an hour and a half I was still finding lots of different things to think about. With so many Psalms to turn to we all have our favourites and I suspect, like me, this first one often gets missed although it is well worth a look at.

Perhaps God is trying to teach me about my "selfish ambition and conceit" which I only wrote about yesterday. I said I was going to study and finish ten Psalms this morning but He said, "No, one is enough, and do it well!"

This is what I learned from that Psalm today. You can choose to walk in one of two ways, either wickedly or righteously. The wicked will be driven away "like chaff that the wind drives away, and their way will perish." They will not be able to stand in the presence of God or even amongst the righteous on judgement day. How awful to be banished from the comfort and love of God's arms forever! It does not say they will perish (which would actually be a better outcome than living without God) but their ways will perish - no more sin. 

The righteous are blessed by not mixing with the wicked but, instead, "delight in the law of the Lord and meditate on it day and night". Verse 3 says, "In all that he does he prospers", which I don't think is meant to be a 'prosperity gospel' but by reading your Bible daily and meditating on it you more likely to be tuned in to what God's plan for you it and will follow it. If you do what God wants He will make it a success and provide everything you need to make it happen. It says you will prosper in all that you do, not that you will have lots of material possessions. Think of Paul - he certainly prospered in spreading the gospel and glorifying God but he definitely didn't have an easy life with lots of money and nice houses. He suffered physically but was spiritually very rich.

So, to conclude, to be blessed we should study our Bibles, listen to what God wants us to do and do it. By so doing He will help us succeed. Do not be rejected, worthless, empty and without God, like the chaff blown away by the wind. And do not be conceited and think you are able to race through your studies - God wants you to slow down and listen.