Psalm 1 Rootless and Fruitless

Blessed is the man

    who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked

    or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

    and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water,

    which yields its fruit in season

    and whose leaf does not wither.

    Whatever he does prospers.

Not so the wicked!

    They are like chaff

    that the wind blows away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

    nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,

   but the way of the wicked will perish.

This beatitude is placed intentionally at the beginning of the Psalter to invite us, the billions who have read and recited this short psalm, to drink deeply of God’s word. We are blessed in making his way our way, to meditate daily on it so that it becomes who we are. As we are transformed internally, we become rooted in the kingdom, anchored to the nourishment of Life. We are blessed!

But not so the wicked, they are without roots that can enable them to stand against the buffeting of life. They are blown this way and that by everything that the world offers them. Jesus speaks of these adrift souls in Matthew (7:24 – 27) in the parable of wise and foolish builders. Those who anchor themselves survive the wave, those who place their faith in the shifting sands are lost. We lash ourselves to the Lord and nothing will buffet us.

Could it be clearer?