October 18, 2022 – Tuesday
Psalm 1:2 NIV
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.
Psalm 1:2 CEV
2 Instead, they find happiness in the Teaching of the Lord, and they think about it day and night.
Psalm 1:2 ISV
2 But he delights in the Lord’s instruction, and meditates in his instruction day and night.
Comment
I recently commented on this verse along with verse 3, but a reader wrote in making some observations on this one. He also did the same on the next verse which we will look at tomorrow.
First, he opined, God promised to prosper those who were faithful to Torah. Deuteronomy 28 is quite specific about the blessings of obedience and the curses that result from apostacy. Meditating day and night on God’s commandments (I assume you mean the 600+ commands found in God’s covenant with Abraham and reiterated to Moses) does not automatically bring “blessing” (happiness and prosperity) unless we obey all of them all the time which is impossible. The reference to the promise of prospering is from verse three where the man described in verse two prospers. But is he right? To be blessed, to prosper, does it require you to obey all of God’s commandments which is impossible?
My short answer is, “No.” First of all, this Psalm does not say the man has to successfully follow each and every commandment to be blessed, to prosper. To fail to do the impossible is not apostacy. Instead apostacy is the deliberate abandonment or renunciation of a religious belief. For Christians it would be a willful falling away from, or rebellion against, Christianity. Further, David Guzik writes, Throughout Psalms, the phrase law of the LORD is used to describe God’s entire word, not only the “law” portion of the first five books of the Bible. The righteous man is delighted with the word of God! I would add the righteous man delights in the word of God (Old and/or New Testament) even when he knows he fails at following God’s word all the time. Only one person ever succeeded in following it all the time and His name is Jesus the Christ.
There are numerous examples of individuals in the Old Testament who were blessed although they did not follow all the commandments, instructions, and/or teachings of their Bible. The two who are probably best known were David, later King David, his son Solomon. I choose these two because we know they both had serious failings in following God’s word.
Bottom Line: Think or meditate or consider God’s word all the time. Recognize your failures and strive always to do better. As Christians we have our blessing already in sight – eternity with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit as well as with others of the faith.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, Thank You so much for the Psalms which show Your great mercy, patience, and long suffering in waiting on us to turn to You and Your Son. – In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
RileyD, nwJ
Riley D. Driver – Pastor
Calvary Chapel of Dayton
in Beavercreek