Deliver the Promises or Else

Bill Brown ... Xiamen University

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked...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." Psalms 1:1-3

A comedian said, "All right, God! We know you're up there and we've got you cornered! Come out with your hands up and your promises out!"

The Book of Psalms starts with a big promise -- that "Whatever he does shall prosper." But before we "name it and claim it," as many are wont to do, we ought to note that almost all Biblical promises, including this one, come with a big "if" or "but."

Christian mantras and magic formulas like the so-called Prayer of Jabez are also popular nowadays. "Repeat Jabez prayer daily and God has to answer," it is claimed. But Jabez was blessed not just because he prayed for blessings but also because he was "more righteous" than his brothers. That was a big "because."

Mp3 Prayers sold online also guarantee wealth. The websites say that if you repeat these prayers while playing them in your car on the way to work, God has to answer them because it's in the Bible. These claims also ignore the many "ifs" and "buts" that accompany those promises.

In Psalm 1, the Psalmist is saying that those who listen to wicked or foolish advice will fail, but (and it is a bit "but"), those who delight in the Lord's law and meditate on it day and night will prosper.

I don't think this means that those who just meditate day and night prosper. The point was that, if we delight in God's wisdom and are led by it, day and night, we will prosper.

Meditate. There is a difference between casually thinking about something and meditating on it. When we meditate on it, we think about its meaning, and how it applies to us today. We root ourselves in the Word, as a tree is rooted in water.

Stream, not Pond. The Psalmist also said the tree is nourished not by ponds but by streams. Ponds are still, and can stagnate. Streams, flow, continually refreshed with new supplies of water from higher up. We too need daily fresh wisdom from higher up to face new circumstances. Then we can enjoy a lasting prosperity like the tree with the "leaf that does not wither."

* * * * * *
F.B. Meyer, in "Our Daily Homily" (London, Morgan and Scott, 1894; reprinted today by Zondervan as "Great Verses Through the Bible"), wrote of Psalm 1:3, "Whose leaf does not wither."

"If a man abide not in Me," said our Lord, "he is cast forth as a branch,and is withered." The same thought is here. Thrust down your rootlets to the oozy river bed, and there is no doubt about your continuing earnest, petient, God-filled. The sun of temptation may strike you with sword-like beams, but you will have a source of supply which they cannot exhaust. The secret of an unwithering beauty is in the Word of God, delighted in and meditated upon day and night. And what is the Word of God, but the life of God translated into human speech?

Wean yourself from all beside, and learn to feed on God. Withdraw your rootlets from men and things, and let them travel to the river of God, which is full of water. Close other doors, and open those that lead out on to the terrace, whence you may behold the far-spread landscape of what He is, and says, and is willing to be to us all.

Note that word meditate. The root must lie in contact with the stream, and the soul must steep itself in the Word of God. We must give the truth time to enter and pervade our souls. We must have retreats, shut away from the rush of life, up and down the glades of which we may tread. These retreats are oftener found within the soul than without. Just as in the temple of old, there was Solomon's porch, where Jesus walked, so in the temple within there are closes and cloisters, where we may commune with our heart, and be still.
www.amoymagic.com