“Blessed is the man who walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2. But his delight is in the law of the Lord: and in His law doth he meditate day and night. 3. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”
Our title suggests to you that you have a happy new year. We are not guaranteed a happy new year, and whether it is happy or not will depend on us. The new year is a blank page on which we will write each day. We need to be careful what we write on that page, because the quality of the year will be written on those pages. The first three verses of the first psalm can guide your hand as you write on this blank page. If you want this New Year to be a happy one, you would be wise to be careful about who influences you. The psalmist said that a happy person is the person who “walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” He could have written this specifically for us today. There is a lot of ungodly counsel out there. People hear what I call “junk” on their TV sets all of the time. Do not take the counsel of the people who live only for this world, but lean on Jesus, who will lead you in the right direction. This is what the psalmist meant when he wrote, “nor standeth in the way of sinners.” If you let the wrong thinking influence you, you will be just like the rest of the world. Satan loves to tempt us to live just like everybody else. It’s like the proverbial joke about sheep following one another off of a cliff. Don’t be a sheep that will follow every whim and fancy of this world. The psalmist also gave good advice about where we should sit, “Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” Do not listen to those people who will discourage you about living the Christian life. Do not listen to those people who will keep you away from the word of God by calling it a myth. Do not listen to those people who hate everything that is good and want to influence you to do the same. If you want this New Year to be a happy one, you should delight in the right things. There are a lot of delightful things that might be fun, but will lead us in the wrong direction. The psalmist delighted in the “law of the Lord.” “The law” that he wrote about here is the scripture that he had at the time. Do you delight in the word of God?This does not mean that it will always be entertaining, nor does it mean that it will always be fun to read. In my own personal Bible reading, I recently read through Judges. If you know anything about Judges, you know that it records a bleak period in the lives of the people of God. It was not a fun read, but I delighted in it, because it made me realize that I can make my own life as bleak as the Jews of that period if I delight in the wrong things. The psalmist added, “And in His law doth he meditate day and night.” This does not mean that the happy person spends all of his or her time reading the Bible. It means that we take what we have learned and keep it in our hearts and minds. The Bible will help us to remember to delight in the right things. If you want this New Year to be a happy one, you will “be like a tree planted by the rivers of water…” The tree that is planted by “rivers of water” has a constant supply of nourishment; therefore it stays strong and productive. The tree will produce good fruit every year. If we want our lives to be fruitful, we will stay close to the Lord in prayer and stay close to His word on a daily basis. This will give us a constant supply of spiritual nourishment and make our lives more productive like the tree that is “planted by the rivers of water.” The point is that verses one and two will result in verse three. If we keep our lives on the right track, we will have constant spiritual nourishment and we will have victory in the Lord. As you live through this New Year, keep Psalm 1:1-3 in mind. Bro. Joe IThere will be a new post on Thursday, January 1.)
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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