- not in the counsel of the ungodly
- Nor in the way of sinners
- meditate day and night
- imitate Jesus
- pick up your cross daily
- mind things of God
Psalm one — Blessings from God
The Holy Spirit teaching us the first important thing in prayer is — do not walk in the consul of the wicked. But who is the wicked? It can be in different forms, it can be a wicked person, but a lot more often in the form of ideas or thoughts in the mind or head coming from the tempter. It happened in the spiritual realm, but show up in our mind as an idea, hard to tell where it comes from. The solution is in the next verse; meditating the word of God day and night.
Jesus showed us a good example in the gospel () how to avoid walking in the counsel of the wicked. He used “It is written” as a guide in his everyday living. He must be very familiar with the Scriptures so they come up instantly, that indicates he meditate them all the time, day and night. And this is the way to get blessings from God.
Paul prayed day and nigh all the time, it’s in first Thessalonians; () and also in second Timothy (). We are all called in () to do the same as Jesus, including praying, meditating day and night. The believers in Thessalonica had obeyed Paul’s instruction (). They must have also prayed day and night and they became good examples for others.
Temptation from the wicked
We see here that anything which is not inline with the Word of God may come from the the ungodly and wicked. To those not familiar with the Scripture, it may not sound like bad idea. Even when Peter heard Jesus said he must be killed, he rebuked Jesus in (). But Jesus said to Peter: get behind me, Satan, (). Peter’s idea came from Satan, because he failed setting his mind on things of God at that time. It is quite possible we do this all the time, like Peter, unable to discern which idea come from the wicked, or from Satan.
Pick up The Cross Daily
To receive blessing written in Psalm one is not that simple, it has to follow Jesus’ example to mind things above, that is to meditate day and night. In the next verse after Jesus rebuked Peter, he explained to his disciples how to avoid this by denying himself (). which was similar in Psalm one, to mind things of God by praying, meditating day and night. Picking up his cross = denying self, only then he can pray or meditate day and night, thus focus on the things of God. Paul wrote the same in Colossians 3:2 (ASV); Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are upon the earth.
Warning of live as enemies of Christ
Those who don’t like to obey would have difficulty to discern if they are listening to the counsel of the ungodly. Many believers in Philippi disobeyed, so Paul said they live as the enemies of Christ. It is in Philippians 3:17-19 (ISV); Join together in imitating me, brothers, and pay close attention to those who live by the example we have given you. For I have often told you, and now tell you even with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on worldly things.
What we often think about is what we care about, it actually makes big difference, it is written in Romans 8:5,6; For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set our minds on the flesh leads to death, but to set our minds on the Spirit leads to life and peace.
Obeying and following Psalm one means to spend time in the Scriptures and to pray and meditate the things of God day and night, it involves the heart, soul and mind, that is a practical way of loving the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind.