The book of Psalms opens with the exclamation, “How happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway with sinners or sit in the company of mockers” [Psalms 1:1, Christian Standard Bible]! Most people are looking for happiness, but this person has found it! For “…his delight is in [Yahweh's] instruction, and he meditates on it day and night” [v.2]. The word used here for ‘happy’ is, in the original, “exceedingly expressive,” writes Charles Spurgeon. “It implies a sort of plurality of happiness…as if the happiness qualified the whole of life, and was, in itself, better even than life itself.” What a thought-provoking statement! This is happiness beyond the boundary of our normal experience. A deep, inward joy, unaffected by circumstances or the happenstance of life.
Such happiness as this isn’t for sale, it cannot be bought. It doesn’t depend on who we are or our status in life, only on our relationship with Yahweh. It’s “as attainable by the poor, the forgotten, and the obscure as by those whose names figure in history and are trumpeted by fame” [Spurgeon]. It’ll bloom in the heart of anyone who loves Yahweh and seeks to obey Him. It will continually strengthen the resolve to stay away from those who have no time for the ways of our Father.
The idea of meditating on Yahweh’s word day and night can feel overwhelming. How do we do that? I used to think only people who were spiritual giants could possibly manage it. I’ve learned, however, that ‘meditating’ is a Bible word for ‘chewing it over’. We must, of course, make time to read the word, and it’s important to think about what we’re reading. But afterwards, as it remains with us, we may find ourselves chewing it over [ruminating] and this is one form of meditation.
The rewards are extraordinary. Not only will we have inner joy, but we’ll be “like a tree planted beside flowing streams that bears its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.” But the amazing climax is the observation that whatever we do will prosper [Psalm 1:3]!
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You Are The BranchesClick to see the whole passage:
1 timothy 3:16 NIV - Beyond all question, the mystery from - Bible Gateway
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