Slices
Prepare
‘Tell God all that is in your heart’ (François Fénelon, 1651–1715). The psalms give us permission to bring ourselves, ‘warts and all’, to God in prayer. Take a moment to pour out your heart’s contents to God.
Bible passage
1 Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither –
whatever they do prospers.
4 Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.
Explore
A wise man once wrote that if you want to be happy, don’t pursue happiness: rather, stop doing the things that make you unhappy! This psalm starts with the word ‘blessed’, which has the meaning of ‘happy’. ‘Happy is the one who stops doing the things that lead to unhappiness!’ (vs 1–3).
Keeping in step with, or standing in line with, the values of a secular culture (v 1) is not the route to happiness, it seems. Rather, happiness is found in a life ordered by God’s wisdom, as revealed in the Bible (v 2). God’s Word needs to be given a high priority in the life of the one seeking true happiness (v 2). It’s easy to fall in step with the world: it takes discipline to stay rooted in God.
The psalm offers a contrast between the impermanence of cultural fads (‘the way that sinners take’, v 1), and the enduring value of God’s Word. The former, like chaff, is likely to disappear when the next wind of change blows through (v 4): the latter is permanently and powerfully potent (vs 3,6)!
Respond
Where are you seeking happiness? Are there ways in which you’ve bought into contemporary culture’s quest for happiness?
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Song of Songs 5,6; 1 Timothy 5
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray for the Scripture Union Global Board who will be meeting during the week 9–14 September in Athens. Pray for insightful conversations and for wise and godly decisions to be made.
