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Bible
Reading Notes from Christ Church Greenbank Day 3 Read: Psalm 1:1-3 We come this
morning to the first of two sections looking at Psalm 1.
Psalm 1 describes two ways to live – the way of the righteous, and the
way of the wicked. It is a wisdom
Psalm - it talks about the right way to live under God. These first
three verse of the Psalm describes one who in blessed – or, righteous, verse
6. They describe how a righteous
person should live. In verse 1,
there are things to be avoided – walking or standing or sitting with the
wicked – do notice the progression there from walking with someone, to sitting
and identifying with them. One
thing to hear the wicked talk – another to sit down with them! Then in verses
2 and 3, the Psalmist describes what one who seeks to follow the Lord should be
doing. He or she meditates on the
Law of the Lord day and night – reading God’s word and seeking to understand
it, so that it can be obeyed. Remember
here that biblical meditation is less about ummm and more about what God has
done! Then in verse
3 we have this description of one who meditates on the law of the Lord.
A tree planted by water – a well fed and watered tree, that grows
strong, and bears fruit. The Psalm talks about prospering – prospering in doing
good, prospering in doing God’s will. As we read
this Psalm we need to apply it in two ways.
The first is to recognise that there is a model of conduct here to be
followed: close attention to
God’s word, leading to obedience to God and his word. The second is to recognise our failure to be this righteous
one. We do not meditate of God’s
word in this way – we are not obedient in this way, and we do have a tendency
to follow the ways of the wicked – a least a little. And so this
Psalm also leads us to recognise our failure to live up to God’s standard, and
to recognise our need of forgiveness in Jesus Christ. The only truly blameless man ever is Jesus Christ – this
Psalm draws us to recognise afresh our need for forgiveness in his name, and
draws us to renew our trust in Christ, our saviour and Lord So today Ask God to show you the areas of
your life where you need to be obedient Ask God to work in you through
the Holy Spirit to enable you to be obedient Give thanks to God that Christ
died on the cross and has made us right with God Activity for Families with
Children A few ideas on how to share what you have learned
about God’s word with your children. Starter: talk
about the kind of things we like spending our time doing – reading books,
watching TV, playing with friends. Encourage
children to share details of a favourite activity. In this part
of the bible, the Psalmist tells us how we should value God’s word, the bible: Read Psalm 1:1-2 What does the
Psalmist say we should avoid doing? What does he
say we should do? What does it
mean to delight in the law of the Lord? Read:
We have seen this week that the
bible is God’s word, and that we need to obey it.
Today, we see that we need to spend the time getting to know what it
says, so that we can follow it! How can we
follow the Psalmist example – how can we do what he does? Prayer:
Dear Jesus, help me to understand what the bible says and help me to do
what is says. Amen. |
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Last updated: September 27, 2007. We aim to update this site weekly.
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