Daily Devotional • August 26
Psalm 1
1 Happy are those
who do not follow the advice of the wicked
or take the path that sinners tread
or sit in the seat of scoffers,
2 but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law they meditate day and night.
3 They are like trees
planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.
4 The wicked are not so
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous,
6 for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
Meditation
Like a tree is the righteous one, planted by streams of water…its leaves do not wither. (Psalm 1:3)
Nebuchadnezzar needed Daniel to interpret the dream of the large tree with leaves meant for shelter and available to all (4:12). Ezekiel prophesized of fruit tree leaves that do not wither — signs of the peace and prosperity to come at the end of the age (47:12). The writer of the book of Revelation prophesizes that the leaves of the tree spanning the river flowing from the throne of God will be for the healing of the nations. And the Psalmist compares those who are righteous with deep-rooted, well-watered trees whose leaves never wither!
Healthy leaves and virtue. Withering leaves and the path that leads to destruction. The choice seems so clear: leaves that are green and living, versus leaves that are brown, dry, and dead. And yet the choice for virtue, the choice to walk with integrity, the choice to delight in the law of the Lord, to meditate on his law day and night, remains little chosen. Are the counsel of the wicked and the seat of destruction to be preferred over the law of the Lord? Is the way of sinners invariably more engaging that the way of the righteous? It would seem so, if you are to rely on your newsfeed.
Nevertheless, the choice for virtue is the living choice, the one that yields blessing and leads the seeker into the courtyard of the Master’s grace. “‘Holy Spirit, take my life and let it be, consecrated, Lord, to thee.’ Restore the faithful of your Church, O Lord, that they may hereafter live a godly, righteous and sober life…” (BCP, p. 321). .
The Very Rev. Timothy Kimbrough is the director of the Anglican Episcopal House of Studies and the Jack and Barbara Bovender Professor of the Practice of Anglican Studies at Duke Divinity School. He was previously dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Nashville, Tennessee.
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
The Diocese of Ijebu-North – The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion)
The Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire