Psalm 1 : Meditations

PSALM 1 

1Blessed is the man

Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,

Nor stands in the path of sinners,

Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

2But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

And in His law he meditates day and night.

3He shall be like a tree

Planted by the rivers of water,

That brings forth its fruit in its season,

Whose leaf also shall not wither;

And whatever he does shall prosper.

Blessed "Is" the man, or "Is" the man! or "Is" the man?

With the word "is" jumping out from the first line, the first Psalm kind of points its deep finger at me. The four word opening of the Psalm takes a twist as an exclamation and even as a question. 

With the key word "meditate" in the second verse, I kind of feel meditation as a process of the pointing of a the Spirit's finger (like the diagnostic finger as in Mc Burney's point for appendicitis) leading to opening me up with a scalpel and a forceps to dig, cut, scoop, and microscopically examine whom I am!  The biopsy specimen from inside me allows the Spirit, in the light of the Word, to examine my inner churnings, my deepest thoughts, my dreams, my fears, what moves me, gives me reason to smile, ponder, churn and become myself.

The second verse mentions the "law" that the blessed person delights in. If we think about it, there may actually be two sets of laws that govern us. 

There are the "laws of the world". The unwritten rules that turn the world. 

As I sit down with brilliant and successful colleagues in the dinner table and listen to their thoughts and conversations, I can only but feel a sense of deep misalignment. The conversations move from shades of grey to those with bright lights. Good people, intelligent people, so fitting the definitions of success in this world. Not without their fair share of challenges, I admit, but definitely the trajectory is up-ish! It seems what the world requires is mastery in its ways; and being able to know their ropes as an experienced sea-faring sailor would know his sails, is the key to becoming successful.

On the other hand is "the law of the LORD". Sometimes I feel this may have been lost in centuries of human achievement and civilization, and as world-views change across time and space, the sanctity of the very edifice of creation gets buried in layers and layers of the human construct. 

The "law" that we live by, how we walk, among whom we stand, and where we sit down, kind of shapes who we become eventually. 

Meditation "in the light", digs the layers within us created by the laws we follow, and reveals the inner conditions, for better or for worse, that have formed within us. It exposes what is damaging, disturbing, diverting or even dangerous. An analogy is the habit of chewing ghutka (betel and tobacco quid) that final results in buccal carcinoma (inner cheek cancer),  a condition commonly encountered in my wife's clinical practice. However, if we yield our will, and "delight" in the gentle therapy of God's scalpel, this allows for excision of the pathogen, and brings healing (even to the extent of gene therapy!) and restoration.

There is now a reverse digging. I dig and rummage though piles of rubble and seek every piece of the eternal law that may be relevant today. Sometimes it takes days of drudgery, and  sometimes I find that resplendent crystal. and with the help of the Holy Spirit this crystal reflects the light of revelation, showing me the Way. The same Spirit, sows a seed of God's Word deep within me, helps my root sink into this law and find water and nourishment to keep me going, keep me Living!

I am unsure of this season; these are seasons of change. As the morning sun shines I can only feel my leaves unfurl in joy and perfect peace. I hope that I too will bear fruits in due season. Fruits that last eternity.