Psalm 1

https://odb.org/MY/2021/09/13/a-living-document

Psalm 1 is probably one of the of most popular and beautiful of the Psalms, besides Psalm 23 and perhaps Psalm 63. To me, Psalm 1 is beautiful as it contrasts the righteous and the unrighteous (called wicked here) and highlights 3 main outcomes for the righteous (those who are with God and who side with Him) – they will prosper, they will be able to stand in judgment and God watches over them.

According to Psalm 1, the distinct contrast in outcomes arises as one decides not to walk in the company of the unrighteous but instead meditates on the Word day and night and he is described as blessed and like a tree planted by streams of water with full sustenance and thus bears fruits in season and have nice and healthy leaves.

This leads us to the subject matter of today’s ODB, the power of the Word in bringing the life of God into our lives and the power of God into us. The Word is a living document as the Word was at the beginning, the Word was with God and the Word was God. Scripture is living as it not only embodies God, but is God Himself. As much as it is Logos (as it was originally written in time and literary context), it is also Rhema (that speaks to us today and right now to our situation, what we are going through). As the Word is God, and as it describes the various interactions between God and men in literal form, it is perhaps God’s best gift to humankind for us to know and understand Him better (of course nothing beats His gift of His son, Jesus Christ to die for our sins). It is the recorded interactions, seen through human eyes, of God dealing with His people, forgiving and saving His people as they repent from their sinful and rebellious ways and return to Him, of Jesus walking here on earth as a human being like you and I, of His love and compassion, of how the early believers and the Apostles dealt with issues of doctrine and life, all of which are still relevant and applicable today in our present world. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. There is just so much to glean and learn from the Word.

I think a practical pointer to read the Bible is perhaps to read a few translations (NIV, NKJV etc) and also the paraphrased Bibles like the New Living Translation, the Message, the Amplified Bible etc. Reading across versions should help us see different facets of the translations of the original written language and hopefully through all that, the message that God is speaking to us at our relevant time comes through – breaking through the Word into our mind and understanding or as some say, “the Word comes alive in our very own eyes”! Have fun exploring who God was throughout history and who God is now and who He is to us and in the days to come as we read and study the Bible more and more! I pray for understanding and His wisdom and discernment to be upon us by the power of the Holy Spirit as we diligently read and study His Word!