"He is Like a Tree:" Reflections on Psalm 1

Tonight I want to examine Psalm One. This is the very first psalm, as you might have already guessed, and as such initiates the series of psalms known as the book of prayer. I think its pole position in this collection of 150 others is no small matter. Let’s see what this rather short psalm says.

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”

First, on the negative side, a man is blessed if he does not delight in what delights the wicked; the way of the wicked will quickly die and be wiped away like so much flimsy dust. Second, on the positive side, the blessed man will delight in and continually ponder what pleases God; as such, he will be known by God—he will be of one heart and mind with Him. Instead of being dead dust like the sinner, the righteous man will be a fruitful tree near flowing water that bears its fruit regularly.

Death results from what sinners do, how the wicked think, and how scoffers are proud of heart. To have life and bear fruit, one must be obedient, believe in God’s words and laws, and be humble of heart. The tree of life is the heart, so those who shun this tree by disobedience, pride and unbelief, produce only death. When one embraces the tree of life and eats from it by obedience, belief, and humility, abundant fruit are produced. The heart of flesh, the living tree of life, loves God and the things of God and spends all its energies on knowing God better. As the four rivers were used to symbolize the heart/tree of life in Genesis 2, so here the tree of life/heart is closely linked with living/flowing water and abundant fruit. The one who seeks God with his whole heart and inwardly cries out to Him night and day continues to grow and bear fruit, in fact, everything that he does brings success in the true sense of the word.

The message of this first entry into the Book of Prayer is to open your heart to God and give your entire self to Him by believing in Him, being so in love with Him that you meditate on Him continually, humbly listening to all that pleases Him, and faithfully obeying His commands and wishes. Therein lies life, life to the full. A heart that has God as its one, primary desire, is a fruitful tree, bearing much beautiful fruit. I think of Saint Therese of Liseux and her beautiful little way of drawing ever so close to the Beloved.


Thanks for reading and your prayers.
Copyright 2007.