In The River
But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. Psalm 1:2-3 (KJV)
The word delight means to take pleasure in and, like it says, to have delight in something or someone. What we delight in becomes our desire. The word meditate means to ponder, roll over in your mind, to mutter, to repeat scripture in a soft tone.
As God and His Word become our delight and pleasure, as we desire them above other things, we will seek God by meditating on His Word and on Who He is. As we do, we behold Him more and more. The more we spend time in the Word and in God’s presence, the more we will desire those things. We will find God as our pleasure. And the things of the world will fall off us and lose their hold on us.
We’ll begin to become like solid trees, stable and abiding in God’s presence and Word. It’s like putting down roots by rivers of water. We put our roots down in the life-giving flow of the Holy Spirit of God. Have you ever noticed how lush and green the vegetation is next to the river? And the further you get from the river, the less full and green the plants are. It’s important to stay in the life-giving flow of the river.
He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) John 7:38-39 (KJV)
We can drink deep of the Word of God, of God Himself, and of His Spirit. We will receive an unending flow of the Lord, His character, life, and attributes. We are given life from the Holy Spirit, which makes us fruitful for God. Why? Because we live in the river of God’s presence, abiding in His Word. This makes us fruitful and prosperous. In the river, we live life by God’s grace, not by our own works or efforts of the flesh.
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. John 6:63 (KJV)
Delighting in God, we will meditate on Him. God will make us trees of righteousness, planted by rivers of living water. Those rivers are flowing with His Spirit, presence, Word, power, and provision, making us fruitful in God’s Kingdom. We’ll bring forth fruit, not failure. We will succeed by God’s grace for we have learned to live life in God- in the river.
