Once again, the first of the month finds me at Psalm 1. A fresh month, a fresh opportunity to think about the prosperity God desires for you and me. It looks likes this:
He shall be like a treeThere are two things necessary for experiencing this prosperity in our lives, one positive, and the other negative. The positive is found in verse 2:
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.
(Psalm 1:3)
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,Notice the word “But.” It is the hinge point that turns from the negative to the positive. The negative is found in the first verse and it is just as important as the positive.
And in His law he meditates day and night.
Blessed is the manNow, the first line, of course, is positive, “Blessed is the man.” Or better, “Oh, the happinesses of the man!” But the next three lines set up the negative, about what the man who is blessed does not do.
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful.
- He does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly.
- He does not stand in the path of sinners.
- He does not sit in the seat of the scornful.
Then there is the matter of what we do with our mouths. Not merely open mockery, which is easily detected and avoided, but the little ways we tear things down with our words, and especially how we belittle each other, and ourselves, by the things we give voice to. Our words are very powerful, and how we use them is very important.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue,No man can tame the tongue, it is attached to the heart and merely reveals what is in the heart in abundance. In other words, to deal with the tongue, you have to deal with the heart. How important it is, then, to continually meditate on the instruction of the Lord and let if fill your heart to overflowing. Then His words will inform your words, and when you speak, you will be speaking in alignment with the prosperity of God. Your faith will be activated and you will see that divine prosperity begin to come forth in your life.
And those who love it will eat its fruit.
(Proverbs 18:21)
But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh. (James 3:8-12)
A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:35-37).
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