[To follow The Ewellogy, please click on Leave a Comment above, fill in your name and email, and check the box: Notify me of new posts by email. If your comment is, “Notify me,” it won’t post publicly. If you don’t start to receive the blog by email right away, please write to me at bob@ewell.com, and I will see that you get on the list.]

I’ve been meditating in the first three verses of Psalm 1 (NIV):

1 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,

2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.

3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.

Very simply, it breaks down into:

• What blessed people don’t do (verse 1)
• What blessed people do (verse 2)
• The result (verse 3)

Yesterday, we looked at verse 1–Abide NOT—Today, let’s consider what blessed people do (verse 2):

• Their delight is in the law of the Lord
• They meditate on his law day and night

That is, instead of abiding in distractions as I wrote yesterday, they are abiding IN the Word, reminding us of John 15, which talks both of abiding (compare Psalm 1.2) and fruit (compare Psalm 1.3). 

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. (John 15.4, 5, NKJV, emphasis mine)

How do we abide in the Word? Kickstarting our day with intentional time with God as I’ve written about often helps as does scripture memory. The purpose of scripture memory is to facilitate “day and night” meditation and deepen our relationship with God. 

I’m reminded of my friend Jim Downing, who passed away last year at age 104! He often spoke of meditation, and he developed a unique way of going through the psalms once/month. There are 150 psalms and 30 days in most months. That’s five psalms/day. But instead of reading psalms 1 – 5 on day 1, psalms 6 – 10 on day 2, and so on, he advised the following:

• On the first day, read psalms 1, 31, 61, 91, and 121
• On the second day, read psalms 2, 32, 62, 92, and 122
• And so on
• EXCEPT on the first 22 days, add one stanza of Psalm 119. That prevents you from trying to read all 176 verses of Psalm 199 when you get there!

It works. Try it! 

¹   Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD!
2  Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart,
3  who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways! (Psalm 119.1 – 3, ESV)

Tomorrow, we’ll think about fruit.