1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the advice of the wicked; nor does he stand in the way of sinners; nor does he sit in the assembly of mockers. 2 Instead, in the law of Yahweh is his delight, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 And so, he is like a tree planted by streams of water that gives its fruit in its season; its leaf also does not wither. Therefore all that he does prospers. 4 Not so the wicked. Instead, they are like the chaff that the wind scatters. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 6 for Yahweh knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
Psalm 1:1–6 (LEB)
If you are a believer in Jesus Christ you can read this Psalm and see yourself as the righteous ones (not the wicked ones) mentioned in Psalm 1. It may be hard to believe, but it is true. God sees you through Jesus Christ. He is our righteousness.
At the same time, I have come to understand something about being “in Him”. We see many references in New Testament scripture that refers to those “in Him”. My understanding is that being “in Him” is both a once for all time event that happens when we receive salvation, but it is also a living active experience we can have now when we walk in the spirit with Jesus Christ our Lord. If we aren’t walking in the spirit, we don’t have these living active experiences of being “in Him”. This means that Psalm 1 may not feel real to us. This doesn’t change the underlying reality that we are “in Him” once and for all time. There is no going back.
However, if we desire to experience the blessings of the way of righteous described in this Psalm, we have to submit our lives to the Lord coming to know Him both as Savior (our Redeemer from this fallen world) and as Lord who is over our lives. He does not force us to relate to Him as Lord. He asks it of us and we have to choose it of our own free will. This happens after salvation. We don’t have to figure out exactly how to do it on our own. We can simple pray in our heart, “Lord, I submit my life to you. I put myself in your hands. Please shape me, mold me and build me into the person you have in mind for me.” He will lead and guide. He will set the circumstances in our life to shape, mold and build each one of us. We do have to apply ourselves. This is not a passive process. It is active and we are assured that having submitted everything to Him, He will work for our highest good and establish the plans He has for each of us. He will bless us with the experience of the righteous according to this very Psalm, Psalm 1.
Thank you Lord. Thank you. And again, I say thank you.