WHERE THE TREE IS PLANTED

We become who we are in the shade of the tree we choose to live under. The very first lines of Psalm 1 give guidance for the next 149 Psalms that follow. Psalm 1 begins with the choice and contrast of wicked and the righteous.

“How blessed is the one who does not follow (or walk in) the advice of the wicked,
or stand in the pathway with sinners,
or sit in the assembly of scoffers.
Instead he finds pleasure in obeying the Lord’s commands; he meditates on his commands day and night.
He is like a tree planted by flowing streams;
it yields its fruit at the proper time,
and its leaves never fall off.
He succeeds in everything he attempts.
Not so with the wicked!
Instead they are like wind-driven chaff.
For this reason the wicked cannot withstand judgment,
nor can sinners join the assembly of the godly.
Certainly the Lord guards the way of the godly
but the way of the wicked ends in destruction.”
(Psalm 1)

‘The sequence “walk—stand—sit” (vs. 1), envisions a progression from relatively casual association with the wicked to complete identification with them.’ This is contrasted by ‘How blessed is the one who does not follow… this progression but ‘Instead he finds pleasure in obeying the Lord’s commands; he meditates on his commands day and night.’
(New English Translators note on Psalm 1)

“Notice the fig tree, or any other tree. When the leaves come out, you know without being told that summer is near. In the same way, when you see all these things taking place, you can know that the Kingdom of God is near.” Jesus