Psalm 1

What a place to begin! Working through the Psalms will be my devotional habit, along with J. M. Boice's commentary on the book. Reading Psalm 1, I'm struck by the contrast of the two ways, or the two roads of life. One way is to surround yourself with the opinions and direction of other people. This man walks in the counsel of the wicked, stands with the sinners and sits with the mockers. Boice quotes Spurgeon who points out that the evil man's behavior gets progressively worse: walking, then standing, and finally sitting to become one of the mockers himself.

Yet the righteous man is different. He doesn't surround himself with people, but instead meditates on God's Law. I'll admit that the Law doesn't sound very palatable to me most days, but it's another way to truly get to know God better. God's Law is placed there to show His love for us, directing the way we should live our lives. It's the best way for us.

A bothersome aspect of Psalm 1 is the ease in which the prosperity teachers can twist the words -- or more rightly, take them out of context. The psalmist isn't telling us that the evil will go broke and the righteous will be rich. The "prosperity" is of an eternal nature. Chaff is blown away and burned. Not a fantastic alternative. Yet the righteous man is blessed -- truly happy, watered by God's thirst-quenching stream, and (note) yielding a great crop.

There's your prosperity right there.