Day 37: Bringing Forth Good Fruit

Psalm 1:1-3 contains wonderful promises of God:

"How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. And he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers." (NASB)

Let us look at the promises if we want to receive these blessings. They are really in four sections. The man who fulfils the conditions "will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water". "Firmly planted" indicates a tree whose roots go down so deep into the soil that it cannot be shaken or overthrown by winds or storms.

So the first part of the picture is of a man who is strong, steadfast, unshakable. He is not moved by adversity or unfavourable circumstances. His roots go down so deep that such things do not shake him, overthrow him. He's not dependent upon the temporary rainfall or shortage of rain, but he's in a place and in a relationship with streams of water that flow continually. His roots go down by the streams of water, so that always his roots have access to water which is conveyed up through the roots into the tree and gives life and health to the whole tree.

The second part of the picture is that he yields his fruit in season, he is a fruitful person. Now God requires fruit in the lives of all of us. He says in the New Testament, "every tree which does not bring forth good fruit is going to be cut down and cast into the fire." Here is the secret of yielding good fruit, of meeting God's requirements, enjoying God's favour and blessing.

Third, his leaf (or his foliage) does not wither. The leaf is the part of the tree that shows the most. So I think that picture indicates that such a man presents a picture of prosperity. You look at him, and you know that he's flourishing. It's seen in his eyes, in his carriage, in his clothing – in everything there's just that atmosphere of well-being.

And finally, the promise on which we want to dwell most: "whatever he does, he prospers". Anything he does, he prospers. He never knows failure, he never knows frustration. He is so completely in line with God's Word and God's purposes that everything he does goes through with the blessing of God upon it. What a beautiful picture, what a beautiful promise.

Now that we have looked at these four promises, let us also look at the conditions. There are five conditions that are stated: three negative and two positive.

Let us start with the first, negative condition: such a man "does not walk in the counsel of the wicked". He doesn't get his advice and his input from the wrong source. How would we define "the counsel of the wicked"? Let me suggest some words or phrases that could easily be associated with wicked counsel:

• Firstly, it could be 'unethical'. In other words, it would be counsel that would lead us to treat other people in a wrong way. And the advice and instruction of the Bible is that we treat others as we want them to treat us.
• Secondly, the counsel of the wicked is often 'dishonest', it leads to shady practices. Maybe to fudging income tax returns or in some way not being honest in the handling of money and accounts.
• Thirdly, the counsel of the wicked is often 'immoral', it leads us to acts that are contrary to the law of God in the area of morality.
• Fourthly, the counsel of the wicked is 'wrongly motivated', it's not centred in God, it's not in line with God.
• And fifthly, which really follows out of that, the counsel of the wicked isn't in line with God's principles, it runs contrary to the principles that govern the universe. Therefore, ultimately, it's doomed to failure.