Deeply Rooted Trees
Oh, the joys of those who do not
Psalm 1:1-3
follow the advice of the wicked,
or stand around with sinners,
or join in with mockers.
But they delight in the law of the Lord,
meditating on it day and night.
They are like trees planted along the riverbank,
bearing fruit each season.
Their leaves never wither,
and they prosper in all they do.
Yes, I am back on trees. I can’t get off of them! There is something so spiritual and metaphorical of how God made us and how He made trees. He is constantly paralleling us to trees, like He does in Psalm 1.
Starting off the entire book of Psalms, this first Psalm is specifically and intentionally placed, selecting a profound image of what we begin to look like when we fix our minds daily on God. Yes, when we begin to delight in God’s ways and meditate on Him day and night, we become like trees planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in each season.
It is interesting that those who focus on growing in godliness become like deep rooted trees. What the Bible doesn’t say is that those people become like bushes or grass—they become like tall sturdy trees. Trees are different because they grow singularly up, almost in a way disciplined—one trunk up from which all the branches and leaves grow. Not like a bush that grows all over the place and especially not like a weed that sprouts up and grows anywhere and everywhere, like a chaos.
Yes, when we focus on God, we develop a form of singular unwavering godliness, and everything else grows from that. That godliness becomes a solid trunk of truth in which branches and leaves and fruit of all kind can grow. As we become firmly planted and deeply rooted, we are nourished not by rains that come and go each season but by the eternal and ever-present water source. And we prosper in every season, connected to the life source and flourishing from the godliness we’ve remained in.
So let’s keep our focus on the main thing: Jesus. Let’s delight in His ways and let us seek godliness that comes from our Savior and grow as singularly minded trees—sourcing from the eternal water and bearing fruit of peace, love, and joy in every season.
