hatchcreek.com Bible blog

He is like a tree planted by rivers
of water, which brings forth its
fruit in season and whose leaf
does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.

Psalm 1:3

Here is a wonderful promise from the Word of God.  The thought is of a beautiful tree growing by a river of water.  The tree grows abundantly and never has to worry about drought as the water continuously provides all its needs to bear its fruit in due season. This sounds great but wait, there is a catch!

Yes, God does give us a great promise, but there are some strings attached.  At first glance this sounds like a very easy way to have a wonderful, prosperous life.  We just wait like the tree and God does all the rest.  But, to get the full meaning of this verse, we must go back and look at the verses proceeding this one. 

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! (Psalms 1:1)

Blessed, or happy, is the man who doesn’t walk in the counsel of the wicked.  Let me ask you this.  When you have problems where do you go for advice?  People are always ready to give us advice.  Have you ever thought about who is giving it?  Do you take advice from people in the workplace?  Are these people who are walking close to God?  It just seems natural to ask those around us for advice.  But, God says not to take advice from the ungodly people of the world.  Their mindset is different and they do not take in consideration the moral values God wants for us.

 When we need advice to work out some problem we have with daily living we need to go to trusted people who are walking with the Lord.  Look for a mature Christian who is strong in the Word.  He can help you discover what God says about your particular problem.  We are not to cozy up to the world. 

First, he says “walk,” in the councel of the wicked.  Then, there is a progression to “stand” in the paths of sinners, and finally, “sit,” in the seat of scoffers.  If we follow this path we are finally living just like everyone else who are not Christians. If we follow this path we will not be given the right advice.

But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. (Psalms 1:2)

Instead of hanging out with the worldly people the person who wants to be prosperous delights in the Word of God.  He spends time in the Word reading and studying it, and he continuously mediates on the Word.  As Christians we need to keep in the Word and we will find how God wants us to live so we can make decisions based on his morality, not the worlds.

As you can see the key to prosperity is not just sitting back doing nothing, nor is it going to worldly people for advice.  The Psalmist says that in order to be prosperous we must keep in the Word, keep close to God, and look for our help from Him.  When we do this we will be prosperous!