Last week we looked at the inescapable influence of our world. Every day we?��ll hear a thousand voices offering counsel. This week we?��ll look at another inescapable reality found in Psalm 1:

2) You live in a world of inescapable harvest

?��He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.?�� (Psalm 1:3-4)

There?��s an inescapable harvest in God's economy. Today?��s passage is only one place where we find it. Galatians 6:7 says, ?��God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.?�� It?��s crucially important for us to embrace that our words, our choices, and our decisions matter.

I?��ve sat with so many married couples that ask the question, ?��How did this happen to us??�� They once had a very sweet relationship but now sit together in scary acrimony. They think that they?��ve driven into a fog, but they?��re actually harvesting the seeds that they?��ve planted over the years.

You can't continually violate God's holy will for your marriage and expect to experience God's blessing in that relationship. You can't treat another person any way you like without consequence. The powerful lie of the enemy is that your decisions won?��t make any difference (Genesis 3:4), but that?��s not the observation of the Psalmist.

You cannot deny God's existence without being like chaff. Now, many of you would argue that you?��ve never denied the existence of God. Doctrinally that?��s probably true ?�� you?��ve always believed. But can I make a confession? There are many times when I ignore God?��s existence, and I think you?��re just like me.

We say things that ignore His purpose for righteous communication. We think things that we wouldn?��t think if we were meditating on His character. We make decisions that we wouldn?��t have otherwise made if we were focusing on the plans of God. You see, in the mundane moments of everyday life, we?��re easily tempted to deny the existence of God and act as if we?��re sole rulers of our universe.

So how do we meditate on His existence? The Psalmist helps us in verse three by giving us a word picture of a tree, planted by streams of water. The righteous man is sending the roots of his soul down into the nutrient soil of God's wisdom and God's grace. This will always produce a life of blessing.

Time and time again, I?��ve opened Psalm 1 to people who are saying to me, ?��How did this ever happen??�� My hope is to show them the beauty of living when the roots of our soul are functionally sunk deep into the nutrient water of the grace and wisdom of the Lord, in contrast to the danger of living as if I'm capable of writing my own law and depending on my own strength.

  1. What source of nutrients have you planted your soul near?
  2. Are you making daily decisions without thinking of the consequences?
  3. In what ways may you be functionally denying God?��s existence?
  4. How can you counsel people asking, ?��How did this ever happen??��

God bless

Paul David Tripp