Streams of Living Water-psalm 1

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither- whatever they do prospers.- Psalm 1:1-3

The book of psalms is the biggest book in the Bible. Comprised of 150 chapters, spanning over a thousand year time with numerous authors, it is essentially one big hymnal to the glory and power of our Lord God, and how he is good to us in every situation. Throughout the psalms, we see the power of God and with that, we see that besides being a loving Father, he is a righteous judge. The authors make it clear that if we follow God's commands and do what he says, our reward in heaven will be great, but if we go the way of the world, we will perish. We see this right of the bat in Psalm 1.

"Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked...that person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither"

But let us not stop there. Just as the righteous will prosper, we are given a look at the people who are not. "Not so the wicked. They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in judgement nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous."- vs 4-5

Harsh.

When we follow the world, we are spiritually uprooting ourselves from the blessings of God. Through the choices we make, we are cutting ourselves off from the nourishment of the Gardener. By choosing the life of a sinner, our trees have no root in anything that will hold fast when winds and storms come our way. Without those roots, we become weak against attack and our branches become dead and void of substance. I want to rest at the end of my life knowing that as the Lord directed, I positioned myself by the living waters that come from the Father.

"For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction."- vs 6

Adam Semple- A Young Man diving deep into the Psalms

My Salvation, My Fortress-psalm 62

"Truly, my soul finds rest in God, my salvation comes from him.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, and I will never be shaken"- Psalm 62:1-2

If you know anything about King David and hos lineage, you have probably heard of his 3rd child Absalom. According to the book of 2 Samuel, Absalom was a very handsome man who wanted to secede his father as king. After a terrible event that happened to his sister, Absalom killed David's oldest son, Amnon. The second child of David is named, but we don't get much of a history of him so he probably died at a young age. So here we have Absalom, who was third in line for the throne, now front and center. Unfortunately, David's son Solomon had already been promised the throne by God. So Absalom precedes to get himself crowned king, and after he builds up a following, he goes after his father so that he can truly claim the throne. Psalm 62, along with several others, was written during David's time of running. Despite the circumstances, David still rests in the assurance that God will protect him. So much so that he repeats the phrase above a few verses down.
"Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge."- 5-8

How crazy is that? Absalom has prepared an army to take the throne from his father and all David can do is express that God is still his fortress. Can any one of us say the same when enemies surround us on all sides. When the devil has built up his army and he is getting ready to strike, Do we believe that God is our rock. I will be honest and say that I don't always hold onto that confidence. But, it is something that we as a body of believers should have. God is our salvation and our rock, and because of this, we shall never be shaken. I can't even begin to imagine emotionally what David was feeling when he heard the news that his son, who had already murder his own brother, was coming for him.
From what we know from the Bible, David was equally angry and heartbroken at how thing played out in his own home. From the death of Amnon to the winning of the hearts of the people by Absalom, David couldn't believe what pieces fell into place to try and bring about his own destruction.
Thankfully, we know the rest of the story. Absalom was killed by his own pride and folly, and David lived on to impart his wisdom and vision to the son who would be king, Solomon.
I pray that in every situation, God will always be our rock, our salvation and our fortress.