Which Life Do You Choose?

Reverend Debbie Cato
Psalm 1
Fairfield Community Church
September 22, 2024 

Let us pray:  Lord, open our hearts and minds by the power of your Holy Spirit, that as the Scriptures are read and your Word is proclaimed, we may be renewed and transformed. Amen.

 

 

Which Life Do You Choose?

 

 

In his book Fear No Evil, Natan Sharansky, the noted Jewish dissident who eventually became a member of the Israeli parliament, tells how the books of Psalms saved his life during a long nine-year imprisonment by the KGB, the Soviet secret police.

Natan spent nine years in a punishment cell, a cold damp basement room that measured barely six feet square.  He endured thousands of hours of interrogation.  His one possession and constant companion during those hard years was a book of Psalms given to him by his wife, Avital.  Though he was not a religious man, Natan began reading the psalms.  Even memorizing them.  To his astonishment he found a striking affinity between his experience of bondage and the distresses articulated by many of the psalmists.  There prayers of lament became his own and their hope of deliverance became a gleam of light in his cell.  After nine grueling years, several confiscations and reluctant returns of his book of Psalms, he was finally transported to an airport outside Moscow for his trip to East Germany and freedom.

Sharansky’s release was choreographed by the Soviets to ensure the most favorable exposure for the world press.  When Datan got out of the car, he was minutes away from freedom and the end of his nine years of humiliation and suffering.  Datan asked, “Where is my Psalm book?”  “You received everything that was permitted,” answered the official in an unexpectedly rough tone.  Datan dropped to the snow, he began shouting.  “I will not move until you give me back my Psalm book.”

The Soviet photographers were aghast.  After a brief consultation, the official game him his book of Psalms.[1]

Early Christians, for example the Apostle Paul, sang psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs in prison.  Many of our worship songs and hymns come from Psalms.  In our troubled and traumatic times today, we can find deep meaning in the book of Psalms.  I encourage you not to discount the book of Psalms in all circumstances of your own lives.

Today we are looking at the first Psalm, a “Wisdom Psalm.”   It’s not necessarily a prayer or praise, it’s not a lament or plea for help.  Psalm 1 speaks to God’s truth and choice we make in our lives.  It is very general in its purpose.  In its simplicity it becomes the basis for understanding what all the other psalms are going to declare:  God is good, … and all other things outside him are bad.  Life with God is good, life without God … yeah, good luck with that! It’s about what God asks of his children and how they are to treat others and live life vs. what society says.  So, which do you choose?[2]

We live in a time and in a world that is trying to gain control of our thoughts, our mind, our actions, our decisions – and ultimately, our hearts.  It’s an image of a tree, and how a person who walks in the light of God is like that tree, planted next to streams of water.   To find peace within us, ultimately, it must take root in our hearts.

A tree that is healthy not only drinks from its healthy source, but as soon as that water becomes tainted it is no longer a healthy tree.  No longer is refreshing, cool, clean water being pulled into its roots.  Now, because the water is infected, the tree too, is infected.  All the chemicals and nasty runoff that made their way into the water are now circulating throughout the life of the tree.[3] 

Kelly VanderWoude, the author of “The Honesty of the Psalms” writes: “What starts out as clean, can quickly become polluted.  It’s the brokenness that we’ve come to know and experience.  And so, the tree and water become a beautiful metaphor for you and me (the trees) and holy and good water (God and His World) versus you and me (the trees) and polluted water (sin, destruction, everything outside the goodness of God.”[4]

Psalm 1 depicts two paths we can take. What’s striking about the path of the wicked is that we are never told what makes them “wicked.” Did they lie, steal or cheat? We don’t know. Instead, we are told they are like “chaff that the wind drives away.”

Chaff is a light, dry substance that, when caught by the wind, carries through the air in a flurry of aimless, spinning activity.

In a time when many of us find ourselves frequently overwhelmed and exhausted – endlessly carried by the winds of political favor (or disfavor), this image feels particularly resonant. And humbling. Because wickedness is not simply characterized by the big bad obvious sins. It can be as simple as busy rootlessness, aimlessness and emptiness.[5]  It can be as simple as false teachings, denigrating words, lack of empathy.

So, here’s the truth:  we cannot drink from the Word of God, from the Spirit of God, and also drink from things outside him.  Nor can we get healthy and be strong and true while continuing to ingest poisons that are around us.  We must drink solely from God and God alone and stay away from harmful things; harmful talk; harmful ideas.

The psalmist invite us to embrace the other option. We can be like the “blessed” in Psalm 1 — a grounded state of life that is deeply satiated, unburdened and at peace, regardless of the prevailing winds. We read that the blessed meditate upon God’s law.

The psalmist is telling us that we must be in the Word of God.  We must read scriptures, chew on them, and see its truth and relevance in our own lives.  But more than that, we must carry it with us and let it circulate throughout our bodies.  We cannot just read our Bibles and then say, “Whew!  I’m done now!”  Think about it.  You do not just take a sip of water when you are parched. Similarly, we cannot just take a one-time sip of the Bible.  We must drink it in.  Because just as water strengthens, cleanses, nourishes, and gives us what we need – so too does God’s Word.[6]

If we truly are believers of God’s word, we know it cannot stop there.  The truth is that our sins, our decisions in life, the things we are exposed to; all these things push us further and further from God’s teachings.  We walk away from our source of goodness.  While all along, God gives us exactly what we need: refreshing, life-giving, soul-restoring, eternal water.

So, spend time thinking about these questions:

1.      Which source do you drink from?  Why?

2.     Do your actions and decisions reflect “the path of the wicked” or God’s path?

3.     How is your time alone with God and his Word?  Is it important enough for you?

4.     What are some things you can do to drink more of God and less of this world?

Which life will you choose?  A life that stems from the goodness of God?  Or a life that is deeply influenced by the world around you?  It’s a big decision.   Choose wisely.  Amen.

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[1] Full story as found in “Out of the Depths” by Pamela Scalise.  Westminster John Knox Prints. 2000.  Pages 1-2.
[2] “The Honesty of the Psalms” by Kelly VanderWoude. Credo Publishers.  2020.  Page 4.
[3] “The Honesty of the Psalms” by Kelly VanderWoude. Credo Publishers.  2020.  Page 4.
[4] “The Honesty of the Psalms” by Kelly VanderWoude. Credo Publishers.  2020.  Page 5.
[5] Presbyterian Outlook. Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost — September 22, 2024 by Bobby Hulme-Lippert.
[6] “The Honesty of the Psalms” by Kelly VanderWoude. Credo Publishers.  2020.  Page 5.