Always Green & Growing or Withering Away

And he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither, and in whatever he does he prospers. The wicked are not so, but they are like chaff which the wind drives away.

Psalm 1:3-4

Just getting back from a glorious vacation with my daughter and son-in-law and grandkids to Northern Michigan. The hot weather was enjoyable due to the lakefront and all that the water afforded us in cool refreshment, recreation and the lake breeze at night. All along this lake's banks were trees with their roots deep down into the water and they were green and doing well. Notice, however, in the upper right quadrant of the photo of some of these trees, there is another tree which has no leaves and is dead protuding up out of the living tree.

This reminded me of Psalm 1 and its sharp contrast of the righteous and wicked. The righteous delight is in the revealed Word of God and they soak it up into their spiritual root system. (verse 2) The result? They will be like trees planted by streams of water and will never have withering leaves.

Not so, the wicked. They are withering and being blown where the wind blows and because of this, they will not stand in the judgment, they will perish, they will be divorced from God's presence and care in heaven. They resist the Lord's grace and mercy found in His Word and they rebelliously choose not to set their lives' foundation upon His Word of truth and life.

More to the point, the righteous are green and thriving because and solely for the sake of Christ who was crucified upon the tree of Calvary for their rebellion and thus they abundantly thrive and live in His forgiveness and righteousness.

This first Psalm clearly contrasts the only difference that matters in people: are they living and feeding off the precious Good News of Christ's love and redemption for them found in the Gospel? The righteous believers are and they have living waters flowing in them beginning at their Baptism which will never cease for eternity. (see John 7:37-38)