Reflections on Psalm 1

In the mere 6 verses of this Psalm, verse 2 is the line which is most revealing about God's character - "But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night." It brought up a few questions - What is law? Why does God value someone who delights / abides by His laws? - and in finding answers to them, some light was shed on a few aspects of God's character.

Firstly, to understand what is law, we must start from justice. The best definition of justice I found which links with law is this - "Justice is love built into structures". Thus, law is the structure by which love prevails.

What does this then, coupled with the contents of the Psalm, tell us about God's character?

1) God is loving. For instance, look at the ten commandments as an example of His laws. If we put ourselves in the shoes of those who have been sinned against as such, we can see that they are designed out of love for both ourselves and others.

2) He is just, as revealed by the psalm's example, that He blesses the righteous and punishes the wicked.

3) Surprise surprise... God values order (and by that I mean, "a condition in which each thing is properly disposed with reference to other things and to its purpose; methodical or harmonious arrangement"). Why? Because He creates things with purpose. Since He created us out of love, He gave us His laws so that we may act according to His purpose, ie. to choose to love and to make the choice freely, not merely loving because He designed (or programmed, for a better contrast) us to love.


How do these aspects of God’s character affect me in my life?

On the one hand, knowing that God is loving and that we are created to love and be loved, has given me a lot more security and/or confidence since I first came to Christ. It's also helped a lot in the way I relate to other people, and is in a way much less of a struggle than before, however it's still not over.

Personally, after having reflected on this psalm, I find that it is harder to ignore the consequences of not choosing the (most?) loving option in anything I do, or regarding anyone I deal with. (If this seems off-tangent to the above conclusions on God's character and how all the law stuff ties in, let's just say that I'm thinking about the simplified version of God's laws - "Love the Lord your God etc" and "Love your neighbour as yourself".) It's so easy to choose not to love or be loving if it will cost me more than what I am willing to give. And I have been selfish, too many times to count, without giving any thought to the consequences. It is indeed a sobering thought when you know that God is will judge everything we have done. Like Bao Qing Tian.

In view of that blessing God grants to those who love Him and abide by His laws accordingly (as described in verse 3), perhaps every time I have to think about what would the most loving thing to do, I should seriously consider whether or not I would like to receive such blessing.