Online Bible Audio/Readings Links (ESV)
8/4 Reading Portions: Judges 18; Acts 22; Jeremiah 32; Psalms 1-2
Psalm 1:3
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.
TREE
Surely, the blessed Man of the First Psalm is the perfect, sinless, and beloved Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet we are also blessed recipients of this psalm, for we are His redeemed. As trees, you and I have been planted exactly where the sovereign God’s providence has placed us. A tree cannot plant itself. It grows where its seed falls, or where a bird or the wind might carry it, or where a husbandman has planted it. The Lord plants us where the roots of our faith may receive the nourishing streams of the Holy Spirit’s water; and just enough for every individual soul, whether much or only a little is needed. The Spirit’s supply will produce fruit for the kingdom (Gal 5:22-23) so that pure, undefiled religion (Jas 1:27) may flourish in Christ’s church, His vineyard. As long as we abide in the Vine, Lord Jesus Christ (John 15:1-5), the leaves of our faith will not wither. Whether the fruit produced in our lives is thirty, sixty, or one hundred fold (Matt 13:23), it comes forth according to Christ’s calling for us, and the measure of the Spirit required for that particular call. The Triune God is glorified by His tree (In all that he does, he prospers) because it is all of grace in its fruitfulness, freshness (does not wither), and prosperity. Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Like planted trees we’re blessed by streams,
The river does supply;
Our leaf fades not while fruit supreme
Exalts our Lord on high.
