The Psalm talks about a way - a path - to lead a happy or blessed life. Let's start by talking a little bit about a path - the movement toward living a blessed life. We'll sum it up like this: living life with the divine is a constant oscillation between emptying yourself and allowing yourself to be filled again.

Emptying yourself - when you hear the definitions of the word "sinner" and the word "mockers," do they bring to mind any particular examples in current times? Maybe some people in powerful positions? Empty yourself of yourself. Empty yourself of everyone else's will for your life - including your own - in favor of the will of the divine.

Allowing yourself to be filled. Here we reach a discussion about the "law" of God - the torah. Scripture. When you hear "quiet time," it probably brings an image of a specific practice for you, or maybe something you thought you were supposed to be doing a certain way. Yeah, that's probably not what the Psalmist meant. Scripture wasn't meant to be read alone at 5 a.m. with a cup of coffee. It was meant to be read (and in the ancient world it was only read) in community. This is one of the ways we allow ourselves to be filled.

So in our effort to connect to the divine, we have two main resources that we pull from all the time. First there's the book of scripture, which we all think of immediately. But then there's also another resource, one that I won't spoil here, but you can think about it with us as you listen. The late great Rich Mullins has a great song about it. We're going to read those lyrics together and think about them in that context.

Empty. Filled. To be emptied again - trees are full of grace bearing fruit for the benefit of others. Trees don't exist for themselves - they only exist to bless (give life) to creation. That's who we become.

Speaker: Aaron Vis
Scripture: Psalm 1:1-6
http://bible.com/events/49512947

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