Psalm 1 - The Fruitful Tree

Daily Bible Study for Wednesday June 29, 2016

By: Hanny Lynn Stearns

Fish N Loaves Ministries, Inc.

“Multiplying God’s Word Around The Globe”

Chapter Reading for Today: Please read in your Bible before proceeding. Note that most translations are considered paraphrases. The Young’s Literal Translation provides a more accurate translation since he is the one who authored a concordance. Others are helpful for seeing a different perspective, but we cannot always depend on their wording. I hope this is helpful to you. If you are studying in another version, that is fine. I am studying from the KJV, but for the purpose of this study, I will keep it with the New King James Version.

One final note: I will put the scripture in italics to differentiate from my own writing. I am adding red to the letters when it is Jesus talking – just like the Bible. Thank you.

Bible Gateway Verse of the Day

Psalm 138:8

The Lord will perfect that which concerns me;
Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever;
Do not forsake the works of Your hands.

Psalm 100:4

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,

and into His courts with praise.

Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

Song: I Am The Vine          By: John Michael Talbot

Psalm 1 - The Fruitful Tree

As we start into a new book in the Bible, we shift our focus in a new direction. You remember yesterday as we ended the book of Job we were reminded that God makes all things new. Today is a new day saints. Hallelujah! This can be the first day of the rest of our lives and it can be great and very prosperous time in the Lord. That is, if we make a firm decision to walk with Him. Look at this…

Amos 3:3

Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?

Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father;

You are so awesome Lord! Father, You are well acquainted with the ways of Your people who want to choose to do the right things. Thank You for making us Your brand new kids in Christ Jesus our Lord! It is quite fun Abba Father to be 60 years old going on 11! Father, I ask You to reveal Your plan for us in this lesson today. Lord, I submit myself to Your leading and guiding through Holy Spirit. Father I ask You to think through my mind and speak through these hands – they are instruments for Your glory, Lord. May Your will and Your word go forth today unhindered and unchecked by any outside force or my flesh. I ask You Father to help each reader to receive exactly what You have for each one of us. Help all of us to grow up significantly more in You with each passing day. May we bring You the glory, honor and praise that You alone deserve in Jesus name. Amen.

Before we go any further, let’s look at this Psalm in the Amplified Classic translation. I thought it was a good rendition of today’s verses. This is a short chapter, but it is certainly not short on meaning. We can take as little as one word in the Bible and feed on it endlessly. Praise His name forever!

Psalm 1 AMPC

Blessed (happy, fortunate, prosperous, and enviable) is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly [following their advice, their plans and purposes], nor stands [submissive and inactive] in the path where sinners walk, nor sits down [to relax and rest] where the scornful [and the mockers] gather.

² But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law (the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God) he habitually meditates (ponders and studies) by day and by night.

³ And he shall be like a tree firmly planted [and tended] by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not fade or wither; and everything he does shall prosper [and come to maturity].

⁴ Not so the wicked [those disobedient and living without God are not so]. But they are like the chaff [worthless, dead, without substance] which the wind drives away.

⁵ Therefore the wicked [those disobedient and living without God] shall not stand [justified] in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous [those who are upright and in right standing with God].

⁶ For the Lord knows and is fully acquainted with the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly [those living outside God’s will] shall perish (end in ruin and come to nought).

What a great way to start off in the book of Psalms! We see what a blessed man looks like! Is that you? I am sure that if you are reading these studies you are truly a blessed man or woman. How can I say that? Well, just look at what it says. A blessed man (includes women – all mankind) finds great joy in the word of God. To delight oneself in the law of the Lord is to really value what God says to do and think above all else. If you keep reading these studies it shows that you, my precious friends, are serious about God. We can tell the difference pretty quickly between a godly man and an ungodly man, can’t we?

Blessed folks don’t like to listen to any advice from ungodly people. They are wiser than that and they know they need to stand way back from bad advice. Blessed people don’t do things like the rest of the world. They don’t talk negatively at any time. They are not whiners and complainers. They do not look like the rest of the world. They are careful in how they dress and what they listen to on the TV or the radio. They are cautious about what they allow into their eye gates and ear gates. They shut themselves off from thinking like the people who do not love and honor God.

Blessed people meditate on God’s word day and night; they are thinking about it constantly and it is what sustains them through each and every day. Blessed people really enjoy time in God’s presence and in His word. Does that describe you? Blessed folks are not looking for excuses to avoid reading the Bible – they are devouring it and applying what they are learning every minute of the day. Blessed people are always ready to be corrected by God’s word and know that they can find all the help they need by meditating on His word all day and at nighttime too.

When you go to a blessed man’s house, you will find Bibles and scripture verses all over the house. In fact, in every room you will be able to see clearly that the people who live there love the Lord. It will be as plain as the nose on your face. When you sit down to have fellowship with them they will want to tell you all about the great things God has done for them and what He is doing at that moment. As matter of fact, the blessed man just can’t stop praising God and giving Him glory. That man thinks about heavenly things far more than earthly things and he longs for his time with Jesus every day.

A blessed man is compared to a tree. In the Bible trees are spoken of in place of the word ‘people’ many times. When Jesus talked about “fruit bearing trees”, He was talking about people. When He talked about the mountains, He was referring to the leaders of the people. Other times the mountains refer to the problems people face. There is a great deal of symbolism in the Bible. That’s why we need the Helper – Holy Spirit so much when we read it. Without Him we can’t make a “lick of sense” out of it. Blessed men are like a healthy tree sitting right next to a river of water that feeds it constantly so it is always fresh and flourishing. When the season comes for it to bear its sweet fruit, there is an abundance of the fruit because of where the tree is planted. They delight themselves in God’s laws; they are drinking from the stream of living water…

John 4:1-26

Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John ² (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. But He needed to go through Samaria.

So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.

Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”

Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.” Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”  The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.”

Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”

 The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 

You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.”

Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”

Jesus is known as Living Water. And anyone who drinks from Him will bring forth that “living water”. God’s word is seed. If we pour water to seed, what happens? It grows. When a tree is planted and then watered well, it will flourish. And when a tree flourishes, it bears good fruit. The orange tree was created to produce oranges. If it is well watered by the stream of water, it will bring forth many tasty oranges – yum!

But what does it mean to bear fruit as a Christian anyway? It means to do good works for the kingdom of heaven. What we do is called fruit. If the fruit is good, praise the Lord, we get a reward. If it is bad, it didn’t come from His water, for certain! There are many ways to bear fruit in the Bible. Let’s look at some more of the scriptures and then proceed from there…

Psalm 92:12-15

The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.
They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing,
To declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

The blessed man or woman who is planted in the house of the Lord will be fresh and flourishing – even when they get old. How is that for good news? Getting old doesn’t have to be a drag - on our minds, our bodies or our work. As Christians we will likely bear the best fruit of our lives when we get older. Many are stuck in a ‘rocking chair’ mentality. But older is supposed to be better – not frail and sickly. Let’s look at some more…

Psalm 104:13

He waters the hills from His upper chambers; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your works.

When God works, people are satisfied by His fruit. He always sets the example for us. What He does always brings a harvest. And the blessed man is to be like that – fruitful and producing a harvest. We can be 10 years old or 90, but if we delight ourselves in Him we should always be bearing some fruit. The essence of today’s chapter as it describes the blessed man and the fruit he bears is closely tied to this very chapter and verse…

John 15:1-8

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

Can you see how this scripture lines up exactly with our chapter today? God’s goal for our lives is that we bear fruit. Bearing fruit for the kingdom will only be done when we abide in Jesus. And what does it mean to abide?

Abide (Webster’s 1828 Dictionary)

ABI'DE, verb intransitive pert. and part. abode.

abada, to be, or exist, to continue; W. bod, to be; to dwell, rest, continue, stand firm, or be stationary for anytime indefinitely. Class Bd. No 7.]

1. To rest, or dwell. Genesis 29:19.

2. To tarry or stay for a short time. Genesis 24:55.

3. To continue permanently or in the same state; to be firm and immovable. Psalms 119:90.

4. To remain, to continue. Acts 27:31. Ecclesiastes 8:15.

God said the blessed man delights in His laws and meditates one them day and night. In this chapter (John 15) Jesus said if we “abide” in Him, we will bear much fruit – the two chapters are saying one in the same thing. In order to be productive as a Christian, (or be blessed) we have to be heavenly minded at all times. The minute we start slipping away from being in the word and in His presence, and stop praying continually, we are in danger of becoming unfruitful. Oh but that’s not you and me saints, is it? 

By reading your chapter every day and other scriptures that relate to the topic, you and I are staying in the word, meditating on it constantly and we are abiding, or living in Jesus at all times. Doing this causes us to be blessed beyond our greatest imagination. So what kind of fruit do we want to bear? Well, that is a big question, but not too big for the Bible to answer. We know that the fruit of the Holy Spirit in us should look like this…

Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Born again believers should display these characteristics in their lives at all times. If we don’t see that in ourselves, we need to do a heart check and see where the problem is in order to correct it right away. But the fruit God wants to see is work for the kingdom. Let’s look at another chapter that talks about this very subject…

Matthew 7:15-20

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

Many times we run into people who claim to be Christians, but they are not bearing any fruit. We can sense that something is off. When asked if they try to lead others to the Lord, they make up excuses about why they don’t. The desire just doesn’t seem to be there. There is a problem with this saints – big time! If a person says they know Christ, yet has no desire to lead others to Him, how can the love of God be in them? They are what the Bible said above – a bad tree.

But the blessed man or woman of God finds it exciting to be given the privilege of leading someone to the Lord. They love people so much that the mere thought of seeing someone go to hell for eternity absolutely makes them alarmed – in a good way. Leading souls to the Lord is bearing really good fruit. That’s where the desire of a blessed man or woman should be. Casual conversations will have their place, but in the end the hope is that as we talk with people, the conversation will swing around from the natural to the spiritual.

We have to step out and get them talking. We have to relate to them. Again, we must be heavenly minded at all times. We know that when Jesus came across the woman at the well she was looking for natural water. But Jesus stuck around and spoke with her long enough to tell her about the living water that would permanently remove her thirst (in the spiritual sense, of course!). Jesus bore a lot of fruit that day. Once that woman was saved the whole town heard about Jesus and they all went out to see Him and many were saved that day – hallelujah! That’s a fruitful day saints.

One day as Jesus walked along with His disciples, he came across a tree that did not have any fruit on it…

Mark 11:12-14

Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.” And His disciples heard it.

We see what Jesus thought about trees that didn’t bear fruit. He cursed that tree right on the spot. Not a good outcome for that tree, huh? If you read a little further in the chapter, you can see that the tree had dried up at the root since the last time they had seen it. Our words matter saints – they really do bring results of one sort or another. Let’s look at this…

Proverbs 11:30

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.

Jesus was all about winning souls. He went about bearing much fruit by calling the sinners to repentance. This is what He said He was here to do…

Luke 5:32

 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

If that is what Jesus did, then we, as His disciples, must be about the same business. Jesus said there is a great big harvest out there just waiting to be brought in. But what if a farmer didn’t have the right equipment to go out and bring the harvest of fully grown corn in when it was ready? The corn would die, right? The same principal is true with soul winning. If we don’t make ourselves available as a vessel (like a fishing net) that God can use to bring in the plentiful harvest that is in our world today – the harvest (aka – the people) will die. What a horrible thought friends! Look at what Jesus said about the harvest…

Matthew 9:37-38

Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

Friends, of all the fruit we can bear as Christians, I believe the Lord is impressing on us today that the blessed man and woman of God needs to be about bearing the fruit of the harvest of souls. If we are too busy to talk to people about Jesus, then we are just too busy. Something needs to be shaved from our schedules, but not that! We need to be fruitful in every good work. The Bible says a lot about that and you can study it on your own. But for today, I specifically heard Holy Spirit say to me that He wants us to be about winning souls. That is the kind of fruit the Lord wants us to bring forth in season.

And when is the soul winning season? It’s right now – today, tomorrow – it is every day. We must be constantly aware of new opportunities to talk with people. If they will take the time to engage in a conversation with us, then we need to take the time to allow God to bring what we need to say to those individuals. Who but the Lord knows – you may come across a man or woman who was planning to commit suicide – as a lost sinner, but then you showed up and gave them your testimony and saved a soul.

That very thing happened to me one day. I went out with a church group on an evangelism trip each day for a few days. We went knocking on the doors of an apartment complex. It was a very poor neighborhood. By the way, I do not recommend doing it this way unless the Lord specifically tells you to. If you go somewhere without His direction, you are likely going to hit nothing but a wall and do more damage than good. 

The day we went, I knocked on a door and a lady answered. She had two kids with the oldest being out of the house and another one still at home getting ready to graduate. We started talking and she said it was amazing to her that I showed up that day. And why? Because she had been in such despair over losing her husband that she planned a suicide for the following October after her son would be done with school. She didn’t feel she could provide adequately for him and thought her life was just over. I was able to share my testimony with her about trying to kill myself and I could relate to her very well.

That night the church meetings I was attending for that week were going to have another service. I invited her to join me. And she was ready when I went to pick her up. When the altar call came, she approached the altar and fell to her knees and sobbed like a baby. All that pain she had been carrying started to surface. You can be sure that the Lord was right there to comfort that sweet mourning soul. She had been burdened down by the enemy with grief to the point where she had wanted to give up on life. But God had not given up on her.

Now she had hope – hope in Jesus, her Savior. But what if I had not gone that day? Would someone else have knocked on her door? Maybe. But would that have been the right person with just the right testimony and ability to relate to her lifestyle and her burdens? Probably not. That was my assignment that day and the Lord made sure it happened. I remember that she almost backed out of going to church that night. When I had left her apartment the devil jumped all over her thoughts trying to make her feel uncomfortable about going to church.

She had called me and tried to cancel. But I didn’t take no for an answer. I was kind about it, and as the Lord led the conversation, she had agreed to allow me to pick her up for the service. I don’t know what has happened in her life since then, but I do know this. I had prayed for her, and because I was in the right place at the right time, I know the Lord heard my prayers for her and I believe they were answered. It is the Lord who gets the credit for our prayers saints – not us. He causes us to pray for someone and then He answers it – He gets all the glory! I believe I will see her in heaven. It had been a fruitful day for me – glory to God. He wants us to bear fruit saints and He wants to reward us for the fruit we bear.

Matthew 16:27

For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.

My friends, today’s chapter tells us clearly what the blessed man will be like – a fruitful and flourishing tree. Our job is to pull the ungodly away from destruction as the Lord directs. We see the people talked about in today’s chapter who do not love God. It is not good. They will not be able to stand in God’s court when Judgment Day arrives. It will be dreadful – for them, and for us who have to watch them be cast off into hell for eternity! So let’s get busy about our Father’s business and do what the Master told us to do. Let’s go bear fruit and continue to stay in the Living Water so we can remain fresh and flourishing all the days of our long and blessed lives – amen?!

Questions:

What does the blessed man delight himself in? Fully explain your answer.

What does our chapter say the blessed man resembles? 

What does it mean to bear fruit?

What kind of fruit is Holy Spirit showing us today?

Are you bearing fruit like Jesus talked about in our studies today? Explain your answer.

Jude 20-23

But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

And on some have compassion, making a distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.

  There are three main points to consider from today’s study…

The blessed man delights in the law of the Lord

Blessed children of God are like well-nourished and very fruitful tree

The harvest is plentiful – we must go into the field and bring in the harvest now

Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for blessing us big and making us a big blessing to others. Thank You for causing us to be well nourished as we delight ourselves in Your law. It was Your law that brought us to Christ in the first place. Father, I ask You to forgive me for any opportunities You have brought to me to witness to others that I did not take advantage of. Lord, I ask You to show me from this time forward who I can talk to about Jesus. Father, I ask You to give me the right words at the right time as I talk to people so they will turn to You for their salvation and healing. Bring glory to Yourself as You bring in the harvest through me in Jesus name. Amen! 

What kind of fruit have you been bearing lately? 

And God Said… You fill in the blanks. 

1 Corinthians 3:5-15

Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one?  I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.

For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 

If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.