Tim’s Daily Bread Devotional 6.23.22

By June 23, 2022Daily Bread

Good morning!

I hope this day finds you and your family well. I invite you to take a few moments with me to read and reflect upon today’s scripture selection — and to carry these thoughts with you into your day.

Today’s Scripture: Psalm 1 New Revised Standard Version

 Happy are those
who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
or sit in the seat of scoffers;
but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law they meditate day and night.
They are like trees
planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.

The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

 

Tim’s Devotional Reflection for Today

Whenever I read Psalm 1, my first thought is my father’s funeral.  I was sixteen years old, and one of the youth choirs I sang in, the Madrigal Singers of First United Methodist Church of Shreveport, Louisiana, sang a setting of this Psalm.  I can still sing it after all these years: “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners.  But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.  And he shall be like a tree that is planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season.”

It is a powerful image:  to delight in the teaching of our faith, to think about it, to meditate on it whatever you or doing or wherever you go—day or night—is to be rooted and nourished like a tree that is planted by a river.  To be rooted and grounded in that way is to have a fruitful life.  As our pastor Jim Moore preached at the funeral, he came back to that theme of what makes a grounded and fruitful life.

What does a grounded and fruitful life look like for you?

 

Hymn: “Thy Word Is a Lamp”

by Amy Grant (1984)

Thy Word is a lamp to my feet, O Lord,
Thy Word is a light to my way;
It shines in my soul like a star by night,
And comforts and cheers me by day.

Refrain:
O wonderful, wonderful Word,
My treasure, my hope, and my stay;
Each promise recorded delights my soul,
And brightens each step of my way.

Thy Word is a lamp to my feet, O Lord,
And, trusting in Thee as my all,
Whatever of evil may cross my path,
I never, no, never can fall.

Refrain

Thy Word is a lamp to my feet, O Lord,
And oh, when Thy glory I see,
For all the rich blessings its truth has brought,
The praises will I give unto Thee.

Refrain

Thank you for sharing this moment of your day with me, with God, and with these reflections on a portion of scripture.  I hope you will carry these with you throughout your day and night.

Grace and Peace,


Dr. Tim Bruster
Senior Pastor