You are never quite sustained, satisfied and refreshed until you are in close proximity with Yahweh! It has always been about His Presence, about proximity to our River.
There is a remarkable picture of the kind of believer portrayed in the Psalm – the one who is in close proximity to Yahweh and walks in His ways.
The first Chapter of the Psalm describes and paints this believer to be one who is like a tree planted near or along a riverbank.
But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do ~ Psalms 1:2–3 NLT
The thing about trees is that their roots tilt towards a water source. The kind that gives life. And for those trees near a river, their nature is to relatively extend deeper toward groundwater.
I reckon that there is a reason the first Chapter of the Psalm highlights a believer who finds JOY and DELIGHT in the LAW, due to MEDITATION that is practiced day and night, and thereafter being like a tree; firmly grounded and bearing fruit at a riverbank, as a result of being sustained and refreshed by a life giving RIVER ~ Psalm 1:1-3
Yahweh is the River and His presence is felt the closer we get to the River, that is, the closer we are at the riverbank.
The secret formula, though not so secret has always been in the Psalm. We were meant to be at the riverbank and to draw from Yahweh, our River.
The Formula:
Joy (in The Lord) + Meditation on the Law = Sustainability and Refreshment from Yahweh
It is probably a well-known fact!
Yet, one might wonder why we constantly find ourselves drawing from sources that drain us and not sustain us.
You see, we human beings, have a tendency of rearranging the formula from the intended design. We restructure it to fit our own narrative and circumstances.
We find “joy and delight” in the things that are not of The Lord.
We “meditate” on them as our “law”. And somehow expect to feel sustained and refreshed by a replica of the kind only Yahweh can provide – How genius to think our ways are greater than His.
We seek sustainability and refreshment from what:
⁃ delights us;
⁃ gives us pleasure; and
⁃ brings us happiness.
However, if the source of these are not rooted in delight, pleasure and happiness in The Lord as guided by the Law (Psalm 37:4), we are rooted at a wrong riverbank and are in proximity to the wrong river. We would be drawing from a lifeless river that cannot refresh us.
His presence cannot be found in the joys of our human desires that are contrary to the Law/Bible. We cannot be refreshed by them. Like trees, we are meant to have our roots deeply rooted in Christ, constantly reaching for the life giving water at the River.
The most beautiful part is that we don’t have to do it in our own strength. Christ Jesus leads us there. It is the nature of the Shepherd to lead us besides still and quiet fresh waters/streams – Psalm 23:2
It is only when we are near a life giving river or stream that we are able to draw life from it.
Picture Christ leading you here, after trying to carry all that baggage on your own and drawing from lifeless sources.
Picture His Presence, and you, drawing from Him, like a tree firmly grounded near a River.
You will thirst and try to quench your thirst with worldly sources of refreshment, but that will not satisfy you.
Then you will sit in Yahweh’s presence, call His Holy name and draw from Him; the river that refreshes. Only then will you get true satisfaction and refreshment.
It has always been and will forever be about His Presence, and Him, Our River.
For it is good to be near God, it is good to be closer and closer to Yahweh ~ Psalm 73:28
Until we drink from a life giving source, we will forever thirst. For the scriptures have guided that the only river able to quench our thirst is that which Life Giving, the kind that offers Refreshment by being in His Presence.
Lovingly, Mwaba Musunga.
