“Summer Sabbath” - Psalm 1 (Day 1)
For the next ten weeks, we're going to explore what it would look like to treat the summer as a Sabbath. “Sabbath” is a time set apart to experience rest as we deliberately stop working and trust in God’s provision. The invitation of Sabbath is to take a deep breath as we cease striving and place our worries and cares at the feet of Jesus. As we pull away from the pressure to hustle, perform, and achieve, we make room for God to satisfy us as our Loving Father, Faithful Provider, and our Prince of Peace.
Rather than rushing through these summer months, our hope is to find new rhythms of sabbath rest together- and one way we can do that is through the podcast you're listening to right now! This summer we will read from The Psalms, letting its beautiful and powerful words wash over us while providing space for God to speak to us. Each week we'll focus on one Psalm, taking a different perspective each day. This will allow the scripture to encourage, challenge, and inspire us.
We’ll start our Sabbath journey with Psalm 1.
1 Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.
4 Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.
Psalm 1 is probably one of the most loved, and well-known of all the Psalms. It serves as the book’s introduction, but it also stands on its own. Many of the themes of Psalm 1 get picked up throughout the rest, themes like being blessed, the Lord’s protection, the influence of our relationships, and the truth that our choices determine our direction in life. It’s that last point we want to take a moment to sit in for just a few moments today. See, trust is a choice, experiencing real rest is a choice - a decision we make each and every day. We aren’t in control of our circumstances, and we don’t know what the summer holds. Yet, we have a say in where we place our trust and where we find rest.
With that idea in mind, let's read Psalm 1 once again. As you read this Psalm slowly, I encourage you to pay close attention to words, themes or phrases that stick out to you.
1 Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.
4 Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.
Take a moment to quietly reflect on what was just read:
Did a word or phrase stand out to you?
What immediately grabbed your attention in this Psalm?
Out of the entire Bible, why did we choose the book of Psalms to read together this Summer? First, the Psalms are beautiful! They have served as a prayer book & a song book for God's people for thousands and thousands of years. The Psalms are actually a collection of songs, prayers, and poetry that give us a glimpse into the human experience and what an authentic relationship with God can look like. They express a full range of emotions from praise and thanksgiving to lament and even frustration. They reveal to us the incredible greatness of our God, but they also invite us to be brutally honest with him. They paint a beautiful picture of what it looks like to truly live, and they provide us with language to help us truly worship!
But, the Psalms do something else - the Psalms force us to slow down. See, you can't read poetry fast or in a hurry. You can’t sing fast or in a hurry. Songs and poetry require a certain pace, they require reflection, they force you to notice the words and the emotions within each word. So yes, we choose the Psalms partly to help us slow down, to begin to find a pace and a rhythm that allows us to find rest. We hope that this season in the Psalms will teach us what Sabbath trust and Soul rest really look like.
So, as we begin to wrap up our time together, we want to provide you some space to respond to what we read and maybe to what God is starting to say to you through Psalm 1:
First take a moment to process this question… Where does your soul need to find rest?
Another question to consider is this… What would it look like for you to treat the summer like a sabbath?
PRAYER
Father God, rather than rush, today, may we carve out moments to reflect, and remain.
Continue to draw us in, as we fix our eyes on what it looks like to walk in Your ways,
knowing it is in this sacred space where our soul finds rest. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.