We, Your Church, come before You in humility, gratitude, and hope. Lord, without question You have blessed the United States in tremendous ways since its inception. Under Your providential hand, this nation was founded 250 years ago on unique principles which the founding fathers largely drew from the well of Scripture. These principles included human dignity, governmental accountability, the rule of law, and the truth that rights are endowed by You, our Creator.
The American experiment of self-government and elected officials has proven to be a tremendous blessing for many in our nation and around the world and led to great advances in technology, social welfare, and material prosperity. May we never grow numb to the blessings we have received or take for granted the sacrifices made by countless men and women to guard the freedoms we enjoy.
Father, we also humbly confess our nation’s failings. We humbly repent of the ways we have contributed to the sins of our nation. Forgive us for our apathy, our entitlement, our shedding of innocent blood, the breakdown of the family, the idol of comfort and self, and the neglect of Your revealed Truth. Thank You for Your grace available to us when we call upon You, and for Your Son, Jesus Christ, whose shed blood allows us to be reconciled to our Creator.
In times past, You called the nation of Israel to seek Your face for the welfare of the city of Babylon, even as they were exiles in the land.
“Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” (Jeremiah 29:7)
While the United States is not Israel, the principle remains that “righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34). Father, we ask that You would turn the hearts of our people back to You in humble repentance. Heal our divided land. Restore us to true peace and love for our neighbors. Revive us through the preaching of Your Word. Save us through the Cross and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ! Make Your Name known among the nations, including our own!
May we always plead for Your shalom in the land we indwell—even when we sometimes feel like exiles. So, Father, we pray not for material prosperity—but for true shalom rooted in righteousness and justice. Lord, bring true prosperity to our families, our churches, our cities, and our local and national leaders. Bless them with Your ruling and reigning presence, the only true hope of the world.
Lord, may Your Church shine brightly as salt and light. May we be known for humility, genuine love, constant prayer, and bold proclamation of the gospel. Help us to be a people who care for the hurting and the vulnerable, provide for the poor, and bring hope to the hopeless. Father, we ask that You would bless our families with strong marriages founded on Your Word and that our children would be discipled in the Way of Jesus.
Make us faithful in our generation, Lord, that we might bless our nation, and in turn, be a nation that blesses the world.
We ask this humbly in the Name of Jesus Christ, the risen and ruling Lord of Heaven and Earth. Amen.
“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:1-4, ESV)
Are you interested in learning more about Jesus Christ and what He’s done for you? I’d love to hear from you!
Those immersed in the modern world of dating are often encouraged to look for the ideal man or woman of their dreams. Online dating applications often use algorithms to match users with those who meet certain criteria, such as age, location, and a host of other preferences. While most everyone agrees that romantic connection could never be reduced to matching two sets of data points, the idea is that the algorithm will at least narrow the field to those who are at least potentially compatible with you.
I don’t have much of an opinion on online dating. I am happily married, so thankfully I’m already matched up with my dating partner. The point is that most people still seeking a romantic match have some idea in their minds of what that special someone might look and act like. The same thing could be said of an employer seeking a certain type of employee. They have a particular set of experiences and qualifications that they are looking for.
Supreme Happiness
Psalm 1 gives the description of the kind of man (or woman)[1] God is seeking, the type of person He intends to bless. It’s a basic summary of one who has the ideal characteristics God is looking for. When the Bible speaks of someone being “blessed” (esher in Hebrew), it’s describing supreme happiness. While some have likened Christianity to a moral straitjacket, the Bible actually urges its readers to pursue genuine happiness. Granted, this is a happiness that doesn’t always align with our natural inclinations. But it’s a joy that is deep and abiding, not fluctuating with the ups and downs of life. The psalm begins by telling us what the blessed man is not like.
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers.” (Psalm 1:1, ESV)
The psalmist describes the downward spiral of sin. He’s warning us about how sin gets its talons into us. First, we are influenced by “the counsel of the wicked.” Then we grow accustom to “the way of sinners.” Lastly, we are so comfortable with sin that we begin to laugh at corruption alongside other “scoffers.”
Examine Your Habits
Most Christians are far more influenced by the world than they would care to admit. They spend far more hours watching TV or YouTube than they do in God’s Word. They are constantly joining conversations that make light of sin or listening to music that makes immorality sound fun, but rarely listening to the voice of their Lord. Although they would probably deny it, they are regularly walking “in the counsel of the wicked.”
Examine your habits and you will see the kind of person you are becoming. The Apostle Paul offered a similar warning: “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals’” (1 Corinthians 15:33, ESV).
As a father of three boys, this is something often on my mind. What kind of friends are they making? How are they spending their time? What are the things that most influence their thinking? Are they growing in their love for the Lord or for the things of this world?
Don’t misunderstand me. Christian parents can’t isolate their children from the world. If you try to raise your children in a bubble, that bubble will eventually pop. I want to live in faith, not fear. But at the same time, one of my goals as a dad is to train them to think differently from the world they are immersed in. I want them to learn to be respectfully critical of godless ideas. I pray that they learn to be wise and discerning. Every Christian parent can turn Romans 12:2 into a prayer for their children:
“Father, I pray that my son (or daughter) would not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but that he (she) would be transformed by the renewing of his (her) mind. Then he (she) will be able to test and approve what Your will is—Your good, pleasing and perfect will. Amen.”
Rather than pretending sin always appears gross from the outside, I want them to know that sin can sometimes appear attractive. But I also want them to know that the pleasure of sin is always empty and fleeting (Hebrews 11:25) and that the consequences of sin always outweigh the momentary thrill. I want them to know that they will sometimes need to stand alone as scoffers try to make following God look foolish.
Fruitful in Each Season
As for the blessed man, “his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night” (Psalm 1:2). Rather than seeing God’s law as an obstacle to self-expression, the blessed man loves the law because he delights in God Himself. He wants to please his Lord, so he spends each day reading and reflecting on His Word.
Unlike a wild tree growing randomly in the forest, the blessed man is like a tree intentionally planted in fertile soil by streams of water. His roots go down deep in the Word of God, so his life “yields fruit in its season” (v. 3).
What does it mean to produce fruit in its season? I take it to mean that the fruit of a blessed man will show up in various ways and seasons of life. When trials afflict him, he shows the fruit of patience. When good things happen, he grows more thankful and generous. When called to lead, he shows both courage and humility. When slandered, he responds with love.
The Truly Blessed Man
If I am honest, however, I must admit that I don’t always look like the blessed man of Psalm 1. There are times when I have listened to “the counsel of the wicked” rather than meditating on the law of the Lord. In fact, no Christian can say they have perfectly listened to God’s voice over the siren’s call of the world. That’s a problem because, as Willem VanGemeren has observed, the perfect mood of the Hebrew grammar in Psalm 1 “emphasizes that the godly are never involved with anything tainted with evil.”[2] So where does that leave us?
Ultimately, only Jesus has perfectly lived as the blessed man of Psalm 1. He alone never followed the path of sin and perfectly obeyed the Father’s will. The good news of the gospel is that when we repent and trust in Christ, we get to share in the blessing that Jesus alone deserved (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Not only that, but as we walk with the Lord, we become more like Him. The more we are emptied of our own selfish desires, the more we can be full of Christ. The more we seek joy in His will for our lives, the more we will be fruitful and prosper (v. 3).
“The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.” (Psalm 1:4, ESV)
I think of a combine harvester in the Willamette Valley where I live, separating the grain from the husks. The psalmist says the wicked are like empty husks, with no kernel inside. They are weightless and driven by the wind. The righteous, by contrast, are like a solid tree that can withstand even hurricane force winds.
As I think about such a blessed person, I can’t help thinking of my wife’s grandmother, Ruth Bell, who recently died. Despite living as a widow for several years and struggling with various health challenges toward the end of her life, she always exhibited the fruit of someone whose roots go down to the waters of life. Knowing her Savior and His Word deeply made her increasingly like Him.
This is the Lord’s goal for all of us, that we would be shaped by His Word and that we would have the blessing of being known by Him (v. 6). True success and blessing is found in living a fruitful life for the Lord.
Have thoughts on this post? Feel free to comment below!
[1] The Hebrew uses a term that can speak of both men and women.
[2] Willem A. VanGemeren, Psalms, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, 79.
Lamp and Light 