Bible Studies

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Where do we start? The world did not begin when we came into it, but for us this day did. We begin every new day living the gift of heartbeat and breath that are ours to use as we decide. Whether we continue yesterday’s work or start something different, each day is a new beginning and the steps we take lead to new places. We are already on a path whether we recognize it or not and where the path leads is not always clear. What is clear is that we will be required to take what our choices give to us and so we look for clues about how to make those choices. It sounds simple enough, but simple does not mean easy.

The Bible begins with God creating the heaven and the earth and the New Testament starts with the generations from Abraham to Jesus. It is the gospel of John that begins with the Word as the origin of all beginnings but the depth of what that means is a little beyond our ability to grasp. Mankind’s first ideas were bound up in the words that were invented to express them but that was a long, long time ago. We live eternally in the present, watching the stream of time and space move past us while we are seeking a truth that seems just a little beyond our five senses. It is because of the symbols, the words and ideas they represent, that we can learn to slip our physical bounds and are able to reach out to the higher existence that surrounds us.

God’s Word was, and still is, the doing of his creation (Lk 8:11). Words bring about and shape the creative process and set into motion the actions which produce results that we can see and touch. The words we use are a gift like the air we breathe and cause change in us and around us depending on our skill and intention. Most of the time our next thought takes up where the last one left off, seemingly on its own, and it is hard to break the chain. Our desire may be to grow, to gain new understanding and get better at what we already do, but where do we look for answers? The flesh of men cannot see the spirit of God. It is through the meanings of His words that God and men can come to an understanding and thus communicate. Right now, at this moment, with the gift we call the present, let’s begin with Psalm One.


1. Enlightenment

Fortunate is the man who walks not in the council of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.

His delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night.

He shall be like a tree, planted by rivers of water, bearing its fruit in its season; his leaf also shall not wither. In all that he does he shall prosper.

The ungodly are not so, for they are like the chaff which the wind drives away.

Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgement, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For the Lord knows the paths of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.



We open our eyes to the present and we find clues. I’m in my study trying to make what I do and think and feel understandable to others. You are reading, wondering if this is a path worth looking into. What we are good at , what we have been doing since we were the age of my grandchildren is imitating what we see and then doing what works best to get what we want. The real questions we must answer, the decision that determines our future, is what do we want and who do we imitate to get it? This first Psalm shows our choices.

Blessings come to the man who shuns the path of the ungodly, who can’t stand doing harm for gain, and avoids the false joy of negative attitudes. Walking, standing and sitting are the active, neutral, and passive aspects of experiencing life. They correspond to the physical, the thinking, and the emotional components of ourselves. The first reference is to the ungodly, which is used here in the physical sense of active wrongdoing. We see schoolyard bullies and epic despots who act as if they themselves were gods: they use their strength to take what they want and maybe never learn another thing.

Next are the thinking but weaker men who stand in the path of sinners: that is, they learn the rules of trickery and deceit to steal what they cannot fairly earn as if there were no god at all. The third part is the weakest of emotional men who become bitter and resentful, unable to do much good or evil on their own but scornful of all, including the God they cannot worship. We can avoid the influence of these people by learning from their bad example.

And what are the laws that give delight? On what do we meditate day and night? The law is encoded in the Torah and the Koran and the Bible but few have memorized it and none have lived it. We live on earth in a body that fears death according to the laws of survival, but our spirit is not bound to earthly life and needs only to fear what is eternal. Jesus taught two laws that do not require being a Christian to obey: love your God with all you are and all you have, and love your neighbor as yourself. (Mt 22:37-39) This is enough to begin: all we really need is the courage to do what our spirit knows is right.

The tree is a mighty symbol of life; a provider of food and shelter with a lifespan that is greater than our own. We can be planted like that tree, bearing fruit and living in prosperity beyond the years of the unknowing and unfeeling. To believe in God does not require that we know or define Him, it means we believe there is a higher power than our own that recognizes and remembers. He sees the good and therefore the whole process of justice and inheritance is invoked. What God does not look upon cannot sustain itself, it blows away like the chaff because it doesn’t have the strength to stand nor the right to sit among the lawful.

Here we see examples of the wrong kind of active, intellectual and emotional living that lead away from the blessings of peace, prosperity and happiness. We live our lives through action, thinking and feeling but how well we live we must learn from the examples of those around us. Our freedom is also our burden in that only we can decide how to choose the most effective way to live. We are asked to meditate on the laws of living and we experience delight both as a reward and as a creative act. We might wish that the earth were a little more like heaven, but in fact we ourselves are the bridge between the two worlds. When we find happiness in this place where trouble also dwells, when we feel it and live it: we create it in our surroundings and thus bring it to the world.

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