Psalm 1, Jeremiah 17, Isaiah 55:1, John 7:38-39, Psalm 63

Howard Drummond considers why we need to be planted by the river of living waters

Howard Drummond

In Psalm 1 why is a plant planted by a river? Considering this question can help us to do what some of the Psalms state, which is the word 'selah'; to meditate, think, ponder for a few moments and look to ourselves and reflect upon our own lives.

I perhaps shouldn't say this, but my wife isn't very good with plants. I'm sometimes a little reluctant in buying her flowers or even plants, because she tends to leave them in water and only then deals with them again once they are almost dead. She never seems to keep up with watering them, so naturally they wither, the oil becomes dry and they eventually die.

The survival of a plant or even a bunch flowers is dependant on the amount of water that is given.

In Psalm 1 we read an introduction concerning good and evil. We see life and death. We see blessing and cursing. We see the difference between a godly character and a wicked character. We see the righteous and we see the unrighteousness. We see those who trust in themselves and those who trust in God and we see the struggle between sin and grace.

According to the Psalm why is a plant planted by a river?

The Psalmist wants us to identify what it means to be planted by the river.

Here the Psalm, which is believed to have been penned by Solomon, mentions, 'blessed is the man'. It makes clear reference to you and I; the man or person that is happy and walks not with the godless or stands in the way of sinners or sits with those who scorn, (meaning those who display an attitude of contempt), but is blessed because you and I are planted by the river. That means delighting; discerning and being dependant on what God teaches which deepens our spiritual roots.

'He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.' Jeremiah 17:8

In chapter 17 God is convicting the Jews of the sin of idolatry, asking them to look at themselves; essentially their heart. The heart is described as being, 'Deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?'

Here they cherish 'sin' despite the history of witnessing God's miracles. Who can understand that? But it happens. People fall away from God with the knowledge of what He's done in the past. We can become like the chaff that blows away in the wind, perishing, becoming ungodly and receiving judgement.

God wants to see no-one perish, but as we know human nature can get in the way. In chapter 17 the people of Judah were trusting in false idols and military alliances instead of trusting God, thus becoming barren and unfruitful. They allowed their hearts to become dry, hard and barren.

Like the flowers in water that are only tended to once they are withered and dead; like the plant that isn't watered regularly, we too run the risk of becoming dry, barren or saturated with other things to a point that we become unfruitful, putting our trust in something else.

Why is it that a plant is to be planted by the river?

It is so that we don't become those dry, unfruitful and barren places. We are being called to remain like the tree planted by the river, knowing there is a reliable source we can draw from.