I’ve spent some time recently in Psalm 1. Psalm 1, along with Psalm 2, serves as an introduction to the book of Psalms – a prayer book for God’s people as they strive to be faithful to God while hoping and waiting for the Messiah to come.
Psalm 1 contrasts the way of the righteous with that of the wicked. The righteous delight in the instruction of the Lord, allowing it to shape their thoughts and decisions. The psalm goes on to say that those who do this will be like a fruitful tree planted by streams of water: a tree that produces fruit in its season and does not wither. It is a picture of perfect, uninterrupted flourishing.
But what happens when drought hits? What happens when everything in life seems to go wrong?
On Sunday, we began a new sermon series on the book of Job. At the beginning of the book, Job is described as “blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil”. Job was a righteous man, yet the book explores his response to having everything – his wealth, his family, his relationships, and his health – taken from him.
Partway through the book, in chapter 14, Job looks at a dying tree stump and finds hope. He says:
“For there is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease… Yet at the scent of water it will bud and put out branches like a young plant.”
Job pictures the whole of the tree, with deep, grounded roots, rather than simply the part that can be seen above the ground. And this is what gives him hope.
While Psalm 1 gives us the ideal picture of a righteous life, Job 14 gives us the unfiltered reality of living it. Being righteous does not make us immune to suffering and trials.
The powerful connection between these two passages is the source of life. Even when Job had seemingly lost everything, his connection to and trust in God remained. Like the tree in Psalm 1, he continued to be planted by God’s sustaining water. Job recognised that he didn’t need a flood to be revived, just a “scent of water”.
Living a life characterised by following God doesn’t mean that everything will always be easy or go right. But when our roots are planted firmly in God, drawing on the life offered by his living waters, we can have confidence that even in seasons of drought, he remains our source of life. And in him, we can continue to grow and flourish.