“Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.
The ungodly are not so,
But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
For the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the ungodly shall perish.” (Psalm 1:1-6)

This psalm is a beautiful description of what a Christian’s life should be like. We are to be immovable and stand firm in our faith for the Lord. We are to delight in His laws! We are to be like trees planted by water. If we stand firm through this life, with our roots in the word of God, we will prosper and live with God forever! Reading this psalm, it is so obvious who the happy people of this world should be – those who follow Christ! The ungodly are the ones who will suffer, some in this life, some in the next. The ungodly have their roots dug so deep into Satan’s lies that many of them will not ever be able to see clearly how wrong their way of living is. In the end, the ungodly shall perish. This passage is where we get the encouraging hymn “I Shall Not Be Moved”:

“Glory hallelujah, I shall not be moved; Anchored in Jehovah, I shall not be moved; Just like a tree that’s planted by the waters, I shall not be moved.
In His love abiding, I shall not be moved; And in Him confiding I shall not be moved; Just like a tree that’s planted by the waters, I shall not be moved.
Tho all hell assail me, I shall not be moved; Jesus will not fail me, I shall not be moved; Just like a tree that’s planted by the waters, I shall not be moved.
Tho the tempest rages, I shall not be moved; On the Rock of Ages, I shall not be moved; Just like a tree that’s planted by the waters, I shall not be moved.” (Edward H. Boatner)

This song is one of my absolute favorites! It is so encouraging for the Christian who is striving to live for God daily. We are commanded to live for God and to obey Him. Many people of the world, who are held under the world’s lies, think that the life of a Christian is boring and too constricting. This hymn shows how great life is for those who have their roots in God’s law! It’s a song of praise and hope. No matter how hard our life may get, if we have our hope and life set on Jehovah, God’s abiding love and the Rock of ages, it is easy to not let ourselves be moved! We can rejoice, even in the hard times of life. We can be strong, even when the “tempest rage,” because we know that the Lord is with us. We can know that if we stand fast and are immovable, our Lord will watch us and will take us to live with Him when this life is over.

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:58-59) In every area of our life we must stand strong and not sway! We cannot be “wishy-washy” Christians, but ones whose roots are so deeply grounded in God that nothing can make us move. If we are not moved away from the Law of God, our lives will not be in vain!

By Alicia Bookout
Alicia and her husband, Garrett live in Clovis, NM where Garrett is the pulpit minister for 16th and Pile church of Christ. They have one sweet two-year old daughter, Emma and a second little one due in February. Alicia is a stay-at-home wife and mother. They both graduated from the Bear Valley Institute of Denver.