Page 25 - Psalms Ebook

felt the Christian is supposed to get up early and have devotions and
memorize Scripture and witness and so on. I was being set free in my
heart to know the Lord and by knowing Him be filled with the fruit of
His Spirit. It is automatic. You do not have to work at it; you do not
have to struggle with it. That is why I love Psalm 1.

“He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water. Which yields
its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he
does, he prospers.”

Do you realize this? You did not plant yourself. You are not a wild tree.
You are planted by His river. Who planted you? The answer is the
Lord. It is a picture of grace, and it is plural, just like blessednesses. It is
not by one little river. It is by rivers of water, streams of water,
abundant supply. God has planted us there, and it is an illustration of the
true Christian. He is separated unto God and he has roots. Col. 2:6,

“So, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must
continue living in vital union with Him, with your roots deeply planted
in Him, being continuously built up in spirit”

Someone says, well, if I am a Christian I am exempt from pain
and suffering. I know a bunch of Christians who think because they are
Christians they should never get sick. They believe that God will watch
over them so that they will never have hard times. I will tell you this.
The sun beats on the tree in the desert. It also beats on the tree planted
by the rivers of water. We are not exempt from the sun. But here’s the
difference? Where’s the roots? The Christian has a secret source of life.

God has given us a river, and that river keeps us ever green and
ever prosperous, and no matter what happens on the outside, God has
provided us, by grace, with this wonderful, wonderful river. When we
come to the section called “Dynamic Figures of Speech” in the book of
Psalms, we are going to talk about the river. Oh, my, how Psalms
develops the river! Psalm 65:9: “The river of God is full of water.”
One of you mentioned Psalm 46, the oft quoted psalm, “There is a
stream that makes glad the city of God.” There is always this river that
God has put by His people, and you are planted by it. You say, well,
where God has planted me, I do not know if I can survive here. Where
God has planted you, there are rivers. I promise you that. Get those
roots out.

25