We Shall Overcome

In the midst of my anxieties over events in our country this last week I am reminded of the verse in the old civil rights hymn, We Shall Overcome, which declares that like a tree standing by the water, we shall not be moved. Finding the reference in the opening Psalm I would now like to share it with you. But first:

This Thanksgiving I am thankful for the word of God,

which comforts me when this world I live in seems to go crazy,

which assures me that truth and justice will ultimately prevail,

which leads me to keep putting my trust in the Lord Who "knows the way of the righteous".

Psalm 1

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in this law he meditates day and night.

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 what ever he does, he prospers.

The wicked are not so,
But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the wicked will perish.