The Blessed Man (Psalm 1)

-Sung Psalm- 1---Why does a person get -prickly-- defensive- Jeremiah says that it is because he dwells in the parched places of the wilderness - in an uninhabited salt land.--The desert shrub has little access to water. And so the desert shrub gets prickly and defensive - trying to guard itself from invaders that would steal its water---I know that's how I can be- When the heat comes - when I make -flesh- my strength - I get defensive and prickly.--Remember where Jeremiah starts- -cursed is the man who trusts in man- - When we trust in man - when our hope is in human strength and resources - whether our own, or that of others - our hearts are turning away from the LORD.--And Jeremiah contrasts this with the Blessed Man -whose trust is the LORD- - and then he quotes Psalm 1.--But then Jeremiah reminds us that our hearts are deceitful. We may think that everything is fine. We may think that we are listening to the right voices---But when we make the flesh our hope, when we hope in human strength and resources, we are isolating ourselves from the river of living water----O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame- those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living water.---Whose words matter to you---Whose voice are you listening to-