This past June, on our trip to Israel, my wife and I rented a car.  Leaving Jerusalem, we drove down toward Jericho, followed the Dead Sea south, went all the way to Eilat, on the Gulf of Aqaba, drove up through the Negev, followed the coast, up to Mt. Carmel, went all the way to the Lebanese/Syrian border, drove down through the Golan Heights, descended to the Sea of Galilee – in the end, we drove 1400 km and, according to my wife, made only one wrong turn.  

You might ask how that would even be possible.  Truth be told, we were relying on an app developed in Tel Aviv – the Waze App.  Waze will definitely help you get to your destination when driving down the road, but how do find help to navigate through life? There are so many big and small decisions everyday.  Wouldn’t it be great to navigate through life and not make wrong turns?  Wouldn’t it be great to get it right at least 70% of the time?  Maybe 80%?

Today we are going to look at Psalm 1, a wisdom psalm, which clearly outlines two very different pathways that lie before all of us. Following this psalm’s instruction provides guidance not only for life in Israel, but indeed for life around the world.  As we meditate on this psalm, we will be led to answer three questions:

1. What (or who) shapes you?
2. Where are you planted?
3. Who knows you?