When I picture the Psalm 1 man, James Bond comes to mind. Trite, I know.

Bond fights evil wearing shades and a suit. He walks behind enemy lines like he walks the public streets of London. He strolls down the sidewalk, away from his ticking bomb that will soon detonate. Boom! The blast from down the street and over his shoulder swishes his suit coat mildly. Bond cups his hands to light a cigarette, and keeps walking.

The Psalm 1 man is cool, calm, and unaffected, but not because his heart is granite.

The Psalm 1 man slips on his shades and walks straight through fads, ignoring the pressures to conform, closing his ears to gossip. He keeps walking because his heart is soft. He is not self-confident. He is not boastful. He is not proud.

The Psalm 1 man does not think like the world, he does not behave like the world, he does not belong to the world. His heart has been softened to what is true and steadfast.

The Psalm 1 man does not walk confidently because he is sure of his own perceptions, wisdom, and confidence. He walks confidently because he trusts God’s Word to deliver wisdom, direction, and transcendent joy.

Over time the Word has germinated in the softened soil of his heart, stretching its roots deeper, and slowly growing upward into a magnificent, large, and fruitful tree.

The Psalm 1 man is both certain and soft, fearless and affected, firm and joy-filled. How happy, how blessed, is this man!