Welcome to our Summer in Psalms series with Gather Moms. Over the next eight weeks, we’ll read and reflect on a selection of psalms together.
The book of Psalm is the prayer book of God’s people. It was written by many authors over hundreds of years, some known and some anonymous. While King David is famously credited with the majority of the texts, there are 8 named contributors. Nearly one-third of the psalms (49 in total) are anonymous with no author named. When you open it, you’ll see numbers and headings added later to help organize the collection. Think of it like a table covered with scraps of prayers, songs, and cries to God. In these 150 psalms, you’ll find every human emotion like joy, fear, anger, hope. They are all given words and brought before God, expressed without filters or pretense. The psalms teach us to take what’s real and align it with what’s true, turning our feelings into prayers of trust. The Psalms reassure us that no matter what we are feeling or experiencing, God is with us, and He is good.
And as moms, we feel it all. The highs and lows, the fears and the hopes, the deep love and the daily surrender. The psalms give language to our hearts as we raise our children to know and follow God. The truth in this book is both for us and our children. A good place to start is at the beginning with Psalm 1. Scholars believe Psalm 1 is a signpost to the entire collection. It establishes the central theme of the whole book: the contrast between the righteous and the wicked. Here we find the opening line: “Blessed is the man.” One of my favorite teachers from The Bible Project paraphrases Psalm 1: “How good is life for the one who…” All of us want the good life, but the psalmist differentiates this with two paths—one rooted in God’s truth, the other shaped by the world. The blessed life is like a tree with deep roots planted by streams of water—steady, nourished, and fruitful in every season. No matter the circumstances, it holds firm. The world instead chooses sin and scoffing. A scoffer is one who has moved past making foolish choices to actively rejecting truth and belittling those who follow God. The psalmist says they are like chaff. Take a moment to look up a picture of chaff. The visual image gives understanding to what the psalmist is saying. Chaff is the dry and lightweight outer husk on kernels of grain like wheat. Because chaff is so incredibly light, it has no deep roots to keep it grounded. Even the slightest breeze easily scatters it. Think about the contrast being chaff floating in the breeze and tree roots digging deep in the ground. So much of life comes down to choosing between what is easy and what is right. We often choose comfort, but comfort is temporary. The world is unpredictable. When your peace relies solely on things outside of your control, any sudden shift in environment will strip that comfort away. God’s way isn’t always easy, but it leads to something better. To build a sense of steadiness that doesn’t just blow away, you have to cultivate resilience and establish roots—identifying what truly holds weight for you and anchoring your daily habits in those core value. The psalmist says the Lord knows the way of the righteous because they live in step with God—choosing His way over what feels good in the moment.
So what is the “good life”? Is it a full closet, iced coffee on demand, a clean house, and well-behaved kids? Or is it something more? The good life isn’t built on comfort or appearances. It’s found in loving others, guiding our children with intention, staying rooted in community, and returning to God’s Word again and again. These things aren’t always easy, but they are life-giving. The good life comes from staying constantly connected to your source of life.
As you read Psalm 1, ask yourself these questions:
- What is God’s definition of the good life?
- How am I aligning my heart with it?
- What might I need to let go of to choose righteousness over comfort?