When my daughter Danielle was pretty small I offered to pay her a dollar if she would memorize Psalm 1. They have to be pretty small to accept those terms but she thought it was a great trade and eagerly agreed. I had read Psalm 1 and really liked it. It was simple yet profound; and it was short – only six verses. I really wanted her to succeed so I made up all sorts of fun ways to help her learn it. On the ride to church each Sunday I would test her and we would repeat it together over and over.

As I recall, it took her a couple of months to get to the place where she was ready to recite it for the money. In the meanwhile I realized that I had memorized it too. I couldn’t be watching the road and the Bible at the same time so I had to have it in my mind pretty well. And how could I tell her it was a passage worthy to commit to her heart but not have it committed to mine?

One fine Sunday morning she finally took her test and got her dollar. But an interesting thing happened to me; I continued to read Psalm 1 over the years and meditate on it and pray it and I am still doing it to this day. It got down so deep inside me that it has practically become my life scripture. It has really set a course for my life. Here’s how I pray verse 3 which is my favorite: “I am like a tree planted by streams of water that brings forth its fruit in its season, my leaf does not wither and in whatever I do I prosper.”

When asked her favorite scripture passage as an adult, Danielle will tell you hers is the 23rd Psalm. She barely remembers the Psalm 1 incident. But for me? That was one of the best dollars I ever spent!

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