One of the tenets of Boulanger’s pedagogical philosophy was attention. When Boulanger was growing up, she and her sister, Lili, were chastised by their mother for giving her bedtime hugs every night. Their mother explained that if they kept giving her a hug before going to bed, it would just become a habit and would no longer mean anything. It’s no wonder that attention became so fundamental to Boulanger’s philosophy of teaching and of life.
While good habits are necessary to sustain healthy relationships—think of the simple practice of a daily shared meal—inattentiveness to our habits may risk depth for dullness or purpose for pointlessness. Are there things in your life that have become reduced to inattentive habits? Is prayer perhaps one of these things? Psalm 1 is like a “prelude” to prayer—it’s the Bible’s way of orienting us, gathering our attention in preparation for prayer.
Read Psalm 1 together.
Psalm 1 (The Message)
How well God must like you—
you don’t walk in the ruts of those blind-as-bats,
you don’t stand with the good-for-nothings,
you don’t take your seat among the know-it-alls.
Instead you thrill to God’s Word,
you chew on Scripture day and night.
You’re a tree replanted in Eden,
bearing fresh fruit every month,
Never dropping a leaf,
always in blossom.
You’re not at all like the wicked,
who are mere windblown dust—
Without defense in court,
unfit company for innocent people.
God charts the road you take.
The road they take leads to nowhere.
Discussion Questions
- What in life holds your attention right now? How does this psalm reorient your attention?
- Consider the question from the introduction. Are there things in your life that have become reduced to inattentive habits? How might greater attention to these habits stir renewal?
- Take note of the contrast between the “replanted tree” (vv. 2–3) and the “windblown dust” (vv. 4–5). What are the sources of attention that each type of person is ruled by?
- The psalm claims that when you are like the person described in verses 1–3, “God charts the road you take.” What spiritual practices in your life help you grow in tree-likeness, “thrilling” in God’s word? In what ways do you seek help tuning yourself to this kind of life?
- Are there aspects of your participation on a worship team—rehearsals, devotions, leading worship—that you have become inattentive to? What are ways in which you could actively practice being attentive as a member of the worship team, either individually or collectively?
Read Psalm 1 once more together and then close in prayer. Ask God to take command of your attention and to aid you in building and staying faithful to spiritual practices that tune you to God.
This devotional is part of a series of devotionals created for worship teams. You can find the whole series here.
