It is a word we use as Christians, probably everyday,אָמֵן (amen). It is first used in Numbers 5:22, and appears in duplicate, 'Amen, Amen'. Amen is also the last word of the Bible found in Revelation 22:21(NIV); 'The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen' (Ἀμήν) as well as a title for Christ! In its earliest uses in the Old Testament it is used as a declaration of agreement and support; famously at Mount Ebal.

Psalm 1 is one of the more well-known of the Psalms, if not the best known. Consisting of only six verses its message is direct, and it seeks to draw a direct comparison between the way and destiny of the wicked, and the way of the righteous:

‘Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers.’ (Psalm 1:1)

I’ve come to see more and more, that faith is a determination. It is something we must pick up when we wake up in the morning, and carry with us through our day, like a shield of protection. Of course, comparing faith to a shield is not an original thought and the apostle Paul, writing from prison to the Ephesians (in his great comparison between the Christian life and the dress and service of a Roman soldier) says, ‘In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one’ (Ephesians 6:16).