The book of Psalms has probably given more comfort and help, brought more joy and peace, and provided more relief from the stress and pains of life than any other book of the Bible.
The Psalms contain one of the most quoted passages in the Bible, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” (Psalm 23). The Psalms are actually songs. They are not only songs of comfort, but songs of praise too. In fact, the Hebrew title of the book of Psalms is “Praises” or “Book of Praises.” Psalms is a songbook of praises to God. The Psalms were written to be accompanied by the harp and as we will see, choirs sang many of these songs.
Chapter one of the book of Psalms is really an introduction to the whole book. Psalm 1 is a psalm that teaches us the way to blessedness and warns us about the way of destruction. So let’s dive into the book and see what God desires to teach us through His word.
Blessed is the man (vs. 1)
"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;"
The very first word that we are confronted with in Psalms is the word “blessed.” I think that is a positive way to begin a book or a letter, don’t you? When you see that word it should make you feel good.
The word blessed, when referring to a man or woman simply means happy. When the word is used of God it carries more of the meaning of praise. So if we say “Blessed be God”, we mean “Praise be to God.” When we say “Blessed is the man” we should look at it more as “Happy is the man.”
The word blessed is actually a plural word in its original. Plural means more than one. So the idea here is that this man who is being described here is blessed in more than one way. It has the idea that when you are blessed you have joy and gratitude as you live in fellowship with God.
And that makes sense because outside of God, man is cursed and ultimately leads a meaningless life. The book of Ecclesiastes makes this clear in 1:2, “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” Life outside of God is vanity or futile/meaningless.
But we need to be careful that we don’t think that because the word blessed means happy that I’m talking about a feeling. This blessedness that comes from God is not based on feelings – in other words, neither negative feelings nor unfavorable conditions can take God’s blessing away.
I think what is being communicated here is, the person who devotes himself to living a godly and righteous life is the one who finds true happiness, while the one who lives without regard to God is the miserable person. Sometimes the world looks at it the other way. The God devoted person is miserable, and those who live lives away from God’s rules and his thoughts find all of the fun!
Mile Markers to Happiness
The Psalm begins by giving us the path to blessedness or happiness. Along the path there are three mile markers. Let’s look at each of them.
1. Mile Marker One: The Counsel of the Ungodly
The first marker is this. The man who is blessed is a person who doesn’t live his life on the basis of bad advice from others.
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked.” (vs. 1)
Just replace that word “counsel” with “advice.” I’m sure you have friends who are quick to offer you advice. If your friend is a believer in the Lord Jesus, often times that counsel is good and constructive. But many times we listen to godless advice. Sometimes it comes from friends, sometimes from movies or television shows we watch. We can get bad advice from the newspaper or from magazines. “Live like this, you’ll be glad you did.”
Your blessedness with Christ is tied directly to the advice you listen to and obey. Ungodly counsel or advice is not concerned with praying, or reading, or repenting. Ungodly counsel says that there is no need for any of these things.
But blessed is the man who walks not in another’s ungodly counsel.
2. Mile Marker Two: The Way of Sinners
"Nor stands in the way of sinners" (vs. 1)
The focus shifts now from listening to the ungodly counsel of another to standing with the ungodly. You’ve listened to the advice, but rather than get out of the way, you stand in the way. The godly person avoids standing in the way of the ungodly. The blessed man does not follow the same moral paths of the ungodly.
3. Mile Marker Three: The Seat of Scoffers
"Nor sits in the seat of scoffers" (vs. 1)
When you sit down in the counsel of the wicked it means so much more than walking or standing. To “sit” takes it a step further. It suggests remaining or abiding with the ungodly and enjoying their company. A scoffer makes fun of God and His people. People who scoff hold nothing sacred—they scoff at God and everything that is associated with Him. And the godly person will always feel out of place and unhappy around those who make fun of or a mockery of God.
And remember, it is always harder to get away when you are sitting. When you walk or stand, you can quickly run away from danger. But when you are sitting it takes more effort and sometimes you just think, “I don’t really want to get up.”
What the Godly Person Chooses
"But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night." (vs. 2)
1. Delights in the Law of the Lord
The Godly person, rather than walking, standing, and sitting with the ungodly “delights” in the law of the Lord. The “law” means teaching, instruction or direction. This word law here really means the whole truth of God as it is revealed in the Word of God.
“Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord!...I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” (Psalm 119: 1, 11).
The Godly person does not take counsel from the wicked; rather he takes his counsel or advice from the Word of God. This Word is his delight. The Godly man finds it to be interesting and relevant. It brings him joy and satisfaction.
2. Meditates on the Word of God
Not only is God's Word interesting and relevant, the Godly person chooses to read it often and to meditate on it.
"...he meditates day and night." (vs. 2)
This word meditate is such an interesting word. When this Psalm was written, it was written in Hebrew. And the Hebrew word for meditate is Haga is a word that is primarily used in poetry in the Bible. You will find Haga mostly in Psalms and Isaiah. The basic meaning of the word is a low sound, characteristic of certain animal sounds.
Like the moaning of a dove.
"I moan like a dove." (Isaiah 38:14) [Hezekiah, when he was thinking he was going to die].
Or, the growling of a lion over its prey.
"As a lion or a young lion growls over his prey" (Isaiah 31:4) [The Lord describing how he will fight for and defend Israel].
Or simply groaning for the Lord's help.
"Give ear to my words, O Lord; consider my groaning." (Psalm 5:1)
Therefore, a Godly person takes time to moan, or growl, or groan over God's word. These, of course, are metaphors. A metaphor is a figure of speech in which a term or a phrase is applied to something but that doesn't literally apply, in order to suggest a resemblance. So the idea here is not that you are actually moaning or growling or groaning, but that your heart attitude is such that you are intensely thinking about God's word moment by moment.
What the Godly Person is Like
"He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers." (vs. 3)
1. He is like a Tree Planted.
He is not like a wild tree. He is like a tree planted. Again, another metaphor (figure of speech) is being used here. Who plants the tree?
It is clear throughout Scripture that God is the one who plants. We all know that the Bible teaches us that we cannot plant ourselves in the Lord. Its impossible because we are too sinful. Romans says, "None seeks God." God is the one who chooses us and plants us.
Jesus is recorded by Matthew as saying, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up." (Matthew 15:13). Some people will try to grow on their own, but it will never work. That is called good works and you will never be close to God by your good works. In fact, God roots up those people. Any religious person who claims to be of God, but has not been planted by God will not last. How do you know if you have been planted by God?
2. He is Planted by Streams of Water
First, he is planted with access to living water. In other words, he is planted in Jesus Christ. Jesus said, speaking to the Samaritan woman;
Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13,14).
A Godly person is planted in Jesus Christ.
3. Yields Fruit in its Season
A person who is planted by God, yields fruit You will know if you are in Christ if there is fruit in your life. That fruit does not come out of season. For example, if an orange tree bears its fruit too early, the late frosts will kill the fruit. The best fruit grows in season, when the weather is just right.
The fruit that a Christian bears is patience in the time of suffering, faith in the day of trial, and holy joy in the hour of prosperity. Fruitfulness is an essential quality of a gracious man or woman, and that fruitfulness should be seasonable. (Spurgeon).
4. Leaf Does Not Wither
Not only is the fruit preserved, but his leaf too. A Godly person will not lose his or her beauty or fruitfulness.
5. In All That He Does, He Prospers.
This prosperity is what I would call, prosperity of the soul. Not financial prosperity or material prosperity. When we are planted by God and are yielding fruit in our lives and are beautiful from the outside, it shows that God is at work on the inside of our lives.
Sometimes for the good of the soul's health we may be poor, or bereaved, and persecuted. In other words, our worst things, for the Godly person, are often our best things. The trials that you go through as a Christian is God's cultivation of your life, by which he grows and brings forth abundant fruit (Spurgeon)
But the ungodly are not like this:
What The Ungodly Are Like
"The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away." (vs. 4)
1. They Are Like Chaff
Chaff is the loose hulls of the wheat that are separated from the edible portion. In Bible times they would throw the grain up in the air and the chaff would blow away while the edible grain would fall back down to the threshing floor.
So, the wicked person will be mixed in with the Godly, but in time, they will be separated and will not last.
2. They Will Not Stand in The Judgment
"Therefore the wicked will not stand in judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous." (vs. 5)
When the ungodly go before God in the final judgment, they will not be able to stand. While the future of the wicked person may not seem evident to us while they are living, from God's perspective they have no future. The will not be able to withstand the judgment of God.
They will be separated from the righteous.
Conclusion
"For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish." (vs. 6)
Here's the final idea. The name of the righteous is carved in stone, but the unrighteous, or the wicked has his name written in sand. (Spurgeon).
Here is how Charles Spurgeon concludes this chapter:
"The righteous man ploughs the furrows of earth, and sows a harvest here, which shall never be fully reaped till he enters the enjoyments of eternity; but as for the wicked, he ploughs the sea, and though there may seem to be a shining trail behind his keel, yet the waves shall pass over it, and the place that knew him shall know him no more for ever. The very “way” of the ungodly shall perish. If it exist in remembrance, it shall be in the remembrance of the bad; for the Lord will cause the name of the wicked to rot, to become a stench in the nostrils of the good, and to be only known to the wicked themselves by its putridity (Corruptness or rottenness)."
May the Lord cleanse our hearts and our ways, that we may escape the doom of the ungodly, and enjoy the blessedness of the righteous!
Hope Now Bible Church. The Power of Psalms. Pastor Roger Feenstra. 2010.
