THE BOOK OF PSALMS
Psalms chapter 1: 1
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,
1:2
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on His Law Day and night. For the Lord watches over the way of the righteousness, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.
1:3
That person is like a tree planted by water streams, which yields its fruits in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.
1:4
Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
1:5
Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
Psalm chapter 1 captures a fundamental teaching in the Old and the New Testaments. In the Old Testament God teaches His people that one’s choice will determine both the direction and the outcome of your life.
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: Therefore, choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.
Deuteronomy 30:19
In the New Testament, Jesus’s message to the crowds is to choose the right way in life:
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it
Matthew 7: 13-14
- CHOOSING THE RIGHT PATH
Psalm 1:1 we learn that happiness comes from walking on a righteous path.
This determination is directly connected to other people. Each line in this verse tells us to avoid the wrong interpersonal relationships. Your friends make all the difference in your life.
Notice what this verse says:
“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.” Choosing the righteous path includes refusing advice from those who hold godless values and whose moral choices violate the laws of God.
The second line goes a step further:
“Nor stand in the way of sinners.”
It is one thing to listen to wicked counsel. It is another to decisively side with that viewpoint.
Instead, the happy person refuses to follow the worldly crowd. You don’t see him” hanging out” with those who pursue sin as a lifestyle.
Finally, he refuses to sit and associate with those whose conversations mock and curse God:
“Nor sit in the company of mockers.”
If you want to be miserable, make your best friends those who are scornful, critical and disrespectful.
The three verbs—walk, stand and sit— show the slippery slope of evil. Evil is not passive. It is ever descending. The longer you go, the worse you get.
A pattern of evil choices causes a downward spiral in character that leads to destruction.
- HUNGERING FOR GOD’S WORD
Psalms 1:2 declares that happiness comes by developing a strong appetite for God’s Word. Welearn to enjoy the Bible by nurturing the disciplined habit of meditation.
Meditation involves a 24/7 – “DAY AND NIGHT” – focus on the Scripture. This means seeking to understand the Bible’s meaning as well as its application to us personally.
The Spirit of God makes the Word of God satisfying to the soul of a man. The scriptures are “sweeter than honey” [Psalm 119: 103] and “more to be desired [desirable] are they than gold.” (Psalm 19: 10)
In some contexts, the word meditate can be translated as growl groan or moan. It conveys the idea of muttering.
Perhaps you know someone who walks around mumbling to himself. We tend to view such behaviour as socially odd.
But the reality is that all of us talk to ourselves inside our heads all the time. There is a mental discussion going on continuously. Some people simply express parts of their dialogue audibly.
This mental conversation is meditation. God blesses us as we mull over His word day and night. The reason this way of life makes one so happy is that it fulfils the purpose for which we were created.
God’s first command to man was to” Be fruitful” (Genesis 1:28)
Psalm 1 describes the happy man as being “like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he shall prosper.”
Psalm 1:3
Fruit bearing is the result of “deep roots’ finding an abundant supply of nourishment from underground streams of water.
God’s Word is an all-sufficient, eternal supply of empowering grace for all of life. Even during difficult, seemingly barren times, The Word will sustain life.
A fruitful life is a blessed life. So, David states that God’s way to happiness is being separated from the World, saturated with the Word, and fruitful and successful in doing God’s will.
- THE WRONG WAY
Psalm 1: 4-6
“The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore, the ungodly shall not stand in the judgement, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.”
Psalm 1:5
Ungodliness will never, never prosper! Ultimately, ungodly people’s lives aredeemed as “chaff,” In other words, they are worthlessness, lifeless and useless. They will be driven away by the wind of God’s judgement. They will not dwell with the people of God in the congregation of the righteous.
At the end of the passage, the psalmist sets forth two directions—the way of the righteous and the way of the ungodly; two decisions – to meditate on God’s word or to listen to ungodly counsel; and two destinies – the righteous will enjoy God’s presence forever, but the ungodly will perish.
PRAY
Lord, I confess that I often seek my ways instead of yours.
Thank you for your gentle reminders that direct me back to you.
As I make my way through life,
Teach me to turn to you in all things,
To meditate on your word and seek your mind.
Give me a measure of your wisdom each day,
So that I may walk accordingly to your ways.
In Jesus’s name
I pray
Amen.
