Psalm 1:1-6

This Psalm reveals the contents of the entire Book of Psalms.  It is the psalmist's purpose to teach the way to blessedness and to warn of the sure destruction of sinners.

This Psalm may be called the Psalm of Psalms, because it contains the vigor and extract of Christianity. It carries blessedness in its architecture. (Thomas Watson, 1600)

Those who are in Christ are godly and blessed.  Those who are in Adam are
still under the curse.  In Christ the curse is removed because Christ became a curse for us.  In Ephesians1:3 the Bible tells us that the believer in Christ has been blessed with all spiritual blessings.

1.  Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,  nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

2.  But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.

3.  He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.

4.  The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff that the wind drives away.

5.  Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

6.  For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

"As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow" (1 Peter2.2). (2 Peter 2:2-9)

To enable spiritual growth, we must develop a hunger for God's Word and practice it in our lives.  "But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves...He who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does" (James 1:22,25).

 

 

 

1.  The blessed man is one who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly.  He receives wiser counsel.  He walks in the Lord's commandments.  The ways of obedience are pleasant paths of peace.  His footsteps are ordered by the Lord, and not by the world's crafty and wicked devices.  It is  rich sign of inner grace when the outer walk is changed, and ungodliness is far from our actions.

Nor stands in the path of sinners.  His company is more select.  Although a sinner, he is now a blood-washed sinner, made alive by the Holy Spirit and renewed in heart.  Standing by the strength of God's rich grace, in the congregation of the righteous, he refuses to fellowship with evil.

Nor sits in the seat of the scornful.  He finds no rest in the atheist's scoffing.  Let others mock sin, eternity, hell, heaven, and the Eternal God, this man has learned a better philosophy.  He has too great a sense of God's presence to hear His name blasphemed.  The seat of the scornful may be lofty, but it is near the gate of hell.  Flee from it.  It will soon be empty and destruction will swallow the one who sits on it.

Note the graduation of the first verse:

Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly

Nor stands in the path of sinners,

Nor sits in the seat of the scornful.

When people live in sin they go from bad to worse.  At first they merely walk in the counsel of the ungodly.  Their evil is practical rather than habitual, but they become accustomed to evil.  They stand in the way of open sinners who willfully violate God's commandments.  If left alone, they become malignant teachers and evil enticers. They sit in the seat of the scornful. 

 

The blessed man, the man to whom all the blessings of God belong, cannot fellowship with these characters.  "What fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness?"(2 Corinthians 6:14).  He puts away evil things as garments defiled by the flesh (Jude 3).  He comes out from among them and is separate.  (2 Corinthians 6:17).  He suffers reproach because He trusts in the living God.   (1 Timothy 4:10)

2.  Now mark his positive character.  His delight is in the law of the Lord.  He is not under the law as a curse.  He is in the law.  He delights to be in it, he delights to meditate in it, to read it by day and to meditate in it at night.  He takes a text and carries it all day.  In the night when sleep forsakes his eyes, he ponders the Word of God.  In prosperous days, he sings songs from God's Word, and in affliction's night, he finds comfort with promises from the same Book.

The law of the Lord is the true believer's daily Bread.  In David's day it was a small volume of inspiration, only the first five Books of Moses.  How much more should we value the entire written Word?   Let me ask, "Is your delight in the law of the Lord?  Do you study God's Word?  Do you make it your right hand, your best companion, and your hourly guide?"  No?  Then the following blessing is not yours.

He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.

3.  He shall be like a tree planted.  Not a wild tree, but a tree planted, chosen, considered property, cultivated, and secured from the last terrible uprooting.  "Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted" (Matthew 15:13).

By the rivers of water.  Even if one river should fail, God has another.  The rivers of pardon, the rivers of grace, the rivers of promise, and the rivers of fellowship with Christ are never failing sources of supply. He is like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season.  Seasonable graces, timely figs that are full flavored.  The one who delights in God's Word, delights in being taught by it, has patience in suffering, faith in trials, and holy joy in prosperity.  Fruitfulness is an essential quality of a gracious person.

Whose leaf does not wither.  His finest word will be everlasting.  His little deeds of love will be remembered.   Not only is his fruit preserved, but also his leaf.  Neither beauty nor fruitfulness will be lost.


And whatever he does shall prosper.  Blessed is the one who claims this promise, but we must not estimate the promises fulfillment with our eyesight.  When we judge by feeble sense, we often reach Jacob's mournful conclusion, "All these things are against me" (Genesis 42:36).  Although we know the promises, we are so tried and troubled that sight sees the reverse. Nevertheless, to faith's eye this Word is sure; we perceive that our works prosper even when everything seems against us.  It is not outward prosperity that the Christian most desires and values; it is soul prosperity.   We frequently, like Jehoshaphat, make ships to go to Tarshish for gold, but they are wrecked at Ezion Geber (1 Kings 22:48).  Yet even here we find true prosperity, because it is often for the souls health that we are poor, bereaved, and persecuted.  Our worst things are often our best things.  Just as a curse is wrapped in the mercies of the wicked, a blessing is concealed in the believers' crosses, losses, and sorrows.  The saints' trials are divine farming that produces abundant fruit.

 
4.  We have now come to the second part of the psalm.  This verse uses the ill condition of the wicked to heighten the coloring of the righteous.  A more forcible translation of the Latin and Greek is, "Not so the ungodly, not so."  From this we understand that whatever good is said about the righteous is not true of the ungodly.  As we have seen in the opening of the Psalm, these are the beginners in evil and the least offensive of the sinners.  If this is the sad condition of those who quietly continue their morality and neglect God, what is the condition of open sinners and shameless unbelievers?

The first sentence is a negative description of the ungodly; the second sentence is the positive picture.  This is their character, like the chaff, intrinsically worthless, dead, unserviceable, without substance, and easily carried away.  This is their doom, the wind drives away.  Death with its terrible blast, will hurry them into the fire and they will be consumed.

Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in judgment,
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

5.  They will stand there to be judged, but not to be acquitted.  Fear will grip them, they will not stand their ground.  They will flee and not stand in their defense.  They will blush and be covered with eternal contempt.  Well may the saints long for heaven where no evil dwells, nor sinners in the congregation of he righteous.  All earthly congregations are mixed; every church has a devil.  Tares grow in the same furrow as the wheat (Matthew 13:25).  No floor is totally free from chaff.  Sinners mix with saints, as dross mingles with gold.  God's precious diamonds are still in the same field with pebbles.  Righteous lots, this side of heaven, are continually vexed by the men of Sodom (Gen.13:13).  Let us rejoice that in "the general assembly and church of he firstborn who are registered in heaven" (Hebrews 12:23), not one soul is unrenewed.  Sinners cannot live in heaven.  They would be out of their element.  Living in a tree would be easier for a fish than living in paradise would be for the wicked.  Heaven would be an intolerable hell for those who persevere in iniquity.  May God grant that we have a name and a place in His courts above.

For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.


6.  Or as the Hebrews more fully express it, "The Lord is knowing the way of the righteous."  He is constantly looking on their way.  Although it is often in fog and darkness, still the Lord knows the way of the righteous.  "The very hairs on your head are numbered" (Matt.10:30).  He will not allow your foot to be moved (Psalm 121:3).  "He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold" (Job 23:10).

But the way of the ungodly shall perish.  Not only shall they perish, but their way shall perish.  The righteous carve their names on the rock, but the wicked write their memories in the sand.  The righteous plow the earth and sow a harvest that will never be fully reaped until we enter eternities joys.  The wicked plow the seas and there seems to be a shining trail behind their keel.  Nevertheless, the waves will pass over it and the place that knew them will know them no more.  The way of the ungodly shall perish.  If it exists in memory, it will be a bad memory.  The Lord will cause the wicked's name to rot. It will become a stench in the nostrils of the good.  It will be known only to the wicked themselves by its corruption.

For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.  David terrifies us about prosperity, but commends trials and adversities.  This is the wisdom of the cross. (Martin Luther, 1483)

May the Lord cleanse our hearts and our ways that we may escape the ungodly's doom and enjoy the blessings of the righteous.

Commentary of Charles Spurgeon (1869) taken from the Treasury of David.

Annie's comments

 

The Christian life is compared to a walk (see Eph.4:1).  We are to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have been called v.17.  We must no longer walk as the world does, in the futility of their minds. (Eph.5:2,15, paraphrased.)  We must walk in love, as Christ loved  us and gave Himself up for us (as we must give up worldly ways) as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Rom.12:12). For at one time we were children of darkness, (under Satan's influence,)  but now we are light in the Lord, we need to walk as children of light. We need to look carefully at how we walk, not as unwise, but as wise.

It begins with a step of faith in trusting Christ and it grows as we take further steps in obedience to His Word.  Walking involves progress, and as Christians, we are to make progress by applying Bible truths to our daily life, allowing them to change our attitudes deep down in our hearts

It is possible for the believer "to walk in darkness," outside the will of God (1 John 1:5-7.)  It usually progresses from  first "standing" or hanging out with worldly people at worldly places, and listening to worldly counsel. By doing this, he is standing in the path of sinners who might otherwise want to know Christ. He has become an obstacle to them because they see him as a hypocrite.  Why would they believe one gets a new life in Christ if they don't see evidence of it

 
Soon the Christian gets comfortable being in this atmosphere and doing what they do, and going where they go. He is now "sitting."  Before he knows it, he is talking their talk and walking their walk.  He now does not want to hear God's Word or be exhorted for his attitudes that reflect the world's, not Christ's character.  He does not want to be seen as a goody two shoes. He has become scornful of other Christians who walk in the light of the Word of God and by His Spirit.   He is now  "walking in" the counsel of the ungodly.

These Christians need much prayer and need to understand how to grow spiritually in Christ Jesus and the Word of God.  They need Christian friends to let them know they love them are praying for them, and will be available for them.  I can't help wonder if many of these Christians were even taught what it means to live for Christ and how we should order our day with time with God in Bible reading, meditation, prayer, reflection on our life, where we are spiritually, and how to progressively grow.  If only they knew that the more you read and reflect on God's Word daily, seeking help to apply God's ways and principles to our daily life, the more we will want to do this. God will cause us to become hungrier and more thirsty for His Word and His Spirit.  I think this is where "the more we have, the more we are given" comes into play.  On the other hand, what we have, we will lose if we don't keep refilling our hearts and minds with His Word and Spirit. I am not speaking about losing salvation here. I am speaking of spiritual life in Christ by the Holy Spirit.

Let us not give up praying for these Christians that God will do whatever is necessary in their lives to bring them to understanding that Christ died to free us from the power of sin so we could stop living in it, and live for Him instead.  Pray that God would change their desires to love His will, His way, and His Word.  Only God can make us grow.  He has shown us how to grow and given us everything we need for life and godliness through His Son, His Word, and through His Spirit.

~Annie~

Love to hear comments from readers... :)