Blessed is the man…

1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

² But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

³ And he shall be 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 doeth shall prosper.

⁴ The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

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

⁶ For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Psalm 1 KJV

I love reading Psalms. They are always so encouraging and refreshing. I was contemplating what to read for my morning devotion earlier this week and the Lord brought Psalm 1 to my mind. When I was a teenager, I had a Sunday schoolteacher who had us memorize this passage. She was also my mom! She helped us memorize verse one by pointing out that walking comes before standing and standing before sitting. As I began to study this first verse, I realized that not only is this a way to help memorize this verse, but it is also important because it shows a progression into sin. Wednesday night our pastor preached on “The Enemies of Revival” and he mentioned how when Satan tempts you and lures you into sin, he does it subtly, not all at once, there is a progression just like we see in this verse.

I’m going to break these verses apart and define some of the words using the Webster’s 1828 dictionary and the Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible KJV to help us understand better. This will literally be a list of definitions, bear with me. The very first word is blessed. Blessed–happy, prosperous, enjoying spiritual happiness and the favor of God. Next, we see walketh or walk–to move slowly on the feet, step along slowly. Counsel–advice, opinion, instruction, consultation. Ungodly–wicked, sinful, neglecting the fear and worship of God, violating His commands. Stand–to be upon the feet, to be placed or situated. Way–used metaphorically to refer to the pathways of one’s life, pattern of life. Sinners–offender, voluntarily violated the divine law. The influence of these people is to be avoided BUT they are to be instructed in the way of righteousness. Sit–to occupy a seat or place, to be in a state of rest or idleness, to settle, rest or abide. Seat–habitation, dwelling place, remaining or abiding in a given location. Scornful–to boast, to scorn, to mock, to deride, so as to express utter contempt, contrary to the law of the Lord. Delight–a high degree of pleasure or satisfaction of mind. Law–instruction, direction, law, Torah, the whole law, instruction from God. Doth meditate–ponder, study, to dwell on in thought, to think on, to revolve in the mind. Day–daily or by day. Night–by night. Tree planted by the rivers of water–consistent, unwavering, fruitful. Season–certain time, appropriate time, God’s time. Wither–fade. Doeth–to do, to make, to accomplish, to complete. Prosper–to grow or increase, thrive, to make gain. Chaff–refuse, worthless matter, especially that which is light and apt to be driven by the wind. Wind–spirit, wind, breath, used to refer to the spirit of God or the Lord. Judgement–a judgement, a legal decision, a legal case, a claim, proper, rectitude. Syn. Ordinance, righteousness. Congregation–assembly, band, pack, entourage, community of the righteous. Righteous–Just, conformity to a given standard. Shall perish– to perish, to be lost, to wander.

That was a lot, I know, but now let’s get back to the progression I was talking about earlier. So, in verse one we see “blessed is the man that walketh NOT in the counsel of the ungodly.” We should be avoiding these things, so we have to be aware of this progression of how we can get so far out into sin before we really even notice what has happened. Satan is subtle, remember? First, we see walking, some attention is given here to the advice of the ungodly, but we are still walking on, not stopping. Then, the next phrase, “nor standeth in the way of sinners,” so now we are giving more attention, we have stopped and are standing in the way of sinners and if you look back to the definitions given, you will see way is more like the lifestyle of the sinners. Next, “nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” So now we’ve done sat down, we have allowed ourselves to get comfortable here. Not only is our position getting more comfortable, (walketh, standeth, sitteth), but the degree of the sin is worsening. First, we are just hearing the advice of the ungodly, then we are becoming more intrigued with the lifestyle of the sinner, finally we are participating in the activities of the scornful. Jer. 24:9 KJV. Hook, line, sinker. We must remember to be sober and vigilant, so this does not happen to us. 1 Peter 5:8 KJV.

Verse two tells us we should delight in the law of the Lord and meditate on it day and night. As Christians we should desire the word of God, 1 Peter 2:2 KJV. We should study God’s word, 2 Tim. 2:15 KJV. This is how we will be able to avoid the afore mentioned progression into sin. Eph. 6:11 KJV. We should constantly have God’s word revolving in our hearts and minds. Eph. 6:1-9 KJV, Psalm 119:11 KJV.

As a result of delighting in God’s word, verse three says, he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. A tree planted by the rivers of water is consistent, always bearing fruit. Even in times of drought, this tree is so deeply rooted that it’s supply of water (the Word) never dries up. Psalm 46:1 KJV. That bringeth forth HIS fruit in HIS season. This phrase relates back to my last blog about being content in your season. We see perseverance in this verse, despite hard conditions the tree continues to bear fruit and prosper. Phil. 4:13-14 KJV.

Next, we see then ungodly contrasted. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. The ungodly are fickle, unstable, wavering. James 1:5-8 KJV. They are not rooted or planted.

Therefore, the ungodly shall not stand in the judgement. I’ll be honest, before I started this study, I thought this meant they wouldn’t be in heaven for the judgement but when I looked up this word in the Hebrew-Greek study bible, it comes from the Hebrew word, mishpat, which is a noun meaning a judgement, or legal decision, rectitude, it also included some synonyms which I put in the definition list. Honestly, this one is still a bit confusing to me, but I think it means that the ungodly choose not to follow the ordinances put in place by God and if they continue this way they are bound for hell. Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous, sinners do not want to be in the company of the righteous, similar to the previous phrase. But the good news is that God loves sinners, and he sent his sone to die for our sins and He gives us a choice and we can repent and turn from our sins and choose to live for Christ. If you are convicted, if you have never been saved, read through these verses…Romans 3:23 KJV, Romans 6:23 KJV, Romans 5:8 KJV, Romans 10:13 KJV. Salvation is a free gift; all you have to do is accept it.

Lastly, “For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.” The Lord knows our way, our lifestyle, and if we are righteous, He wants to bless us. Jer. 29:11 KJV. The way of the ungodly shall perish, in the Hebrew-Greek study bible, shall perish is one word meaning to perish, to be lost, to wander. Again, God made a way for us to be saved all we have to do is acknowledge our lost condition, our need for a Saviour, repent from our sins, and ask him to save us. John 3:16 KJV.

I hope this study was helpful. I hope you enjoyed it; I hope you are encouraged to dig deeper into the word of God and learn more about him and deepen your relationship with him. If you are lost, I pray you find this helpful and if you have any questions leave a comment and I will help you this best I can. If you have any additional thoughts or feedback on this topic, please comment!