Thinking Through Psalm 1

Psalm 1 (English Standard Version)

VERSE 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;
VERSE 2: but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
VERSE 3: 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.
VERSE 4: The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
VERSE 5: Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
VERSE 6: for the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

Footnotes:
Psalm 1:1 The singular Hebrew word for man (ish) is used here to portray a representative example of a godly person;
Psalm 1:2 Or instruction



Verse 1:

The verse opens on the positive note of the “blessed” man. It begins explaining why/how the man is blessed. So the implied question the Psalm intends to answer is, “How is a man blessed?” We don’t know yet what this blessing looks like/what it is, but we know the Psalm is going to give a recipe of sorts for blessing. Someone who is blessed does not walk in the counsel of the wicked. Walk is the first of 3 action verbs in this verse. Walking is an everyday activity of our lifestyle. It’s not all of what we do, but without it we’d get little done. The one who is blessed doesn’t walk in the counsel of the wicked. This isn’t “council” like a board of directors, but rather refers to trusted advice as from a close friend (this is based on the context and message of the psalm not word study). You may picture the closeness involved in a relationship where a person is walking alongside someone else giving or receiving counsel. The blessed man doesn’t do this with these people. Walking could also imply a carrying out/moving forward with the counsel. The blessed man though doesn’t walk in the counsel of the wicked. Even in the English of our Bibles this psalm is speaking to the individual blessed man (singular) as he is compared to the wicked (plural). This already places emphasis on the blessed man and makes the “wicked” a broad category that’s mentioned merely to compare them with the blessed man, who is the primary one in view here. This blessed man also doesn’t stand in the way of sinners. Stand is the second of the 3 action verbs in the passage. Standing is also something we do in daily life, but it (like walking) doesn’t describe the whole of our daily life. This person doesn’t stand in the way of sinners. This brings to mind phrases like, “It’s just not our way to _________.” The blessed man doesn’t stand in the way/path of these people. He doesn’t take/ask for their counsel as he would a close friend nor does he stand in the same way/path of life they do. Here they’re called sinners. So the wicked are also sinners. These may be referring to both the same group broadly. People are wicked because they sin for sure, but here they’re used as synonyms. They’re also both plural and both negative in usage. The blessed man also doesn’t sit in the seat of scoffers. With sit we come to the final action verb in this verse. The author doesn’t mention laying down as elsewhere in Scripture, but it seems with these 3 actions he’s trying to portray the full spectrum of the daily actions of the righteous man. He doesn’t sit in the seat of scoffers. In each of these 3 descriptions of the righteous man are given something that belongs to the wicked (their counsel, their way, their seat). It’s implied that the righteous man isn’t to involve himself in these things because they don’t belong to him. They aren’t a part of his consideration. In other words, the righteous man shouldn’t do these things because they belong only to the wicked and should stay that way. Scoffers is the third synonym for the wicked and is also plural like the other 2. To imagine a person scoffing is to picture them perhaps shouting things from their chair without good reason or without getting up from their chair to act on or sufficiently support what they’re scoffing about. Do wicked people always openly scoff? Can we call them scoffers without question? In some form or fashion they always eventually will. Their heart at its core wars against the things of God and it therefore argues with them and lashes out at them… often verbally.

Verse 2:

But begins a contrast from what has just been said. If the righteous man doesn’t do the things mentioned above, what does he do? His delight is in the law of the Lord. Delight is a joyous word. In The Chronicles of Narnia: Lion, Witch and Wardrobe… there’s a reason the dessert Edmond wants is called “Turkish Delight.” The righteous man actually delights in the law of the Lord. The implication is that the wicked does not delight in it. Instead his delight is in sinning and scoffing at the law of the Lord. The contrast is crystal clear. A word we’d have to study further is law. The footnotes of the ESV say this could be taken as “instruction.” God’s instruction is found in Scripture. If someone delights in something they will surround themselves with that something. They will pour time and energy into it. They will invest in it. It will be hard to stop thinking about it. What does the righteous man do? He meditates on God’s law. This “on” departs from the “in” used so much in verse 1. He meditates on this law. For God’s child to meditate is not the same way a Buddhist or a Hindu might meditate. This meditation is simply deep thought. It’s thinking through the instruction of God. It’s spending time with the Lord and loving Him with all of your mind. He meditates on it day and night. This is a phrase we’d have to study elsewhere in Scripture. It gives us a time frame. Day and night cover both broad phases of the day. He doesn’t stop thinking on the Word of God.

Verse 3:

This righteous man is like a tree. Like is a simile. A tree is something that’s stable, sturdy, and lasts for a long time… generations in some cases. By implication the wicked are then unstable and not study because they do not meditate on the Word of God. This is a tree that’s planted. Being planted is significant because it contributes the stability of the tree. This is no potted plant. For something to be planted it has to be done with purpose. It has to be done intentionally. Trees don’t plant themselves. They need someone to do it for them. It’s planted by streams of water. The by informs us of proximity. A tree can be planted in a number of locations, but this tree is planted by streams of water. Notice this isn’t just one stream of water, but many. It’s plural. Water is the primary source of nourishment and survival for a tree. This tree has all the food it needs to maintain its stability and lasting characteristics. This is a tree that yields its fruit in its season. This tree does what it’s expected to do. It yields its fruit (not another tree’s fruit) in its own season (not a different tree’s season). This is the natural effect of a stable vibrant tree. It isn’t irregular, but it produces as expected. And its leaf does not wither. This however is not something natural for a tree. It’s supernatural. The leaves of trees usually wither and fall off. It’s part of the changing seasons. This tree however has leaves that never wither. It remains vibrant and living. The righteous man is compared to this tree. He soaks up the abundant nourishment of the “law of the Lord” as he meditates on it. This brings him the stability like that of a tree. It sustains him. He brings forth spiritual fruit/growth just as would be expected from someone who constantly soaks up and is thinking on Scripture. But because Scripture is supernatural in nature and has power to bring an unearthly endurance, this man remains stable when everyone else around him is not. When their leaves are falling off and withering… his are not. The final line in this psalm provides the point/explanation of the imagery. In all that he does, he prospers. This is neither a possible nor an ideal all that is never reached and always only hoped for. This is not some, but all. This all is connected to what he does. This is his actions/his lifestyle. The doings of his daily life are affected by his meditation on God’s Word. As the Word soaks into a person’s mind and heart their actions begin to reflect the principles of Scripture because they have hidden It in their heart. Notice that the actions in v.1 that represent the daily life could all be affected in a positive way when the righteous man meditates on the Word instead of being affected in a negative way if he were to walk, stand, and sit with the wicked. Instead he walks, stands, and sits with his mind on the Word of God throughout his day and it affects all he does. How are his doings affected? He prospers in them. Biblical prosperity is not what the TV preachers tell us. It’s not primarily financial (while this verse doesn’t necessarily exclude that). This prosperity happens as a result of the supernatural effects of the Word of God working within a person and shaping them in unseen ways. The effects of this working come out externally and result in prosperity. Aside from that logical connection, there’s something to be said for the fact that God will show favor in a broad sense to those who constantly think on what He has said. The Spirit of God working with the Word of God will transform the life of the child of God to make evident the prosperity of God in their lives in general. This is how and why he is blessed and the original question implied in v.1 is now answered.

Verse 4:

All of what’s been said has been primarily descriptive of the blessed/righteous man. The wicked are not so the Bible says. They are not stable like a tree. They are up and down. The solidity of their opinions is dependent on where the wind is blowing their feelings. They aren’t planted by a constant source of divinely revealed nourishment. They’re left to the devices of this world and to their own way (the way the righteous man doesn’t need because he ahs the Word of God). If they’re not like the tree what are they like? But they are like chaff. But brings the contrast in this verse. It could just as easily have been placed at the beginning of the verse, though with the discussion of the wicked before the but we could tell there was a contrast already. We’d need to study this word chaff, but it’s contrasted with the stability of the tree. How is it unstable? It’s chaff that the wind drives away. It doesn’t simply say the wind blows it away or tosses it away, but it drives it away. There seems to be a force to this word that is anything but casual. The wicked are not stable and in one place where they cannot be moved, but rather they’re pushed along the wind never settling down, never finding rest in a source of lasting food, and always being irregular in some form.

Verse 5:

Therefore brings us to the conclusion and consequence of all that’s been said above. It brings the final word about the wicked. They will not stand in the judgment. We’ve seen “stand” before in this passage. Notice that the wicked/sinners may stand in their own way/path for a season, but they won’t stand in a way that matters in God’s eyes. We need to consult other translations and study the judgment being referred to here. This could refer to the place of the righteous when they will play a part in judging the ungodly in the end of the world. But this is unlikely. The next line could give us a clue and serve to repeat or further define the first line as is common in Hebrew poetry. They won’t stand in the judgment nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. Here again if there was any doubt that sinners and the wicked were the same group they seem to be used as synonyms again here. We would need to ask some interpretive questions here about the implications this has for unbelievers in church. When we read “congregation” we tend to think “church.” This seems to be saying the wicked aren’t in the same place as the righteous. These two statements are about location. They don’t stand alongside the righteous. This is presumably because of who they are… their wickedness, their sin, their scoffing, their lack of meditation (or even desire to meditate for that fact) on the law of God. Where are they and what is the point of this entire psalm?

Verse 6:

For begins this verse. For can be taken as “because” giving the reason for what preceded, but as is most often used… here it’s likely an explanation of the concluding “therefore.” For says in essence, “In explanation of the last verse…” the Lord knows the way of the righteous. This knowing is usually an intimate knowledge. If we were to do a word study we’d likely find that it’s the same word used when the Old Testament speaks of a man “knowing” his wife in reference to sex. Obviously God doesn’t have sex with us. It would be irreverent to even explore that idea. Yet He knows us intimately. How can He know us? He knows us by our fellowship with Him through the meditation on His Word mentioned earlier. The righteous man prospers in all he does and in this whole process enjoys intimate fellowship with God. Here we’re told God knows the way of the righteous. In this talk of the way of sinners mentioned in v.1 we’re forced to ask if God doesn’t know the way of the wicked. Does He not know what they do? Of course He does. Does He know it intimately? There’s nothing He doesn’t know. The important difference however is that the relationship is different. God knows the way of the righteous intimately in fellowship and love, but God’s knowledge of the way of the wicked is given to us in the final line of Psalm 1. But the way of the wicked will perish. The but again gives us a contrast. It’s about to tell us how God’s knowing differs between both groups. We’d have to study what’s meant by perish. Does it simply mean death or more than that? When we do study it we’d find that it’s eternal death in a literal hell. God knows the way/path/lifestyle of the wicked very intimately, but only with a view toward their eternal judgment in hell. It’s a different knowing. Verse 6 serves as something of a thesis to the entire psalm. It could be rephrased as: The righteous man enjoys prosperity and intimate fellowship with God through meditation on His Word, but the wicked don’t experience this and instead perish in hell where there is no fellowship with God or prosperity.