Blessed is the man!

Psalm 1:1 “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;”

Blessed—literally, “oh, the happiness”—an exclamation of strong emotion, as if resulting from reflecting on the subject. The use of the plural may denote fulness and variety

Psalmist said more in this Psalm about true happiness then all the philosophers put together.

Counsel, way and seat (or ‘assembly’, or ‘dwelling’) draw attention to the realms of thinking, behaving and belonging, in which a person’s fundamental choice of allegiance is made and carried through

It goes from receiving to behaving to belonging.

Theres a progression from action to identity.

This reveals three degrees of departure from God, three different levels of departure by showing conformity to this world

Accepting the worlds advice.

Being party to its ways

Adopting the most fatal of attitudes, and possibly the most scandalous of sinners are the scoffers.

1 The scoffers are the farthest from repentance

Proverbs 3:34 “34 Surely He scorns the scornful, But gives grace to the humble.”

Proverbs 9:8 “8 Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you; Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.”

Proverbs 13:1 “1 A wise son heeds his father’s instruction, But a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.”

A scoffer is the farthest from repentance because he builds his life on lies.

He builds his life on gossip. His whole world is built on mockery.

They scoffed at Jesus - “If you are the King of The Jews save yourself.”

In the last days they will scoff at us.

2 Peter 3:3-5 “3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water,”

2 Peter 3:6-7 “6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”

A backslidden Christian could be any one of these stages.

These verses easily could be considered the graduations of evil.

Psalm 1:2 “2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.”

The psalm is content to develop this one theme, implying that whatever really shapes a man’s thinking shapes his life.

If I choose to mediate on tik tok that will shape my life.

If I choose to mediate on money that will shape my life.

Thats why He said He meditates day and night. We want the law to shape our lives .

Gods instruction

You can’t blame God or get upset if you are starting to think differently about God when you’re not mediating on His word .

Psalm 1:3 “3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.”

Many times in the Bible when a plant is planted by the waters it speaks of fruit. A prosperous life with God.

S: Jer. 17:7 “7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord.”

Jer. 17:8 “8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.”

The waters is a symbolic for the Word of God.

Eph 5:26 “26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,”