Psalsm of Wisdom

The following material is adopted from John MacArthur’s commentary on Psalms: Hymns for God’s People. Additional material taken from sources listed at the end

Psalms 1-4; 37

Psalm 1:1–6 NASB95

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish.

— Psalm 1 is a practical psalm

— Introduces us to how we may find happiness and fulfillment in life

— The Psalm also warns us of sure, eventual and eternal ruin if we do not

Psalm 1 introduces us to the doctrine of the two ways, which is a very common concept. Most Americans are acquainted with Robert Frost’s use of the idea in the poem “The Road Not Taken.”

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference,

Those who know literature a bit more thoroughly are aware that the idea of paths diverging in a wood is also found in Dante Alighieri, the Florentine poet of the Middle Ages, whose Divine Comedy begins

Midway this way of life we’re bound upon,

I woke to find myself in a dark wood,

Where the right road was wholly lost and gone.

— Jesus used this same illustration toward the end of the Sermon on the mount

— The last section of the sermon lists a series of contrasts, between which choices must be made:

— Two gates

— Two roads

— Two trees and their two types of fruit

— Two houses and two foundations

Additional Resources

Boice, J. M. (n.d.). Psalms. Vol 1: Psalms 1-41. Baker Books.

MacArthur, J. (2023). Psalms. Hymns for God’s People. Harper Christian Resources.

C. H. Spurgeon. The Treasury of David, Vol 1a, Psalms 1-26.

Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy: The Inferno, trans. Dorothy L. Sayers (Harmondsworth, England: Penguin, 195