Psalm 1 - The Pathway of the Righteous

Introducing the Psalm

Psalm 1, in my opinion, is placed at the beginning of the book for a reason. In my opinion, this psalm lays forth the type of person that is necessary for reading, meditating, and understanding the rest of the psalms. Wiersbe in his work Be Worshipful, states, “the editor who placed this jewel at teh beginning of the Psalms did a wise thing, for it points the way to blessing and warns about divine judgment. Certainly, one who takes the time to read the psalms will be blessed. But, it is not enough to simply read them. We need to live them, to practice them in our daily lives.

David knows a lot about being happy and a lot about being sad. He knows the triumphs of victory and he knows the lows of defeat. He knows what it is like to be close to God and what it is like to be far away from God. So thus, from his experiences, but more importantly from his inspiration, we should read and understand the words that he writes.

This psalm lays forth the practice of the kind of man, or woman, who is righteous. If we were to take the time to go read Hebrews 11 of the righteous men and women who not only had a deep respect for the word of God but they also demonstrated their respect for the word of God by their actions. Consider:

Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice (11:4). Inference demands that we assume that God gave Cain and Abel the commands of what is/is not a profitable sacrifice.

Noah heard the word of God and obeyed by constructing an ark in a time where no rain had ever fallen (11:7)

Abraham heard the call of God to leave his homeland in order to receive an inheritance not knowing where to go and he went (11:8)

By faith, these men and women received the word of God, they heard and they obeyed. They had a deep reverence for the LORD.

Let’s notice three aspects of the righteous man’s path

The Pathway of the Righteous (v. 1)

He does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly.

He does not stand in the path of sinners.

He does not sit among the scornful.

The Narrow Trail (Matt. 7:13-14)

The Wide Trail (Matthew 7:13)

Wide and open for all who desire to travel therein.

Many are travelling down this trail.

Leads to destruction.

The Narrow Trail (Matthew 7:14)

This is the instructed path (Matt. 7:13a)

Narrow, yet it is also open for all who desire to travel therein.

Matthew 11:28-30

Difficult is the way, yet it is not impossible.

Matt. 19:26; Mark 10:27

It leads to Life!!!

Yet sadly, few there are who find it.

The Trodden Trail...

The pathway of the righteous is not a novel path it is one that has been laid since the beginning of creation and has been trodden by many. Consider,

Enoch walked with God (Gen. 5:24)

Noah walked with God (Gen. 6:9)

Abraham walked with God (Gen. 17:1)

Read Heb. 11 again and notice the many people who have walked the trail and notice how they form a cloud of witnesses (Heb. 12:1-3)

Save these for other sermons… from Psalm 1...

The Righteous Man’s Passion

The Righteous Man’s Prize