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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;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
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.
The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff which the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
This is Psalm 1 of the 5 books of the Psalms. The whole of the Psalms is a divine sermon and the preamble Psalm, Psalm 1 introduces us to the divine sermon. The Psalm is short but rich in content.
Living the blessed Christian life eludes many of us. While the Psalm is about living the blessed live in the Old Testament sense, it equally applies to New Covenant Christians. We might say it is God’s blueprint for the blessed life. Even as an architect designs a beautiful building and keeps in mind what is required to make the building beautiful and rich in detail, God has drawn a blueprint. If we build our lives around His blueprint we can live the beautiful blessed life our creator has planned for us by His Grace.
The chapter is written as a loop. In verse one the man is blessed who shuns 3 wicked companions. Verse 2 describes what the righteous man replaces those wicked companions with. Verse 3 describes a life that prospers and does not wither or die. Verse 4 describes the ungodly as dead which contrast with the righteous who do not die. Verse 5 tells us that they will not be able to stand in judgement and will not be allowed in the congregation of the righteous. In verse 6 the Lord knows the righteous and the wicked perish. That forms the loop of blessed in verse one to the Lord knowing the righteous in verse 6 where the wicked perish.
In a sense the entire Bible is a loop from the innocence of man in Genesis 2 to Genesis 3 where the millennia of the evil of man began when Adam sinned and finally to sin being eradicated and the righteous living in the Holy City on the new earth at the end of The Revelation for eternity.
The sense of the word blessed in this passage is the man is happy or blessed who shuns the council of the ungodly or wicked person(s). It can be an adjective or substantive which is debated. The Septuagint which is the Greek translation of the Old Testament uses the same Greek word that is translated Blessed in Matthew 5:3-11. Living the pious life or in our sense the Christian life in this chapter has a 3 line parallel in verse one which is negative followed by a positive 2 line parallel in verse 2. In Verse 3 we find the benefits of shunning companions that are wicked in verse 1 and loving the Word of God so much that we obey it in verse 2.
In Verse one God is making a division between the righteous and the unrighteous. Man divides people differently than God. We divide them on the horizontal level. We divide them according to social status, wealth, poverty, the weak and the strong, cultured and uncultured, the elites and the common man. We have this upper class, middle class and lower class system and we think everyone fits into one of those boxes. But God divides them vertically. 1 Samuel 16:7. He only has two divisions. We might say He divides the saints and the ain't s. He puts the sheep on one side and the goats on the other side. God chooses but do we accept His saving grace... Verse one is negative. It includes what the blessed man shuns. The first thing he shuns is listening to the council of the ungodly or wicked men. Sin has a way of sneaking up on us. It starts out slowly.
a. In Verse 1 there are 3 things the blessed man shuns. If we want to be happy or blessed in our Christian walk we must shun those 3 things too. Number one! we are to avoid sensual wisdom. The blessed man in verse one does not walk in the council of the wicked or ungodly. He does not get his council or philosophy from the world. Many of the seminaries of our country were conservative seminaries teaching the council of the Word of God to seminary students in the early days. But today many of those once conservative seminaries are very liberal now. The devil loves that. The student of these liberal seminaries are not being taught the pure and sweet Word of God. They do not believe in the validity, infallibility and inerrancy of God’s Words. But the student is getting ungodly council from liberal professors. As the young seminary student all of us need to get our council from heaven. Our council may come through men but it needs to begin in heaven.
a. In Verse 1 there are 3 things the blessed man shuns. If we want to be happy or blessed in our Christian walk we must shun those 3 things too. Number one! we are to avoid sensual wisdom. The blessed man in verse one does not walk in the council of the wicked or ungodly. He does not get his council or philosophy from the world. Many of the seminaries of our country were conservative seminaries teaching the council of the Word of God to seminary students in the early days. But today many of those once conservative seminaries are very liberal now. The devil loves that. The student of these liberal seminaries are not being taught the pure and sweet Word of God. They do not believe in the validity, infallibility and inerrancy of God’s Words. But the student is getting ungodly council from liberal professors. As the young seminary student all of us need to get our council from heaven. Our council may come through men but it needs to begin in heaven.
b. Number 2! we are to avoid sinful living. The devil’s sensual wisdom will lead to sinful living. But the man of God is going to be known by the companions he shuns. First he shuns their sensual wisdom. Secondly he does not walk in their sinful ways.
b. Number 2! we are to avoid sinful living. The devil’s sensual wisdom will lead to sinful living. But the man of God is going to be known by the companions he shuns. First he shuns their sensual wisdom. Secondly he does not walk in their sinful ways.
c. Number 3! But thirdly he does not speak their scornful words. The last step in sin is when a person occupies the seat of the scornful. What is being brought forth is an evolution of sin. This is different than those who suppose there is biological evolution which is not true. This is a crescendo of sin that begins slowly and at the end the person is proud of their sin and blasphemous towards God. At first he is not anti-godly, he just is ungodly. But he ends up anti-godly. At first he is irreligious, then immoral, and finally he is immovable. It is at the last stage that he becomes scornful. its the worst and final stage. So the man of God needs to shun the things of verse 1. Whether these wicked people are liberal professors disguised as seminary teachers, or friends we need to shun the council of the ungodly, shun walking in their sinful ways and we do not sit in the seat of the scornful.
c. Number 3! But thirdly he does not speak their scornful words. The last step in sin is when a person occupies the seat of the scornful. What is being brought forth is an evolution of sin. This is different than those who suppose there is biological evolution which is not true. This is a crescendo of sin that begins slowly and at the end the person is proud of their sin and blasphemous towards God. At first he is not anti-godly, he just is ungodly. But he ends up anti-godly. At first he is irreligious, then immoral, and finally he is immovable. It is at the last stage that he becomes scornful. its the worst and final stage. So the man of God needs to shun the things of verse 1. Whether these wicked people are liberal professors disguised as seminary teachers, or friends we need to shun the council of the ungodly, shun walking in their sinful ways and we do not sit in the seat of the scornful.
TWO. But we all need companions. The proper kind of companion teaches us his godly. values. The blessed man’s companion is the Law of the Lord, The Word of God. When you have a godly friend you spend time with Him. This godly friend is the Lord Himself. The blessed man is not under the Law as if it were a curse or condemnation. That is what the Jewish religious council had made it at the time of Christ’s earthly ministry. Rather the godly man is in the Law. He delights in it as his rule of life. Furthermore, he reads it by day and meditates on it day and night. A cow has four stomachs. She will eat the alfalfa and that goes into one of her stomachs. She will eat the corn and that goes into another stomach. She may have access to another grain and that goes into a third stomach. And the clover will go into the fourth stomach. Then she thinks about how sweet the clover was and she regurgitates that and chew on it for a while and back down it goes. A while later she might remember the alpha. She regurgitates that and chews on that for a while and back down it goes. You get the picture. Its that way with us. We might read the prophets, one terrible calamity after another because of sin. We chew on that for a while and back down it goes. Then we remember a promise. We chew on the wonderful promise for a while.
TWO. But we all need companions. The proper kind of companion teaches us his godly. values. The blessed man’s companion is the Law of the Lord, The Word of God. When you have a godly friend you spend time with Him. This godly friend is the Lord Himself. The blessed man is not under the Law as if it were a curse or condemnation. That is what the Jewish religious council had made it at the time of Christ’s earthly ministry. Rather the godly man is in the Law. He delights in it as his rule of life. Furthermore, he reads it by day and meditates on it day and night. A cow has four stomachs. She will eat the alfalfa and that goes into one of her stomachs. She will eat the corn and that goes into another stomach. She may have access to another grain and that goes into a third stomach. And the clover will go into the fourth stomach. Then she thinks about how sweet the clover was and she regurgitates that and chew on it for a while and back down it goes. A while later she might remember the alpha. She regurgitates that and chews on that for a while and back down it goes. You get the picture. Its that way with us. We might read the prophets, one terrible calamity after another because of sin. We chew on that for a while and back down it goes. Then we remember a promise. We chew on the wonderful promise for a while.
a. What many of us do is remember the things we should shun. But do we balance that with tasking delight in God’s Word and meditating not just on negative consequences of walking in the council of the ungodly but meditating on the whole council of God and delighting that we are happy, blessed when we do so. We should not simply have negative purity because we don’t walk in the council of the ungodly, but do we delight in then Law of the Lord. Do we study God’s Word. Is it the man of our right hand - our best companion and hourly guide. If that is not so we do not own the blessing for the man who delights in the Law of the Lord.
a. What many of us do is remember the things we should shun. But do we balance that with tasking delight in God’s Word and meditating not just on negative consequences of walking in the council of the ungodly but meditating on the whole council of God and delighting that we are happy, blessed when we do so. We should not simply have negative purity because we don’t walk in the council of the ungodly, but do we delight in then Law of the Lord. Do we study God’s Word. Is it the man of our right hand - our best companion and hourly guide. If that is not so we do not own the blessing for the man who delights in the Law of the Lord.
Three. Notice in verse 3 the godly man is compared to a planted tree. He is not a wild tree that simply sprung up where is seed landed is a fertile well watered spot. A planted tree is chosen by the one who plants it, is the property of the planter who cultivates it and secures it from being uprooted. In the same sense every tree not planted by the Heavenly Father shall be rooted up. Matthew 15:13. The tree is planted by rivers of water. The Lord has more than one river. There is the river of pardon and grace. He also has the river of promise and the river of communion with Christ. These are rivers of unending supply. The blessed man is like this tree who brings forth its fruit in due season. It is not like many of the fruits we buy off the store shelves which do not have the full body of flavor because they were harvested early. The Lord does not give us unseasonable graces like untimely figs which are never full flavored. But the man taught by God’s word brings forth patience in time of suffering. James 1:2-4. He brings forth faith in the day of trial, and holy joy in the hour of prosperity.
His fruit shall be preserved and even his leave shall not wither. that speaks of life and of beauty. Often crab apple trees are attacked by a fungus that withers the leaves during the late spring rainy season and it causes the beautiful flowering tree of the early spring season to have no beauty just a month after it flowers. but the man who delights in the Law of the Lord does not have withering leaves which speaks of the beauty of the Christian walk and the eternal nature of that walk.
Four. The second part of the Psalm contrasts the ill estate of the ungodly with the prosperity of the righteous man. whatever is true of the godly are not true of the ungodly. Chaff is the dead part of the grain left behind when the edible part is removed from the husk. It is dead and is blown away by the wind. This contrasts with the leave of the tree that continued to live after the righteous man had produced fruit. We should note that the ungodly are beginners of evil and the least offensive of sinners. If this verse is the fate of people just beginning in evil what is the state of those who continue in their immorality and neglect of God. What is the fate of open sinners who do not blush at their sinful condition? While the first part of the sentence in verse 4 is a negative description of the ungodly, the second part is the positive picture. The second part is their character. They are like chaff, which is worthless, dead, serviceable without substance and easily carried away. Deaf shall hurry them into the blast of fire they deserve as the wind drives away the chaff. Psalms 35:5.
Four. The second part of the Psalm contrasts the ill estate of the ungodly with the prosperity of the righteous man. whatever is true of the godly are not true of the ungodly. Chaff is the dead part of the grain left behind when the edible part is removed from the husk. It is dead and is blown away by the wind. This contrasts with the leave of the tree that continued to live after the righteous man had produced fruit. We should note that the ungodly are beginners of evil and the least offensive of sinners. If this verse is the fate of people just beginning in evil what is the state of those who continue in their immorality and neglect of God. What is the fate of open sinners who do not blush at their sinful condition? While the first part of the sentence in verse 4 is a negative description of the ungodly, the second part is the positive picture. The second part is their character. They are like chaff, which is worthless, dead, serviceable without substance and easily carried away. Deaf shall hurry them into the blast of fire they deserve as the wind drives away the chaff. Psalms 35:5.
Five. The ungodly shall stand at the judgment, but not to be acquitted. They shall not stand their ground at the Lord’s judgment but will be covered with eternal contempt. The saints long for heaven, but the prospect of heaven for the ungodly is a fearful prospect because they will be driven from the Lords presence after they are judged. No sinner will be allowed in the congregation oi the righteous. In our time the tares are mixed with the wheat. It is true in every church, the devil has some of his tares in the congregation. We are in a sense like righteous lot continually vexed by sin all around us. 2 Peter 2:6-8. No unrenewed soul will be admitted into heaven.
Five. The ungodly shall stand at the judgment, but not to be acquitted. They shall not stand their ground at the Lord’s judgment but will be covered with eternal contempt. The saints long for heaven, but the prospect of heaven for the ungodly is a fearful prospect because they will be driven from the Lords presence after they are judged. No sinner will be allowed in the congregation oi the righteous. In our time the tares are mixed with the wheat. It is true in every church, the devil has some of his tares in the congregation. We are in a sense like righteous lot continually vexed by sin all around us. 2 Peter 2:6-8. No unrenewed soul will be admitted into heaven.
Six. The Lord knows the way of the righteous. He knows what men do not see. Job 23:10. But the way of the ungodly shall perish. Not only does they way of the ungodly perish, but they themselves perish too. The righteous man builds his house on the rock of Jesus Christ but the ungodly build their house on the sand. Matthew 7:23-25. Matthew 7:26-27.
Six. The Lord knows the way of the righteous. He knows what men do not see. Job 23:10. But the way of the ungodly shall perish. Not only does they way of the ungodly perish, but they themselves perish too. The righteous man builds his house on the rock of Jesus Christ but the ungodly build their house on the sand. Matthew 7:23-25. Matthew 7:26-27.
