Psalm 1
1 Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.
4 Not so the wicked!
They are like *chaff
that the wind blows away.
They are like *chaff
that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
but the way of the wicked will perish.
*Chaff….debris separated from grain / something worthless
Thoughts on Psalm 1
One of the most wonderful things about Psalm 1 is the multiple meanings of the images in the first sentence. You can see a real person walking with a group who do not believe in God. Perhaps he is experiencing the natural human desire to be accepted by the group. Certainly, since he is walking in their "counsel", he is being influenced by them. The psalm reminds us of the power (and danger) of peer-pressure. Trying to fit into a group can lead us into terrible mistakes, and yet, the desire to be accepted can feel overpowering.
In a second, more poetic sense, "walk" can mean "act" or "live". The phrases "walk in the counsel of the wicked " and "walk the walk" don't refer to the way someone puts one foot in front of the other; it refers to the way they act, the way they lead their lives. In this sense, the psalmist warns us not to live our lives based on the advice of the ungodly.
Next, we get a physical description of a man or woman standing in a certain way. You can almost see a gang of juvenile delinquents slouching in a doorway or a gaggle of girls gossiping. The immediate message is: We will be blessed if we do not look like that. Today, the spectacle of sin on parade is more visible, more seductive, and more widely accepted than ever. Drunken teenagers in Cancun are convinced to strip nearly naked and simulate sex for the amusement of spectators. Dad salivates when he sees a new Mercedes, Mom "has to have" that outrageously expensive purse.
The advice not to "stand in the way of a sinner", however, mainly concerns a more abstract meaning of "stand". We say we "stand" somewhere when we take a position, as in: "where do you stand on that?" A common call to action based on our beliefs is the term, "stand and be counted" — this rarely means that we should stand up so that somebody can count heads, but it is a vivid image of taking action based on a moral principle. So when the psalm urges us not to stand with sinners, it reminds us not to compromise our moral stance, just because other people are doing it. The greatest example: Christ himself was so violently unpopular that his own people killed him. And know that God understands how powerful others' influence can be; even Peter could not stand with Christ.
The third phrase, "sits in the seat of mockers", gives a sharp picture of a person sitting high in a chair with a sneer on his face. He is contemptuous and resentful of somebody else -- a cynic. Such people often gain approval and even adulation for their wit, their cleverness, their sophistication. We must remember Paul's words in Ephesians 4: “As a follower of the Lord, I order you to stop living like stupid, godless people. Their minds are in the dark, and they are stubborn and ignorant and have missed out on the life that comes from God. They no longer have any feelings about what is right, and they are so greedy that they do all kinds of indecent things.”
God therefore is delighted in the one who meditates day and night on His “Word.” We then are blessed are like a tree planted by the river. This represents us growing deeper in our relationship with God. And in doing this we are to bear fruit (Colossians 1:9-11) and the fruits of the spirit which are found in (Galatians 5:21-23) is to be evident in our lives. The sinner, the ungodly does not grow and their roots are shallow and are worthless. We should then go and bear witness to them.
How is your personal relationship with God? How much time are you spending in God’s Word? Are you in the world and acting like the world, or are you different? Are you separated from the world and bearing good fruit?
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