Psalm 1: Blessed is the man who...

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Intro

1) Ps. 1 is an introduction to the Psalms rather than just another psalm, which is strange because it’s more like a proverb than a psalm.

2) Structure

A)   vv. 1-3 – The blessed man

B) vv. 4-5 – The wicked man

C) v. 6 - Both

vv. 1-2 – “Blessed is the man who…”

1) “Blessed”

A)   Throughout Ps. 1 there is a contrast between the blessed man and the wicked sinful man.

2) v. 1 – Does NOT… (Action items for us)

A)   There are 3 levels of intensification. This is a picture of descent into evil.

B) Walks, Stands, Sits

1) Walking = Just passing by

2) Standing =

(a)   “Worse than that is “standing” (ʿāmad) in the path of moral failures, which implies more than simply taking that path but standing firm in it; the single action has become a way of life.”[1]

(b)   “The verb ‘md has more the sense of “take a stand” than simply “stand still.”  There is volition (and therefore responsibility) assumed in this action.”[2]

3) Sitting = Getting comfortable and permanent  

(a)   “This implies not merely living their way but also taking part in their deliberations as they gather in a dark parody of the gathering of the elders at the city gate.”[3]

4) NET NOTES – “Progression from relatively casual association with the wicked to complete identification with them.”

5) e.g.

(a)   Lot

(i) Gen. 13:10-12 – “Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere.”

(ii)  Gen. 14:12 – “They also took Lot…who was dwelling in Sodom.”

(iii)          Gen. 19:1 – “The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom.”

(b)   David

(i) Walking on his roof.

(ii)  Standing to look at Bathsheba.

(iii)          Inviting her over.

C)   In the counsel, In the way, In the seat

1) Counsel = Advice

(a)   NET – “follow the advice of the wicked”

(b)   NET NOTES – “to allow their evil advice to impact and determine one’s behavior.”

2) In the way =

(a)   NET NOTES – “to closely associate with them in their sinful behavior.”

3) In the seat [NIV – in the company] =

(a)   NET NOTES – “to completely identify with them in their proud, sinful plans and behavior.”

D)   Wicked, Sinners, Scoffers

1) Wicked = Unrighteous, guilty, legally not innocent (DBL)

2) Sinners = Key factor is moral guilt

(a)   “Such persons have not just committed an isolated act of evil but live lives dominated and shaped by their inclinations.”[4]

(b)   The difference between someone who is guilty of a crime verses a career criminal

3) Scoffers (only use in Psalms) = Those who have gone beyond inclination for sin.  They actively seek to express disdain for right living.

E) Conclusion: Blessed people don’t do these things.

F) v. 2 – DOES (action items for us)

1) “Delight in the law of the Lord”

(a)   Law = Torah = teaching, instruction (not just “law”)

2) “Meditate on his law day and night”

(a)   “The way that delight expresses itself is by talking about it day and night—in other words, ceaselessly.”[5]

(b)   Walking, standing and sitting with God by making his word a part of our lives

3) THIS is why this psalm is first. The book of Psalms is meditating about God and his Word

(a)   “The first psalm serves as the gateway into the entire book of Psalms, stressing that those who would worship God genuinely must embrace his Law…”[6]

(i) cf. Ps. 18:20-24

(ii)  POINT: If you are going to approach God in the kinds of praise and prayer that we’re going to learn from the Psalms, then you better be a person who is committed to God and living according to his ways

(b)   “Psalm 1 is then a fitting introduction to this book of teaching, especially if it means to invite readers to treat the Psalter like Torah.”[7]

(i) v. 1a – Blessed is the man who…

(ii)  v. 2 – his delight is in the law (Torah / instruction) of the Lord, and on his law/Torah he meditates day and night.”

(iii)          cf. Deut. 6:4-9 – The Shema is the most important Jewish text. Jesus calls it the first command.

(iv) Maybe Ps. 1 is first as an intro to say, “These psalms that you’re about to read are important, and you need to think about them and dwell on them.”

(v)   “The Psalter’s central concern is to teach people to praise, pray, and testify. Perhaps the teaching on which it invites meditation is its own teaching on praise, prayer, and testimony. The faithless, failures, and mockers are people who do not believe in praise, testimony, and prayer. Inevitably, the lives of such people turn out to be unfruitful. The faithful, however, meet together as a congregation to praise, pray, and testify, and there they prove the truth of Ps. 1.”[8]

vv. 3-4 – cf. the blessed man vs. the wicked man (simile)

1) cf. Jer. 17:5-8 (also Ezek. 17:1-10; 19:10-14 – God planted the king)

2) The blessed man is like a tree planted by streams of water

A)   The emphasis is on the source of nourishment – Delighting and meditating on the Word is like a river that provides everything we need to flourish

B) “In all that he does, he prospers.”

1) “The simile suggests that the godly have a continual source of life which in turn produces stability and uninterrupted prosperity.”[9]

2) cf. Josh. 1:8

3) The wicked are like chaff

A)   “The new image is another that reflects the summer. When the grain has been harvested and threshed, the farmer makes a heap of it in a breezy place and throws it into the air forkful by forkful. The grains fall back to the ground, but the lighter husks blow away in the wind. Chaff is thus a standard image for something that is useless and therefore vulnerable, and it provides an image for the destiny of the faithless.”[10]

B) “By studied contrast, those who have rooted themselves in evil and have drawn their nourishment and delight from their association with the wicked will dry up and blow away.”[11]

C) Contrasted with the tree that bears fruit for others, the chaff is no benefit to anyone.

vv. 5-6 – Why?

1) The focus is their fate

A)   “the wicked will not stand in the judgement”

1) Ecc. 12:14 – “God will bring every deed into judgement, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.”

2) 2 Cor. 5:10 – “We must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”

3) Rom. 14:12 – “Each of us will give an account of himself to God.”

B) “the Lord knows the way of the righteous”

1) “Rather, knowledge is the end result of experience and relationship. Thus, the “way of the righteous” is one that God knows well from experience because he has traveled it before and knows all its twists and turns.”[12]

2) “By contrast, the way of the wicked seeks to explore territory in which God is absent and consequently will lead to separation from God and destruction.”[13]

2) cf.

A)   Words from vv. 1, 5-6: wicked, will not stand, sinners, the way

B) If you stand with sinners, be careful because they won’t stand in judgement

C) Don’t stand in the way of sinners… “for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish” like chaff.

D)   “The psalm began with the misapprehension that the path of the faithless could lead to a good place. It closes by affirming that this path leads over a cliff and takes with it those who walk it.”[14]

NOTE: Connections between Ps. 1 & 2 are in the lesson about Ps. 2

3) Conclusion / Actions

A)   Think about my associations.

1) Who do I walk, stand and sit with?

2) Are they people who are going to help me stand in judgement?

3) Am I adopting their worldview?

4) Today, we might not just think about our associations in terms of who we hang out with, but who we follow on social media and what we let make its home in our hearts.

B) Delight and meditate on the Word

1) Daily Bible reading.

2) Thinking about it. Talking about. Making it a part of your life.

[1] Goldingay, John. 2006. Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Psalms 1–41. Edited by Tremper Longman III. Vol. 1. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.

[2] Wilson, NIVAC

[3] Goldingay, John. 2006. Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Psalms 1–41. Edited by Tremper Longman III. Vol. 1. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.

[4] Broyles, NIVAC.

[5] Goldingay, John. 2006. Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Psalms 1–41. Edited by Tremper Longman III. Vol. 1. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.

[6] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 942.

[7] Goldingay, 24.

[8] Goldingay, John. 2006. Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Psalms 1–41. Edited by Tremper Longman III. Vol. 1. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.

[9] Biblical Studies Press. 2006. The NET Bible First Edition Notes. Biblical Studies Press.

[10] Goldingay, John. 2006. Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Psalms 1–41. Edited by Tremper Longman III. Vol. 1. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.

[11] Wilson, loc. 2104.

[12] Wilson, loc. 2125.

[13] Wilson, loc. 2125.

[14] Goldingay, John. 2006. Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Psalms 1–41. Edited by Tremper Longman III. Vol. 1. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.