Psalm 1 is the faithful doorkeeper; the vestibule leading into the sanctuary of praise known as the book of Psalms.

Psalm 1 is to the entire book of Psalms as middle C is to the piano. It is the text of which the book of Psalms is the sermon. Jerome in the Latin Vulgate called Psalm 1 “The Preface of the Holy Spirit.”

This is a Psalm about how to prosper in life. Everybody wishes to succeed. We are a nation of success worshipers. However, prosperity must be defined by God not the world. Psalm 1 provides us with God’s definition of successful living.

The major theme of Psalm 1 is the centrality of the Torah. The study of the sacred text of Scripture is a crucial mode of true worship.

The structure is simple and clear. Verses 1-3 speak of the righteous contrasted in verses 4-6 which speak of the wicked. Psalm 1 is often called “the Psalm of the two ways.”

I. Godly Living Insures True Happiness – (1-3)

1. Distinguished from the World (1). (Separated from the World)

The Hebrew word for “blessed” in v. 1 is the Hebrew plural of magnitude and denotes intensity.

Its use is interesting for three reasons: 1) It has no antonym in Hebrew, 2) it always has human beings as its referent, never God, and 3) it always describes an existing situation, not a promise.

“Blessing” does not necessarily connote happiness or pleasure. It is not a matter of natural disposition, mental attitude, feeling, circumstance, or freedom from care.

“Blessing” results from a deliberate choice of a certain way of life: the godly life.

The emphatic article in Hebrew is used: “That man (person)!” is the one who is blessed. The singular “person” is contrasted with the class of the “wicked” (plural) in v. 4.

Three things are asserted about this “blessed” person:

1. He does not “walk” (live) according to the worldly “principles” of the “wicked.”

The “wicked” (resha’im in Hebrew) is a word from a root which means those who are “loose” and so “abnormal” or “wicked.” This is a telling description of wickedness: getting loose from God and falling into evil. Over time, customs may vary, but godliness and ungodliness remain the same.

2. He does not “stand” in the “path” that “sinners” participate in. The Hebrew word “sinners” is placed in the emphatic position in the clause.

Our use of the word “sinners” usually describes conduct. Scripture exposes the condition causing the conduct. The “sinner” is one who lives by wrong values and goals. The wicked, by their numbers and seeming success, set society’s standards. They shape popular conceptions of right and wrong.

3. He does not “sit” (“participate in the deliberations of”) in the “seat” (“act as a teacher”) of “scoffers” (letsim in Hebrew).

Derivations of this word “scoffers” indicate those who devise mocking poems and satires that deride traditional values and those who uphold them. The word occurs nowhere else in the whole Psalter, but is frequently applied in the earlier chapters of the Proverbs to those who set themselves to despise and scoff at the things of God.

When you sit with the scoffers, it may not be long until a permanent chair is reserved for you.

Each of these verbs in v. 1 is in the perfect tense in Hebrew, expressing a fixed mental attitude and describing one whose course of life is set. Some see in the “walk,” “stand,” and “sit” imagery three degrees of departure from God and conformity to world: a) accepting its advice, b) party to its ways, and c) adopting its attitude.

The ungodly demonstrate an increasing closeness and increasing boldness toward ungodly living. 

2. Devoted to the Word (2).

“But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in His law he meditates day and night.”

The inversion of terms in the Hebrew word order places the thought of the law into the emphatic position: “in the Law (Torah) of the Lord is his delight.”

“Torah” is instruction that comes from God. The basic meaning is instruction, not legal rules. Commandments and ordinances are called Torah because they instruct.

From God’s written Torah comes wisdom for daily living. It is in the “word” that we learn the will of the Lord.

Here is a description of the person for whom the Word of God has captured his full affection (“delight”), and has claimed his full attention (“meditates”).

The Hebrew imperfect tense “meditates” indicates he “ponders” the Word. Like a cow chewing her cud, the spiritual digestive system converts truth to godly living.

“Day and night,” regardless of context, the godly person responds to life according to God’s word.

3. Permanence of the Godly Person’s Life (3).

1) His Productivity: He is like a tree “firmly planted,” and “well rooted.” He “yields fruit;” his “leaf does not wither.” Thus he is like an evergreen tree. Most fruit trees are deciduous. Here the godly person is described as being both an evergreen and a fruit tree! The secret of every tree is its roots. It does not matter where our life is planted, lived, or what kind of weather you meet if your roots find the water of His word!

2) His Prosperity: “in whatever he does he prospers.” The Hebrew idea here is of “turning out well” because of God’s blessings.

Material success comes when you better your circumstances.

Spiritual success comes when you better your soul by dependence upon God’s word. 

More to come . . . .