Are You Listening?
Psalm 1:1-6 1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. 4The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. 5Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 6For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
This Psalm carries blessedness in the frontispiece; it begins where we all hope to end: it may well be called a Christian’s Guide, for it discovers the quick-sands where the wicked sink down into perdition, and the firm ground on which the saints tread to glory. (Thomas Watson)
I. Blessed— Ps. 1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor
standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
(asher) happiness, blessedness; 25 times in the Psalms; 44 times in O. T.
--Plural – Blessednesses – More than one blessing.
--The Amplified Bible renders blessed as fortunate, prosperous, and enviable.
--This is why people who are troubled or hurting should turn to the Psalms!
--You are going to find out that God’s people are blessed!
--The emphasis here is on THAT man who lives to the end in life for which God
created him. (Dake)
-- All his life he has observed the precept, ‘depart from evil’ (Cambridge Bible)
A. Walketh Not
1. Counsel – Following their advice, their plans, and purposes (AMP)
2. Three sinful classes (According to Dake.)
a. Ungodly – (rasha) morally wrong; actively bad; wicked; unjust
-- Blessed man does not throw in his lot with the wicked does not
participate in their projects or designs; (Pulpit Comm)
b. Sinners – (chatta) criminally; so miss the mark; pass the limits of the
law;
--The intensive form of the word shews that habitual offenders are meant.
c. Scornful – (luwts) to make mouths at; to scoff; to mock; pests
(1) those who make what is good and holy the object of their
ridicule. (Cambridge Bible)
(2) There ‘the scorners’ appear as a class of defiant and cynical
freethinkers, (Cambridge Bible)
B. Standeth Not -- (aw-mad') to take one's stand, stand
he does not take part in their actions, does not follow the same moral paths (Cambridge Bible)
C. Sitteth Not – (moshab) to relax and rest; to sit, remain; dwell to sit, remain, dwell
1. a seat, assembly, dwelling place, dwelling, dwellers
2. Finds no rest in the presence of sinners.
3. has no fellowship with them in the "scorn" which they cast upon
religion. (Pulpit Commentary)
4. The seat of the scorner maybe lofty, but it is very near the gate of hell; let us
flee from it, for it shall soon be empty and destruction shall swallow up
the man who sits therein. (Charles Spurgeon)
5. When men are living in sin they go from bad to worse. (Spurgeon)
II. Delight – Ps. 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate
day and night.
– (chephets); pronouced (khay'-fets); Signifies pleasure, and delight, wish, desire;
A. But – The Hebrew is an elliptical expression implying a strong contrast, “nay
but,” “on the contrary.” The positive side of a good man’s
character is now described according to the standard which
prevailed when the written law. (Benson Commentary)
B. 7 acts of a righteous man (Dake)
1. Delights in the Word.
2. Meditates in the Word day and night.
3. Consecrates to obey the Word.
4. Makes the Word his rule of life and conduct.
5. Make the Word his standard of faith and religion.
6. Reads the Word to gain knowledge and wisdom.
7. Feeds on the Word to grow spiritually.
Is this you?
C. The Law -- (torah) pronounce (to-raw') direction, instruction, law
1. The law of the Lord is his rule of conduct. It is no irksome restriction of his
liberty but the object of his love and constant study. True happiness is to
be found not in ways of man’s own devising, but in the revealed will of
God. “The purpose of the Law was to make men happy.”
(Cambridge Bible)
2. Psalm 37:31 --The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.
3. All that was available to them was the Pentateuch.
D. Meditate – ponders, studies (AMP)
1. The word jehgeh, implies that he exercises a deep, serious, and affectionate
thoughtfulness about it; and by this it appears that his delight is in it, for
what we love, we love to think of. (Benson Commentary)
2. By his meditations on the law of God, his graces and virtues shall be nourished
and increased, and he shall be thoroughly furnished for every good word
and work. The means of grace are those rivers of water near which the
trees of righteousness are planted, and from these they receive supplies of
strength and vigour, but in secret, undiscerned ways. That bringeth forth
fruit in his season — That is, in the time of fruit-bearing;
(Benson Commentary)
3. Elijah’s servant was sent out to check the sky for signs of rain. For six times
there was nothing, but on the seventh trip there was a cloud the size of a
man’s hand. So you may look upon the Scripture and see nothing;
meditate upon it, and there you shall see a light, like the light of the sun.”
(Joseph Caryl) [This is what happened to me as I studied this psalm.]
4. “I have no rest, but in a nook, with the Book.” (Thomas a’ Kempis)
E. Day and Night
1. Not seldom and slightly, but diligently and constantly. Thus the Psalms, “like
the sermon on the mount,” says Dr. Horne, “open with a beatitude; for our
comfort and encouragement directing us immediately to that happiness which all
mankind, in different ways, are seeking and inquiring after. All would secure
themselves from the incursions of misery; but all do not consider that misery is
the offspring of sin, from which it is therefore necessary to be delivered and
preserved, in order to become happy, or blessed.” (Benson Commentary)
F. Perhaps some can claim a sort of negative purity, because you do not walk in the way
of the ungodly; but let me ask you—Is your delight in the law of God? Do you
study God’s Word? Do you make it the man of your right hand—your best
companion and hourly guide? If not, this blessing belongeth not to you.
(Spurgeon)
III. Tree – Ps. 1:3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth
his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall
prosper.
A. Planted
1. Cultivated, and well watered. (Dake)
2. Not like one growing in the wild.
3. Trees are used multiple times in the Bible when referring to God’s children.
Psalm 52:8 But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I
trust in the loving devotion of God forever and ever.
Psalm 92:12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow
like a cedar in Lebanon.
4. And he shall be like a tree - A description of the happiness or prosperity of the
man who thus avoids the way of sinners, and who delights in the law of
God, now follows. This is presented in the form of a very beautiful image
- a tree planted where its roots would have abundance of water.
5. It is not a tree that springs up spontaneously, but one that is set out in a
favorable place, and that is cultivated with care. (Barnes’ Notes)
6. If not planted by God.
a. Jude 1:12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast
with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without
water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without
fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
b. Matthew 15:13 But He answered and said, “Every plant which My
heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.”
B. By Waters – Relate to the effort of watering flowers.
1. “rivers” – plural
2. Well watered – channeled, canal
3. Watered – a term used in the East for small channels (rivulets – tiny streams)
which divide a garden for purposes of irrigation
4. Nourished by constant supplies of water, without which under the burning
Eastern sun it would wither and die, so the life of the godly man is
maintained by the supplies of grace drawn from constant communion with
God through His revelation. (Cambridge Bible)
C. Fruit – Relate to gardening – What are your expectations.
1. Yields – to get, put, set
2. Portraying a rich, fruitful, and perfect (mature) Christian life.
3. The fruit is not untimely. It does not ripen and fall too soon, or fall before it is
mature; and the crop is abundant. Oleander tree.
4. The idea is that of a tree which, at the proper season of the year, is loaded with
fruit.
D. His Season
1. In the season expected, governed by proper irrigation and cultivation.
2. If you keep yourself under God’s Word. Blessing and cursing.
Leviticus 26:4 Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall
yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
3. Then I will give you rain in due season; in Ezekiel, "And I will cause the
shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing." In
Leviticus, And the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field
shall yield their fruit; in Ezekiel, "And the tree of the field shall yield her
fruit, and the earth her increase.” (Pulpit Commentary)
E. Leaf
1. His blessedness is not short and transitory, as all worldly felicity is, but fixed
and everlasting, like those trees which are continually green and
flourishing.
2. Does not wither -- to sink or drop down, languish, fade
3. Job 8:16 He is green before the sun, and his branch shooteth forth in his
garden.
4. It is green and flourishing - a striking image of a happy and a prosperous man.
5. The green foliage is an emblem of faith, which converts the water of life of the
divine word into sap and strength, and the fruit, an emblem of works,
which gradually ripen and scatter their blessings around; a tree that has
lost its leaves, does not bring its fruit to maturity.
(Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament)
F. Prospers -- to advance
1. Blessed man prospers
2. Material prosperity is as much the will of God as soul and body health
3. The literal meaning of the word rendered prosper is to carry through to a
successful result. Finish what you started with God’s help.
4. Come to maturity (AMP)
IV. Ungodly Ps. 1:4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
-- restless, wanting (lacking) in self-control, victims of ungoverned passion,
A. 4 acts of the ungodly (Dake)
1. They rage.
2. Imagine (plan) vain things
Acts 4:25 Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the
heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?
3. Set themselves against God and Messiah
4. Counsel together against God and Messiah
Ezekiel 11:2 Then said he unto me, Son of man, these are the men that
devise mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city:
B. Chaff – worthless, dead, without substance (AMP)
1. Discuss winnowing wheat –Threshing floor.
2. The image is a striking one, although so frequent as almost to have become a
poetical commonplace. (Ellicotts Commentary)
3. Jeremiah 51:33 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; The
daughter of Babylon is like a threshingfloor, it is time to thresh her: yet a
little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.
4. Isaiah 21:10 O my threshing, and the corn (grain—Jesus’ disciples didn’t go
through the field eating corn on a cob.) of my floor: that which I have
heard of the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto you.
C. Driven Away -- The wind blows away. Waste.
1. Withered and worthless, restless and unquiet, without form or stability, blown
about by every wind, and, at length, finally dispersed from the face of the
earth, by the breath of God’s displeasure, and driven into the fire which
never shall be quenched. Their seeming felicity hath no firm foundation,
but quickly vanishes, and flies away, as chaff before the wind. (Benson)
2. Luke 3:17 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor,
And will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with
fire unquenchable.
3. Psalm 35:5 Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the
LORD chase them.
4. The chaff may be, for a while, among the wheat, but He is coming, whose fan
is in his hand, and who will thoroughly purge his floor. Those that, by
their own sin and folly, make themselves as chaff, will be found so before
the whirlwind and fire of Divine wrath. (Matthew Henry)
D. Shall not stand – Not justified. Ps. 1:5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the
judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
E. Ungodly produce no good fruit. Matthew 3:10 The axe lies ready at the root of the
trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown
into the fire.
F. Judgment – Cursed in this life and in the next.
G. Sinners
1. Those Disobedient and living without God.
2. In the congregation? Not so in heaven. Down here we are mixed saints with
sinners and every church has at least one devil. (Spurgeon)
H. Not so for the Godly
V. The Lord – Ps. 1:6 For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the
ungodly shall perish.
A. Knoweth
1. Way of the righteous
Proverbs 12:28 In the way of righteousness is life, And its pathway there
is no death.
2. As he searcheth the reins and the heart, and perfectly knows all his people, so he approves, loves, and delights in them, and in their conduct and
conversation, and therefore will recompense them; but the way of the
ungodly shall perish — All their designs and courses shall come to
nothing, and they shall perish with them.
3. This is given as a reason why the wicked would not stand in the judgment with
the righteous. The reason is, that the Lord, the great Judge, fully
understands the character of those who are his friends, and can
discriminate between them and all others, whatever pretenses others may
make to that character. Only those whom God approves, and loves, as his
friends, will be able to stand in the day when the great decision shall be
made. (Barnes’ Notes)
B. Ungodly shall perish
1. Ps. 112:10 The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; he shall gnash with his
teeth, and melt away: the desire of the wicked shall perish.
2. The way of the ungodly -- Perish – to destroy; lose oneself; break; fall;
Have no way to flee. (Spiros Zodhiates Bible)
3. The metaphor is illustrated by Job 6:18, where an unjust course is compared to
a stream that suddenly dries up and disappears.
Job 6:18 The paths of their way are turned aside; they go to nothing, and
perish.
4. The ungodly are the reverse of the righteous, both in character and condition.
(Matthew Henry)
Conclusion:
I have to ask again after you have heard the conclusion of the whole matter. Are you listening?
For whom will you worship: Christ or Satan?
Joshua speaking says to the Isrealites after they had experience all the miracles of God:
Joshua 24:15
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
The benefits package is out of this world such as eternal life in the city of God. Along with the
benefits that he daily loadeth us with.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
