The Blessed Life (Psalm 1)
Most of us are skeptical of too simplistic ideas, but we don't want to figure out overly complicated ideas. Throughout the Bible, we are given simple and complicated ideas that are profound and deserving of much attention. Today I would like to look at the first Psalm, which has a straightforward but profound concept. It is right and wrong. Those who do what is right are blessed, and those who do what is wrong are cursed. That's it. That is the bottom line of this text. I do not want to overcomplicate things, but I want us to understand how this simple idea is profoundly misunderstood and misused in our day. Let's start by reading the Psalm.
Psalm 1 (ESV) --- 1 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; 2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 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. 4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
The Blessed Man Does Not
In verse 1, the Psalmist starts with the phrase, "Blessed is the man." This reminds us of the beatitudes in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, where he says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit... the meek... those who mourn... etc." But in this text, he says, "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." He begins by stating three things that the blessed man avoids instead of giving something that the blessed man does. Let's consider each of these three things.
Doesn't Follow Wicked Advice
The blessed man avoids the deception that goes back to the garden of Eden, taking bad advice. We live in a world of influence. We cannot escape the influence of the world around us. It is plastered on every sign and repeated flashing on our screens. The world around us is telling us to be like them and to live as they live in order to obtain the blessed life. From a young age, children are conditioned by Disney movies and cartoons. As we grow, we are given teachers who have been influenced by the world providing us with advice that seems wise. But if our parents aren't extremely involved in our lives, our biggest influence and counselors are those friends who speak to us from their vantage point. The way of the blessed man is to recognize that influence and to resist following it.
Doesn't Take Their Path
The blessed man does not commit to the sinful lifestyle or attempt to fit into the world's mold. People around us enjoy the fruits of their sin, not realizing that those fruits quickly turn rancid and die. How many people do we know who have conformed to the lifestyle of premarital sex, the greedy pursuit of money, fame, success, or some other immorality that is supposed to make their lives full and blessed? These lifestyles are not the way of the blessed man. He avoids them. This Psalm states that by committing to that lifestyle, we are giving up a greater blessing.
Doesn't Join The Group of Mockers
Finally, the blessed man does not get so entwined with the ungodly that he takes part in mocking the righteous. There is a progression in this text as it goes from listening to the wicked's advice, committing to their lifestyle, and mocking those who are doing good. We live in a world that wants to exalt the worldview that we are committed to. Everyone wants to promote their religion, but today we see religions that worship self and this world's pleasures. All our thoughts and motives are being challenged by people who have given in to their worldly desires. They want to bring us down with them, and their primary tool is mocking anyone different. They seek to guilt and shame those who do not follow them to justify their way of life. The commitment to a sinful lifestyle does not result in the blessings they thought they would have, but instead of relinquishing the wickedness, they double down on their commitment. They mock those who are not following them and making them feel good. The Psalmist encourages his readers to seek blessings outside of that group, that lifestyle, and that advice.
What Does The Blessed Man Do?
We would expect to see the opposite of what the blessed man doesn't do in verse 2. He walks in the righteous's counsel, stands in the way of the godly, and sits in the seat of those who praise the Lord. Instead, he responds to the three things the blessed man does not do with one thing that the blessed man does. The blessed man is focused on the word of God. He delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on his word day and night. The word of God is sufficient to provide a blessed life. All we must do is become focused solely on the word of the Lord with our hearts and minds. Notice that thinking and feeling are connected in this Psalm. They come together so that the word can develop a man and provide him with a blessed life. Let's consider each of these separately and understand how they must connect to the word for our lives to be blessed.
Delights In The Law Of The Lord
Let's think about how the heart must be involved in our study of God's law. Do any of us delight in studying God's Torah? Do we wake up in the morning looking forward to the time we can spend indulging in the richness of the word of God? The blessed man's goal is not only to wake up and get his daily devotional reading over with, nor is it to become scholarly and know everything that the word says about x, y, and z. The blessed man is connected to God through his law.
What would this look like? This person tends to gravitate toward the law throughout the day. He is trying to watch TV or spend time with his children, but he keeps finding himself studying God's law again and again. The blessed man is delighting in the law because it gives him the advice that he needs to find favor with the Lord and is the source of his blessed life. Notice that we often think of the law as something that hinders us, but the Psalmist says that the law should be our delight.
Meditates On The Law Day and Night
Also, the blessed man meditates on the word. What does that mean? In our society meditation means that we stop thinking about everything. But in scriptures it means muttering the word and considering it throughout the day and the night. He is like a cow chewing the cud. The word is more than something we read and study. The blessed man remembers his studies in every life situation. The information is being applied in his life. The king of Israel was commanded to study the law of the Lord all the days of his life. He was supposed to make his own copy of it that would be approved by the priests.
Deuteronomy 17:18--20 (ESV) --- 18 "And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, 20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.
The king would need to hold on to the law to know how to navigate life and remain in the right way. We know that no king was willing to do this like David, who wrote a majority of the Psalms was devoted to the law and lived a blessed life. But most kings failed to do that and suffered greatly as a result.
How Is He Blessed?
Verse 3 says, "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." This verse uses an image of a tree planted by streams of water to describe how the Lord's law blesses man. The tree that is continuously fed by streams of water digs its roots down deep and has a long prosperous life. Similarly, the man who delights in and meditates on the law of the Lord is receiving the nourishment that helps him grow, develop, and produce fruit over time. That nourishment helps keep him from losing his leaves when the cold and bitter seasons of life come. Trusting in God's word and applying it to our lives is the key to a successful life. Success is not found in philosophical or psychological literature. They may contain snippets of the truth, but the ultimate source of life is found in the word of the Lord. The words of the Torah and the words of all scriptures are written down for our good! We will be blessed in whatever we do if we put the Lord first and focus on his word. God’s law is for their good. It helps them in every area of life. This is the same thing Moses said in the book of Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy 10:12--13 (ESV) --- 12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good?
It says, “In all that he does, he prospers.” But how many of us have seen people who delight in the Lord suffer? It is important to realize that delighting in the Lord is not a magic wand that will give us everything we want. Psalms are wisdom literature that give us general truths, but what the Psalmist says here indicates that there is always prosperity. It does not say that no storms will come. It says this man will be blessed to survive the storms while remaining spiritually alive. The image of a tree indicates the cyclical nature of life, but being beside streams of water gives us deep roots and helps us produce in our seasons.
The Wicked Man
In verses 4-5, we see that the wicked are on the opposite end of the spectrum. The blessed find that everything they do prospers, but the wicked will find that everything they do comes to disaster. If we continue to trust in the counsel of the wicked and live lifestyles that match theirs, we will receive the wicked outcome. We may think that we are a tree planted by streams of water, but we are actually more like chaff that is driven away by the wind. Chaff is the flakey dried out piece of wheat that flies off when the grain is threshed. The farmer will typically take the grain and beat it against the threshing floor, and a thick cloud of chaff will go flying into the wind. The chaff is dead and good for nothing. So any of it that remains after that initial threshing is typically separated through other means to be burned up. This image is generally used throughout the New Testament to represent separating the good from the bad. Those who aren't grounded in the Lord's word have nothing to hold onto. They are driven away from the blessings that they could have enjoyed.
Once again, we might be tempted to think about this and disbelieve. Surely the wicked enjoy some degree of blessing. We see people indulging in all kinds of things other than the word of God, and they all appear to be blessed. But this is not the end of the Psalm.
In The Judgment
The last two verses cut to the heart of all objections. When we choose to go down the path of ignoring God's counsel, we are setting ourselves up for a bigger failure than anything we have ever experienced in this life. Verse 5 says, "Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment; Nor the sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish." The simple truth of this Psalm is not focusing on the prosperity of this life. Those who delight in and meditate on the Lord's word aren't looking for a temporary, immediate reward. They are looking for fruit to come "in its season." Their leaves may seem to wither as they suffer in this life, but for all eternity, they will stand in the congregation of the righteous because the Lord knows and approves of their way.
Application
How should we apply all of this to ourselves? This Psalm has two main applications I would like for us to consider.
It Gives Us A New Lens
This Psalm outlines the lens we must have of the world and the culture we live in. Being blessed is not a matter of circumstances in this life. It is not about what happens to us. If we think that, then the wicked counsel will entice us to reject the counsel of God. Being blessed is about how we perceive what happens to us in view of eternity. The blessed life is the life that is lived with the correct understanding of why things happen and what will happen after this life if we choose to do what God says. This understanding is essential.
Consider the tree metaphor that this Psalm gives us and think about the worst thing that could happen in your life. For me, I think of someone T-boning my car and killing my family. Have I lost the blessed life? If I am only focusing on my family, I have. But the answer to that question depends on where my roots are located. If my family was my stream of water, I'm finished. The stream has been taken away from me. But if God is my source of water, I will never stop drinking, and my roots will be deep enough to hold me through any storm or drought. I may not bear fruit in that season, or I may bear much fruit, but my leaves will not wither, and I will still call myself blessed.
God has displayed the life of Christ as an example of a blessed life. Although Jesus was murdered, he bore more fruit than any of us, and his leaf did not wither. Jesus shows us that there is more to this life than what we see. There is more to life than our temporary bodies. Therefore, we cannot live for temporary blessings of wickedness. We must pursue the eternal blessings. If we are not living with his word continually on our minds, we must go back to that metaphor of a tree and ask ourselves, what stream am I planted beside? Any stream other than the Lord's will dry up. When it does, we will be driven away and have no blessing.
We Need New Habits
As we study this Psalm, we see the importance of diving into Bible study. Is studying the Bible on the top of our list of priorities? Why not? My goal in studying used to be teaching other people. I wanted to know the truth so that I could share the truth with others. This helps us to desire to know more, but God wants us to know the truth for ourselves. The more I studied, the more I could see the value of applying the truth to my own life. We need to pick up the Bible every day to learn the truth. Then, we need to spend the rest of our time meditating on the truth so we can apply it to our lives. Setting goals helped me stay focused. To help us with this, I will be posting a weekly reading plan in the bulletin for us to read through together.
Why don’t we delight in the word? A recent study said that 58% of all Americans wish that they studied their Bibles more. That number is down from 2016 when it was 61%. This blows my mind because it's not like 42% are studying the Bible so much that they are satisfied. That 42% includes skeptics and non-Christians who see no value in reading the Bible, whatsoever. But, sadly, 58% of America that wants to read the Bible more is failing to follow through. Of that 58%, only about 20% said that their Bible knowledge has grown in the last year. We want to read more and understand the Bible, but how much more do we know this year compared to the previous year? Why do we not study more often? Bible literacy is taking a nosedive in our country because we are distracted people. Instead of focusing on the word, we focus on our email, Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram posts. While we should be delighting in what we could learn about God or ourselves, we are delighting in mindless television watching. What are we going to do when faced with a difficult situation? How will we recall the word of the Lord if we have not been meditating on it? We think we are finding delight in all of these hobbies, but we don't realize that overindulging in these things will drain us of joy while make us Biblically illiterate. Those who do not know or delight in the law of the Lord will eventually fall into the camp of the wicked. This is a simple concept, but we must believe it to avoid falling into it.
Conclusion
It should shock us to look through the lens of Psalm 1 and see how many people refuse to accept the blessing God offers in his law. It should also surprise us that people see his law as a curse instead of a gift. If other people stopped sinning, life would be a utopia. But it should shock us even more to look through the lens and into the mirror. When we do that, we recognize that the wicked's counsel entices us, and we struggle to delight in that law. Studying the word and delighting in it is the only way for us to receive God's blessings. His word is for our good. We need our hearts and our minds to accept that simple truth and apply it. Meditating on the law means we need to commit God's law to our hearts and minds so we can apply it daily. When I'm faced with an opportunity to lie and make my life easier, I must recall that God has commanded me to bear no false witness. When I'm tempted to lust after something as though it will provide me satisfaction, I must recall the command not to pursue idols. When I'm tempted to retaliate against my neighbor, I must remember God's forgiveness and redemption even though I was his enemy.