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; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 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. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. – Psalm 1

Psalm 1 is more than the first psalm. 

• It is the introduction to the Psalms. 
• It is the preface of the Psalter. 
• It is the Psalm of Psalms. 

In Medieval copies of the Psalms, this first psalm was written in red ink with no numerical reference.Psalm 2 was considered the first psalm. Psalm 1 was viewed as the foreword to the Psalms. 

Psalm 1 is a Wisdom Psalm. It would fit perfectly in Proverbs. Psalms are about prayer, praise, and testimony. Proverbs are about practical wisdom for godly living. Yet this is what we find in Psalm 1. It pictures life as a journey with two paths: 

• The way of God and the way of sin. 
• The way of the righteous and the way of the wicked. 
• The way that blesses and the way that perishes. 

There is no third way. Which way are you going? Psalm 1 bids us to consider the path we take and the destination it will reach. It also bids us to take the right path. There are no commands in Psalm 1. Yet it reads with the force of an exhortation that can be stated in three words: Choose God’s way. 

Matthew 7:13-14 says, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” What does it mean to choose God’s way? 

Choose The Blessed Way. 

We think of blessings in terms of physical health, material prosperity, and favorable circumstances. Psalm 1 views blessedness as internal, not external. It is a spiritual condition. “Blessed” is good fortune, true fulfillment, or supreme happiness. It is plural, which denotes multiplied blessings: “O the blessedness of the man…” Do you want to be blessed?

Avoid the way of sinners. Verse 1 describes the blessed life in negative terms. It explains what the blessed man does not do. Early church Fathers read this verse as a prophetic description of Jesus Christ. 

• He did not walk in the counsel of the wicked. 
• He did not stand in the way of sinners. 
• He did not sit in the seat of scoffers. 

All who would be blessed must follow the righteous path Christ established.

Do not walk in the counsel of the wicked. Proverbs 15:22 says, “Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.” But you cannot be blessed if you walk in the counsel of the wicked. You cannot be happy if you take advice from ungodly people. You cannot be fulfilled if you listen to those who reject God’s way. Psalm 33:10-11 says, “The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.”

 Do not stand in the way of sinners. Our words, conduct, and attitudes can block the sinner’s path to God. That is not the point here. It is about those who stand the way sinners stand. They stand like and withthem. It is to take a settled position on the side of sinners. 

• Walk denotes conduct. 
• Stand denotes character. 

You cannot be blessed if you stand in the way of sinners. 

Do not sit in the seat of the scoffers. “Wicked” and “sinners” are synonymous. “Scoffers” depicts something worse. It is one thing to disobey the law. It is another thing to mock it as unworthy of obedience. Proverbs 21:24 says, “’Scoffer’ is the name of the arrogant, haughty man who acts with arrogant pride.” 

This verse warns us to avoid guilt by association. 1 Corinthians 15:33 says: “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals.’” You should be friends with unbelievers. You must not make friends with their ways. William McDonald wrote: “The happy man is a real friend to the ungodly, but he is not a partner with them.”

Pursue the way of scripture. Verse 1 describes the blessed life in negative terms. Verse 2 describes it in positive terms. It is not an exact parallel. Verse 2 characterizes the blessed life by its relationship to the word of God. This Wisdom Psalmcan be categorized as a Torah Psalm, like Psalm 19 and Psalm 119. In a sense, Psalm 1 is the first Torah Psalm. It teaches life in the word. 

Delight in the law of the Lord. One may obey or respect the law. Who delights in the law? The blessed man. Psalm 119:14 says, “In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches.” Psalm 119:16 says, “I will delight in your statutes, I will not forget your word.” Psalm 119:35 says, “Lead me in the path of your commandment, for I delight in it.” Psalm 119:92 says, “If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.” The godly delight in God’s law. They take pleasure in the word. They rejoice in the scriptures. 

Meditate on the law of the Lord. The Hebrew word for “meditates” is used in Psalm 2:1: “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? “Plot” in Psalm 2:1 is “meditates” in Psalm 1:2. Biblical meditation pictures a cow chewing the cud. It also pictures an animal growling over its prey. 

J.I. Packer wrote: “How can we turn our knowledge about God into knowledge of God? The rule for doing this is demanding, but simple. It is that we turn each true thought we learn about God into a matter for meditation before God, leading to prayer and praise to God.”

Choose The Fruitful Way.  

Cotton Mather desired a fruitful life. His signet ring had a fruit-bearing tree and Psalm 1:3 inscribed on it. As he lay dying, his son and successor asked him for a word to remember. Mather whispered one word: “Fruitful.” Why follow the fruitful way?

The righteous are like a tree. Verse 3 says, “He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yield its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.” This verse describes two benefits righteous people enjoy.  

 Stability. The righteous are like a tree – strong, stable, and secure. Jeremiah 17:7-8 says: “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is in the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” 

The righteous are like a planted tree. It is not a wild plant that grows strong. It is transplanted to a special location: “by streams of water.” It is planted near the nexusof rivers. It has a constant supply of water to feed its roots. 

It “yields its fruit in its season.” In the ancient Near East, the early rains watered the earth. If the latter rains did not fall, nothing would grow in season. This is the tension of a fruitful life. Growing fruit requires both days of sunshine and nights of rainfall. A place where the sun never shines, and the rain never falls is called a desert. Likewise, “its leaf does not wither.” D.L. Moody said: “All the Lord’s trees are evergreens.” 

Psalm 92:12-14 says: “The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the Lord is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.”

Prosperity. Verse 3 says, “In all that he does, he prospers.” God blesses the righteous. Some mishandle the word of God and take the promises of God out of context. Others ignore the word of God and do trust his faithful promises. Do not rush to one extreme to avoid another. 

Joshua 1:8 says, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” This is a promise to all who live by the word of God. In all he does, he prospers.

The wicked are like chaff. Verse 3 is a picture of the benefits of godliness. Verse 4 is an abrupt contrast: “The wicked are not so.” It is a sharp, emphatic negation: “No so, the wicked! Not so.” The psalmist does not describe the wicked. He says the destiny of the wicked is the opposite of the righteous. He is not blessed. He does notdelight in the law of the Lord or meditate on it. He is not like a tree. He is not planted, has no fruit, no season. He does not prosper. 

 Verse 4 says, “The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.” Chaff is the shell or husk that covers kernels of grain. The farmer cut the grain at harvest and took it to the threshing floor. The stalks of grain were crushed under the weight of an ox-drawn sled. Then the farmer sifted the wheat by tossing it into the air. The good grain fell back to the earth. The wind carried the chaff away. This is the peril of the wicked. 

Psalm 37:10-11 says, “In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there. But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.”

Choose The Eternal Way. 

• Verses 1-2 describe the spiritual fulfillment of living God’s way. 
• Verses 3-4 describe the practical benefits of living God’s way. 
• Verses 5-6 describe the final destiny of living God’s way.  

 Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is death.” God’s way is the only way that lasts. 

The wicked will not stand. Verse 1 says the godly separate themselves from the wicked. Verse 5 says the wicked will be separated from the godly: “Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.” Verse 1 warns not to stand in the way of sinners. Verse 5 makes two statements about where the wicked will not stand. 

 They will not stand in the judgment. Acts 17:30-31 says, “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” 

Every person has a date with destiny. Hebrews 9:27 says, “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” God punishes all sin. Either Christ suffers punishment for you on the cross, or you will suffer punishment in hell. All who are not covered by the blood of Jesus are doomed. 

 They will not stand in the congregation of the righteous. The unrighteous think going to church is a waste of time. The day will come when they change their minds. They will desire to join the assembly. But they will not stand in the congregation of the righteous. 

Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Don’t follow any person who neglects the church. They are going in the wrong direction. And they will not stand in the congregation of the righteous. 

The wicked will perish. Psalm 1 ends with a final contrast. It is not between the righteous and the wicked. It is between the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked. 

The righteous way is covered. The Lord is omniscient. God knows everything known, unknown, and knowable. In this sense, the Lord knows the way of the wicked. The Lord knows the way of the righteous in a personal and intimate way. He watches over the way of the righteous. 

Charles Spurgeon said, “Walk with God, and you cannot mistake the road; you have infallible wisdom to direct you, permanent love to comfort you, and eternal power to defend you.” Following God’s way may not be easy. Job 23:10 says, “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.”  

The wicked way is doomed. Verse 6 says: “For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” Psalm 1 begins with “blessed” and ends with “perish.” “Perish” describes eternal judgment. 

• Scripture does not teach purgatory. 
• Scripture does not teach reincarnation. 
• Scripture does not teach annihilationism. 

Matthew 25:46 says, “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Eternal punishment is as long as eternal life. Everyone will spend eternity somewhere – heaven or hell. The path you take determines the destiny you reach. Which way are you going? If you are going in the wrong direction, make a U-turn. Confess your sins. Run to the cross. Trust the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. 

Police officers discovered a lost little girl in the streets of London. They tried to help her find her way home. But she did not know her phone number or her address. “Is there anything you can tell us to help you get home,” he asked. She informed them that she lived near the Charing Cross. “Get me to the cross,” she said, “and I can find my way home.” If you run to the cross, you will find your way home.