Psalm 1 - The Way of the Righteous and the Wicked

8/4/19                                                                                                                                       

 The Way of the Righteous and the Wicked

Psalm 1

                The first psalm is a wisdom psalm describing for us the way of the righteous in contrast to the way of the ungodly or wicked. It is a fitting opening to the book of Psalms as it reminds the worshiper of the blessings that result from avoiding the ungodly and abiding in the word of God. Strength of character and safe standing in judgment are the results of delighting in God’s word. In contrast, those who rebel against God have no substance and no standing before Him in the day of judgment.

                The psalmist uses two types of parallelism, can you determine what they are? Antithetical – contrast between two ways or lifestyles resulting in two different outcomes in judgment. Synthetic, v. 1, expanding on the theme of the ungodly, or symmetrical, stressing the same idea in different wording.

                The psalm can be studied in different ways but we will keep it simple – 1) The Way of the Righteous is Blessed, 1-3.

2) The way of the Wicked is Blasted, 4-6.

I. The Blessing on the Righteous, 1-3.

A. The blessed man. (What a great way to begin the Psalms!)

                1. Israelite society was male oriented – so the masculine form of “man” is used. However, it means here a person since its application is to anyone who delights in the Lord and his word.

                2. What does the word blessed mean?

·         Lit. – happy is the person… It does not refer merely to one’s feelings but joy that results from God’s undeserved prosperity and grace. Zodhiates – a joyful state of contentment, a condition of comfort and security for which a person is to be admired.

·         From what is God’s blessing derived? Is it according to what we do or to what God has done for us? Therefore, no sense of spiritual happiness, joy or security is the result of our works but God’s grace.

·         Of course, the righteous man is so because of God’s grace. He has been set on the right path of life because he has put his complete trust in God’s promises of saving grace.

B. Being in a blessed condition has definite results in your life.

                1. Our blessed condition results in separation from the ungodly (wicked), v. 1.

Blessing is stated in a negative way – we are often blessed by what we do not do. Many of God’s commands are negative. Consider the Ten Commandments – “You shall not…” In vs. 1, a person is blessed by avoiding the company of the wicked which is stated in three ways.

a. The righteous person does not walk in the counsel of the wicked.

·         The verb to walk in the Bible usually refers to your conduct or way of life. It also may suggest fellowship in the sense of walking with someone. The way we live our life is not to be in association with the ungodly.

·         Ungodly – wicked people, those who are practical atheists. They may believe in a god, but they live as if there is no real God. They are proud, hate the commands of God, do not live by His standards but their own. They are the lost and unbelieving people of the world.

·         Counsel refers to advice, plans, information derived from others. Here it means allowing worldly, wrong, humanistic advice from unsaved people being your source of guidance. We cannot allow the way of the world and the way of evil to influence us. We have to be very careful about those from whom we receive direction in life.

b. The righteous person does not stand in the path of sinners.

·         Sinners is a synonym for the wicked. It alludes to those who miss the mark of God’s holiness. All of us are guilty of being sinners until the time we repent and turn to Christ.

·         Is there an indication of a downward progression? The verbs are moving from walking, to standing, to sitting. They may all be different ways of saying the same thing, but it seems that every step one takes in association with the wicked moves you in the wrong direction – from casual acquaintance to complete fellowship.

·         The righteous ones do not stand in the way of sinners – he does not live life the way they do, he does not associate with their actions or lifestyle. His way is totally different from the way sinners live.

c. The righteous do not sit in the seat of the scornful.

·         What does sitting down with someone usually convey? It suggests fellowship – sitting down to eat or to talk, being comfortable in someone’s company.

·         A righteous person cannot have company with those who mock God and spiritual things. The scoffer is one who is arrogant. He loves conflict, he rejects the wisdom and word of God. Why would we want to identify with such people other than witness to them?

·         All who have been blessed and made righteous through God’s saving grace will dissociate themselves from the way unsaved people think, act, and socialize. This does not mean we cannot be friendly to them with the goal of witnessing. But our fellowship and association with them needs to be minimal. We should be extremely careful that they do not adversely affect our walk with the Lord.

2. Our blessed condition results in delight in God’s word, 2.

·         A righteous person cannot delight in the company of lost people. Rather, he finds great pleasure in the law of the LORD. At this time in Israel’s history, what portion of scripture would this include? (Law, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, some Psalms).

·         The word for law – Torah, which means instruction. The law of Jahweh means instruction from him, either through his written word or the communication from his prophets.

·         Delight refers to that which gives you great joy and pleasure. When a person becomes saved, the Lord gives them a new interest in his word. If you have no interest in reading the word of God, of hearing it preached, that is not a good indication of your profession of faith.

·         If we truly delight in God’s instruction, then we will meditate on it. Day and night = hyperbole, purposeful exaggeration for effect. However, this suggests that we are so familiar with the revelation of God that it guides our thoughts and actions through the whole day. It is the controlling factor of our lifestyle.

·         Meditate is an onomatopoeia, a word that sounds like its meaning. It refers to muttering under your breath and likely alludes to someone quoting scripture to themselves. Most people did not have a copy of the word, so they memorized portions of it from the teaching of priests and Levites. We are greatly blessed to have our own edition of God’s complete word today.

·         We should read it, study it, memorize it, and live by it. It should be an important part of our life every day. God’s word is central to our spiritual growth, faithfulness, and service.

3. Our blessed condition results in spiritual prosperity, 3.  

          The man who is graciously blessed does not associate with the wicked, loves God’s word, and prospers for the benefit of others.

·         The psalmist uses the simile of a tree to describe the condition of the blessed man. In wisdom literature, a tree is often used as a metaphor for wisdom itself. Let’s note what is said about it and how it relates to the righteous.

·         This tree is firmly embedded in a place where it is sure to derive strength. It is near rivers or channels of water, so it does not have to depend upon the rain for nourishment. This suggests a fully developed root system derived from a constant source of nutrients. The word of God is our constant source of spiritual growth and development.

·         The result of constant nourishment results in what? Fruit, which is expected in due season or at the appropriate time. Does a Christian bear fruit? What kind? Name some? What is the purpose of fruit – is it merely to enrich ourselves or to be used to benefit others? A tree bears fruit which benefits others – animals and humans. So our fruit is to benefit others as well.

·         The flourishing leaf is another result suggesting wholeness and beauty. A tree that bears its full foliage without disease or decay is attractive. And so, the believer attracts others as he reaps the benefits of right living from God’s word.

·         In these ways he prospers. Material prosperity in every endeavor is not what is guaranteed here. NKJV Study Bible – “What the Bible means by prosperity is this: when we apply God’s wisdom, the fruit (results or by-products) we bear will be good and receive God’s approval.” (p. 910)

The character and fate of the wicked is just the opposite…

II. The Blasting of the Wicked, 4-6.

(Blasting means detestable, accursed, condemned – the opposite condition of blessed)

A. The Wicked have No Substance, 4.

                1. Simply put – the wicked are not so.

·         They are totally unlike the righteous. They are categorized in v. 1 – ungodly, sinners, scoffers. They do not care about spiritual things, they go about life totally caught up in humanistic thinking. Even those who may care about religion, they are satisfied with the untruth that they have chosen. They spurn God’s word.

·         So instead of being like a flourishing tree, what are they like? Can you think of any greater contrast between a productive fruit tree and a piece of chaff? Chaff is the dry husk of grain that is pretty much worthless. It has no substance; it is light and airy.

·         In ancient times grain would be  winnowed by throwing it up into the air and letting the wind carry away the chaff. Today, we see farmers harvesting grain in a great cloud of dust and chaff that is born away by the wind and the motion of the combine paddles.

2. Chaff has no real value or substance. It has no root below and no fruit that can be produced. This is the sad condition of people without Christ today. It does not matter how rich or famous they may be. It does not matter what kind of influence they have in the world for what people consider as good. In the end they have no hope, no future, no lasting prosperity.

B. The Wicked Have no Security, 5.

                1. Because they have no spiritual substance they will not stand in the judgment.

·         Since they have rejected God’s word and have not received the grace of God on the blessed, they have nothing left whereby they can stand securely in the day of judgment.

·         We are able to stand because our sins have been judged in the work of Christ. We will stand before him forgiven and redeemed.

2. Lost sinners will not be in the congregation or the assembly of the righteous.

·         They have no standing with the people of God in this life or the next. This is another way of stating the previous line.

·         Those who have trusted God’s way of salvation are in the assembly of the righteous the moment they are saved. That assembly will finally gather in heaven and be present on the judgment day of the ungodly. No wicked person will be in their number.

C. The Wicked Have No Salvation, 6.

                Here we have a final contrast between the righteous and the wicked.

                1. The LORD knows the way of the righteous.

·         This does not merely mean that God has knowledge of who the righteous and wicked are. It suggests intimate relationship between himself and those he knows.

·         Jesus once said that there will be people in the last day that will cry “Lord, lord, did we not do what you wanted, etc.” But he will respond, “Depart from me for I never knew you.”

·         The Lord has set the believer on the right path, that is what makes him blessed. He knows us in the sense that he guards and protects us on that path and will see us through until the end. In contrast…

2. The way of the wicked will perish.

·         The way that they are on and have constantly chosen is the way that leads to perdition. It is the broad way that leads to destruction.

·         To perish in the Bible alludes to spiritual destruction. It means to die without faith in Christ and results in spiritual ruin for all eternity.

We can rejoice today in this psalm which admonishes us to avoid the wicked, abide in God’s word, and live a prosperous life that will benefit others. It also reminds us that our future is secure in the grace of God.

Sing Psalm 1a –  to I Sing the Mighty Power of God, 32.