Psalm 1:1-3
1 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, 2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. 3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers. (Psalm 1:1-3)
We live in a time when everything around us is saturated with weariness, despair, depression, and misery. This hopeless condition makes us ask: “Is there some basic principle that determines success in finding happiness? Where is the key to true happiness hidden?” The answer to this question we find in the First Psalm. Notice the word with which it begins — “blessed.” This is one of the code-words of Christians that the people of this world do not understand. In Hebrew this word carries the idea of happiness. In fact, in modern language this psalm opens like this: “Oh, how truly happy is the person who…” Blessedness is not some vain, temporary, worldly pleasure. It is the true, lasting, God-given happiness.
The secret this psalm reveals to us is that true happiness is hidden not in human cleverness, but in godliness.
The psalm can be divided into three parts.
The first part is a description of the character and well-being of the truly happy person. From his portrait it is clearly seen that he is righteous and godly.
The second part sketches for us, with a few strokes, the condition of the wicked. It stands in complete contrast to the pleasant picture from the beginning of the psalm. They truly come to a bad end.
4 Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. (Psalm 1:4-5)
The last part is like a conclusion. In it the two pictures above are brought down to two paths — “the way of the righteous” and “the way of the wicked.”
6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction. (Psalm 1:6)
This last verse makes us stop and consider which path we are walking. For the two paths lead to two completely opposite places: one to God’s presence, and the other — to “destruction.”
In the psalm there are three contrasts.
The first is between what the truly happy person does not do and what he does. Instead of being led by the counsel of the wicked, standing in the way of sinners, and sitting in the company of mockers, the blessed man of God delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on His Word day and night.
The second contrast is between the description of the righteous and the description of the wicked: he is presented as an evergreen, fruitful tree, and they — as “chaff that the wind blows away.”
The third contrast is between the two paths and where they lead: one is a path of life, and the other — leads to destruction.
After this more general overview, let us now examine each one of the parts of the psalm, praying that the Holy Spirit will give us light by which we may perceive God’s message more clearly.
At the beginning of the psalm the truly happy person is viewed from two perspectives. In verse 1 we are told what he does not do, and in verse 2 — what he does.
WHAT THE TRULY HAPPY PERSON DOES NOT DO (v.1)
1 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers. (Psalm 1:1)
God’s Word teaches us to use negative language (phrases that contain the little word “not”) in order to convey positive thoughts. Prohibitions are not a bad thing. Eight of the Ten Commandments of God are expressed as prohibitions:
- “You shall have no other gods before Me!”
- “You shall not make an idol!”
- “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain!”
- “You shall not murder!”
- “You shall not commit adultery!”
- “You shall not steal!”
- “You shall not give false testimony!”
- “You shall not covet!”
These are all good things! Prohibitions do not take away our rights; they guard us from going astray. They protect us from harm, damage, and injury. They are like the warning signs along the roads, like the buoys at the beach, or like the guardrails that keep us from falling off a cliff. According to verse 1, if we want to be truly happy there are three things we must not do. They are expressed in parallel and touch three spheres of our life: our thinking, our behavior, and our fellowship.
IF YOU WANT TO BE HAPPY, DO NOT WALK IN THE COUNSEL OF THE WICKED!
We must not accept counsel from ungodly people about how to live and what to do. We must not adopt their way of thinking. Some of them, for example, deny the existence of God. In them is fulfilled Psalm 14:1:
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” (Psalm 14:1)
Should we accept this way of thinking? It leads to irresponsibility and every kind of evil.
Others take as their motto Isaiah 22:13:
“Let us eat and drink,” you say, “for tomorrow we die!” (Isaiah 22:13)
In other words: “Eat, drink, and wear your new clothes.” This denies the life beyond the grave and the eternal nature of the human soul. The one who accepts wicked counsel will not succeed, no matter how favorable that counsel may appear at first glance.
DO NOT STAND IN THE WAY OF SINNERS!
Here it is a question of our behavior. We must not go where sinners go, except to pull them out of there! The temptation to do it is great. In Proverbs 1:10-15 it says:
10 My son, if sinful men entice you, do not give in to them. 11 If they say, “Come along with us; let’s lie in wait for innocent blood, let’s ambush some harmless soul; 12 let’s swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; 13 we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder; 14 cast lots with us; we will all share the loot”— 15 my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths. (Proverbs 1:10-15)
DO NOT SIT IN THE COMPANY OF MOCKERS!
Here it is a question of whom we associate with and build relationships with. The mockers are perverse sinners. They not only sin, but sin is their philosophy. They are so hardened that they sneer and jeer at those who try to do what is right. Their aim in all of this is to defend their wicked actions and to entrench their sinful position. Are there such people at the village gathering or at the merrymaking? It depends on the people who have gathered there. I do not go to such gatherings and revels, but I suppose that some of them are the “home groups” of the gossips and the mockers. If that is so, a Christian has no place there (1 Corinthians 15:33-34)!
33 Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” 34 Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning. (1 Corinthians 15:33-34)
Notice the regress in verse 1:
1 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers. (Psalm 1:1)
I cannot call it “progress,” because it moves in the opposite direction — “walk,” “stand,” “sit.” Sin draws us in gradually. At first you begin to pass by the wicked, then you stop among the sinners, and finally you sit down together with the mockers. And the reverse is also true: if you associate with the mockers, you will begin to behave like the sinners and to reason like the wicked. This will destroy you! The truly happy person does none of these things. What does he do?
WHAT THE TRULY HAPPY PERSON DOES (v.2)
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. (Psalm 1:2)
DELIGHT IN GOD’S WORD!
The source of happiness for the man of God, that which brings him joy, is God’s Word. It truly is his delight (Psalm 119:16,24,35,47,77,92,174)! It is sweeter “than honey, than honey from the honeycomb” (Psalm 19:10). And this applies not only to the reading and hearing of the Word, but to the doing of it. The truly happy person prefers “the law of the Lord” to “the counsel of the wicked”; he prefers “the way of the righteous” to “the way of sinners”; he prefers the assembly of the saints to “the company of mockers”! And what do you prefer?
ABIDE IN THE WORD DAILY!
The word “meditates” can also be translated as “muses” or “ponders,” and it pictures for us how the truly happy person reads a given text from the Bible and re-reads it under his breath, turning it over and reflecting on it. Through meditation God’s Word enters our hearts, and from there flow “the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23). The truly happy person meditates on God’s Word “day and night.” This does not mean that he has withdrawn from his daily life, shut himself up in a monastery, and does nothing but read the Bible. Rather, it shows a special interest that goes beyond ordinary curiosity, a spiritual appetite for God’s Word. To meditate on it and to learn from its wisdom has become a good habit for him. He sets aside time for it every day!
The secret of true happiness is hidden in godliness. The character of the righteous is the cause of his blessedness. So then, if you want to be truly happy, do what the truly happy person does, and you will have his blessedness. Delight in God’s Word; let it change you daily. At the same time, do not accept counsel from people whose hearts are not lit by God’s light; do not agree to become part of dishonest company; do not associate with those who are so deceived that they have the audacity to despise what is good and righteous!
THE PORTRAIT OF THE RIGHTEOUS
As a result of his superior system of values, the truly happy person prospers on every side. He is described as an evergreen, fruitful tree. This picture presents him as stable, secure, fruitful, dependable, and fresh (v.3).
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. (Psalm 1:3)
STABLE
5 This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. 6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. 7 But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. 8 They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:5-8)
The wicked person is like “a bush in the wastelands,” while the righteous is like “a tree planted by streams of water.” The truly happy person is stable and enduring. He has eternal life. Do you want to be a “tree,” and not a “bush” or “chaff”? Then do what the truly happy person does!
SECURE
The man of God is not only like a tree, but like “a tree planted by streams of water.” He is grounded in God’s Word, from which he receives an abundance of rich spiritual food. He does not depend on the chance of the rains. His resources are inexhaustible. How deep have you sunk your roots into the Word?
FRUITFUL
The truly happy person is like a tree “which yields its fruit.” He is not a barren, withered, or felled tree. He is a “good tree” that yields “good fruit” (Luke 6:43), “lasting fruit” (John 15:16), “much fruit” (John 15:4). He is a blessing both to himself and to others.
DEPENDABLE
The man of God “yields its fruit in season.” He will not disappoint you. There is no danger that at the time of the harvest you will come to him and find no fruit (Mark 13:6). We do not bear fruit continuously. There is a time when this fruit forms, grows, and ripens. And in the truly happy person there is no danger that this process of development will be interrupted.
FRESH
The righteous is like a tree “whose leaf does not wither.” He is fresh throughout the whole year. Scientists became interested in a palm tree in the desert. They wanted to understand what its freshness was due to. They began to trace its root system and discovered that it was about 60 kilometers long and stretched in the direction of the sea.
The unwithering leaf shows that the tree planted by streams of water is not affected by seasons of drought. Unfavorable conditions have no effect on the fruitfulness and freshness of those whose strength comes from God.
PROSPERS IN EVERYTHING
At the end of the third verse the comparison with the tree is left in the background, and the author of the psalm dwells on prosperity as a general characteristic of the truly happy person.
Whatever they do prospers. (Psalm 1:3)
Sometimes this rule has exceptions, the reasons for which are known only to God. The general principle, however, is that a life of godliness is usually blessed with prosperity.
When we speak of prospering, we must keep in mind that here it is not a question of material enrichment, but of success in the carrying out of God’s works. In Joshua 1:8, where the same language is used, it says:
7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. (Joshua 1:7-8)
Here it is not a question of business success, but of success in fulfilling the purposes and intentions of God, revealed in the sacred writings.
Such are the character and the well-being of the righteous. He is truly happy and is a blessing to others, because he abides in the Word of God. In this way he becomes a witness to God’s faithfulness and to the worth of a life that is filled with godliness and the seeking of God.
The truly happy person will be “like a tree.” Not like a straw, a twig, grass, or a reed. The tree has a special significance for those who live in dry and desert regions such as Palestine. There it is found rarely. It gives shade and fruit, and that is why it is precious. The tree is a metaphor often used in the Scriptures to describe the righteous (Psalm 92:15; Jeremiah 17:5-8).