sign in sign up
<<
Home , Psalm 1

The Passion Translation | Study | Dr. Brian Simmons

Lesson 1 Reading: Psalm 1 with Study Notes

The Tree of Life

In a world of humanistic thinking and a plentitude of well-authored “self-help” books, we are counseled in Psalm 1 by the “Author of all authors”, the King of all kings and Lord of all lords in the way to a truly successful life—a blessed life! The way...is The Word.

As with the entire book of Psalms, Psalm 1 points us unequivocally to the Lord Jesus. He is the Way! As the Living , He doesn’t merely teach us, show us, or guide us in the way we should go (although He does those things as well), He IS the way. When we embrace the Word of God, we embrace Jesus, and in that beautiful “dance” we live the life we are meant for—the blessed life!

Psalm 1 is the inspired introduction or preface to the Book of Psalms. Although there is no superscription before this Psalm, most believe that was the author. Because of its similarity to Proverbs, others have suggested that Solomon wrote it as a preface to the as an introduction to the entire book.

Psalm 1 serves as a summary statement of God’s counsels for mankind. This Psalm divides all of humanity into two ranks…the godly and the ungodly. The wise will take heed and listen; the foolish will ignore and be ruined. The master thought of this Psalm is the LAW of JEHOVAH, the Word of God. Blessings come to those who obey, curses to those who disobey.

Psalm 1 is a wisdom psalm and shares many features common to the and to other psalms designated as wisdom psalms (34; 37; 49; 73; 111-12; 119; 127-28; 133). The first psalm may have consisted of Psalms 1 and 2. You could view Psalms 1 and 2 as pillars flanking the way as you move into prayer.

We are the seekers of wisdom, those committed to God’s ways. Moses appropriately prayed, “Teach me Your ways that I may continue to find favor in Your sight.” (Ex. 33:13) He saw the value in being one who seeks to know not only God’s acts but His face. As you study this week, take upon yourself that same mindset, and remember that those who seek, find!

Outline: ● v. 1-3 The Delightful Way of the Godly ● v. 4-6 The Troubled Way of the Ungodly

Verse 1 “What delight comes (fortunate, blessed) to those (Heb. THAT man) who follow God’s ways.”

The first word of the Psalms is “blessed.” This could be considered as the opposite of “woe.” It is being in a realm of untold delight and favor. David begins where Moses left off—with the word “Blessed” (Deut.33:29). Jesus began His teaching ministry with the Sermon on the Mount using the same word, “blessed.” In the Hebrew, “blessed” is a plural word that could perhaps be translated ‘blessedness.’ This is a reminder of the multiple blessings that come to those who seek the Lord above all else. The one who is truly blessed is the NEW MAN that loves to follow the Word and Spirit of God. REALLY blessed is that man! All the blessings of God are wrapped up in ‘that Man.’

Following the , Psalm 1 shows us how Job becomes a type or picture of the “blessed man.” But is Job “that Man”? Only Jesus Christ could be the One who is blessed above all others… One who never fails to fulfill the Law of His Father. The Hebrew word for “blessed” is taken from the name of one of the tribes - Asher. It can also be translated, ‘happy.’ The blessings of the godly are found in Christ, our happiness and joy!

“They won’t walk in step with the wicked, nor share the sinner’s way, nor sits in the circle of scoffers.”

We see two types of people, two ways, and two destinies. This is the SPIRITUAL SEED and the seed of the serpent in contrast. Notice the three triplets of Psalm 1:

● Walk in step (counsel) Wicked ● Share (stand) way sinner ● Sit circle (seat) scoffer

There are two types of people on earth, those who walk with God and those who walk in darkness; the godly seed and the seed of the serpent. There are two covenants, a covenant of life and a covenant of death. Both of these are seen in Psalm 1.

We also see the downward path that leads men to : First he “walks” in wicked counsel (lit. ‘advice, schemes or plans’), then he begins to “stand (share the way)” in obstinacy among the sinners, until finally he “sits” with them mocking the ways of God. Peter fell when he walked with the crowd, stood warming his hands over the fire, until he sat down with them and cursed, denying he even knew the Christ (Matt. 26:69-75).

None reach the height of vice all at once. Men are “wicked” (ungodly) first, casting off the fear of God and living in the neglect of their duty to him: but they don’t stop there. They go on to become “sinners,” that is, they break out into open rebellion against God and engage in the

2

service of sin and Satan. Their heart becomes so hardened that at length they come to be “mockers” (scorners), that is, they openly defy all that is sacred, and make a joke of sin.

The wicked grow worse (Jer. 9:3); sinners themselves become tempters to others. “Mockers” (according to Unger’s Bible Dictionary) is the Hebrew word that means, ‘to make mouths, to deride,’ and refers to a frivolous and impudent person who scoffs at the most sacred precepts and duties of religion, piety, and morals.

“Go away! Leave me, all you workers of wickedness; For you can’t stop me from following every command of my God.” :115 TPT

Verse 2 “His pleasure and passion is remaining true to the Word of “I Am” (Torah of Yahweh)

Believers are to have an unbroken life relationship with the Word of God, the testimony of light. The Christian is to have no allegiance to the world of darkness. Our believing, our behaving, and our belonging have all been radically altered. The words of the Lord become the pleasure of the NEW MAN. The bent of his heart is to obey the Lord. This is our real identity before God. He defines our life by our heart bent toward Him, not by the momentary weakness that may grip our life. Our true identity is a lover of God, a lover of the Word of Jehovah!

It is not enough to refrain from walking, standing and sitting with the ungodly. We must become those who move forward into holiness by delighting our heart in the instruction of God. Holiness is not merely avoiding evil but pursuing Christ with all our hearts. When you experience the Word in this way, you are blessed. You are happy.

“Their pleasure and passion (delight)” expresses all that makes the lover of God happy. The law is his/her delight and chief desire. Day and night meditation is the pleasure of the people of God. The Hebrew word for meditate means basically, ‘to speak or to mutter.’ When this is done in the heart it is called musing or meditation. To meditate really means to talk to your self; speaking the Word to your self day and night.

Continual delight in our God is what preserves us from walking in the counsel of the wicked. There is no time that is not either day or night. This is a Hebrew idiom that means “all the time.” When is it not either day or night? It is one or the other. To meditate day and night means we have a constant river of communion in our spirit with the Living God! In the day when we have light to guide us and in the night of tribulation when darkness surrounds us. Day and night our longing will ever be toward Him and the truth of His Word. See Josh.1:8, Ps.77:12, 119:18, Prov.15:28

“Meditating day and night in his true revelation of light.”

3

The person who delights in God’s Word so much that he/she meditates on it day and night is the one who is delivered from the ways of the wicked. Loving meditation on the revelation of God makes us fruitful, durable, and prosperous. The Word of God inspires us to remain pure and devoted when the mockers are all around us. Our prayer life is charged through the meditation on His Word. When you know the mind of God through His Word, you pray the mind of God in your prayers. The Word not only encourages us to pray, it excites us to prayer, until we become a walking-prayer-meeting, incurably devoted to the Word of God!

God’s Breath—God’s Word

The law is the Word of God and the Word of God is God’s breath. Everything that comes from His mouth is breathed of His Spirit. The Word is God-breathed. Through His Words, God breathes Himself into us, infusing us with His substance, His life.

God’s desire for love could not be fulfilled by the angels, as beautiful and perfect as they are… So God made man as a clay pot. Man is a vessel meant to contain God. The Lord wants you to be His container, His vessel. God houses Himself in us. His life is infused into us every time we take His Word as our breath and as our food. We were made after the image and likeness of God. We are His kind. Because we are made in His image, with human life and Divine life similar, we can be grafted together with God. The Lord can be one with us and we can be one with Him. This is the clear teaching of John 15: Jesus is the Vine and we are branches grafted into His life. We share the same life as part of His Body, His Vine.

Every time we breathe in the Word of God we are taking His breath into us: “I open my mouth and inhale the Word of God, because I crave the revelation of your commands (Psalm 119:131 TPT).” Can you see how different the Word of God, the laws of God become when you pant after Him? The Psalmist uses the same word used in :1 – “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.”

The commands of God are streams of water, refreshing the spirit of man. The man who meditates on the law day and night is like a tree planted by streams of water, receiving life from the flow of the Word.

Verse 3 “They will stand firm like a flourishing tree planted by God’s design, deeply rooted by the brooks of bliss.”

When we feed from the Word, the Tree of Life, we become like what we seek! Adam was once standing before a tree planted by streams of water… now, as we feed from this TREE, we become a tree.

4

There are other places in the Bible where the people of God are compared to trees (Jer.17:5-8, Isa.41:15-19, Song of Songs 2:3). Jesus came and told us He is the Vine and we are the branches. This is life out of the Tree. All of God’s plans surround this Tree.

This tree is not a tree in the field, it is a tree in a garden, “planted” by the Lord! This tree, or “blessed” one, is “deeply rooted by the brooks of bliss.” The streams surrounding us are irrigation streams designed to cause us to grow and be healthy. God has planted you right in His garden where He knows you will grow! Transplanted from the world into God’s kingdom right next to an endless water supply, absorbing water from His streams!

“Brooks” in the Hebrew means “dividings” or the place where two streams come together (a delta - Gen.2:10-14). You are planted in the most fertile soil! Take joy in being surrounded by living streams of water that come from the Fountain of His life. The gifts, fruit, and wisdom of the Spirit are like living streams to refresh your life in God. Not just one stream, but many (Gen.2:10-14, John 7:37-39).

“They will be called oaks of , a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.” -- Isaiah 61:3

“But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He 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.” -- 17:7-8

Water is both a picture of the Spirit and the Word. We have the refreshing stream of the Spirit of God flowing within us AND we have the washing of the water of the Word of God renewing and restoring our souls. When we see ourselves as His tree, planted in His garden, refreshed by His streams, we begin to yield fruit in our season. Fruitfulness always comes from abiding in Him. The deeper and longer we abide in His life, the more sweet and timely is the fruit. For a season of fruitfulness, both cold and heat, wind and rain, sunshine and darkness are required. We are preserved in time of drought by the hidden streams that flow around and in us. We are evergreen, ever bearing fruit trees dwelling in His garden. Even our ‘leaves’ will not wither! Whatever we do will prosper! Prosper means in the Hebrew ‘push forward.’ You will advance and move forward as you put Jesus and His Word first.

Fruitful, Durable, Prosperous

“Bearing fruit in every season of their lives.” O, for more fruitful people that will feed the nations from the life of the Branch, the fruit of the Vine. Their mouth is a fountain of life. Their words are healing and encouraging. Being around them is a spiritual meal. This is the effect of day and night prayer over the Word of God. YOU will yield fruit in seasons of difficulty and seasons of testing. We must be patient for the pleasing fruits of righteousness to come forth. Each Christian has his/her own timetable for productivity and growth.

5

“They are never dry, never fainting.” When the dry winds blow and there is no water all other trees not planted by the streams wither and die. But in spite of the drought, your leaf remains green and fresh, because delighting in the Word is like being planted by streams of water. An endless source replenishes your spirit. The happiness of such a man/woman is durable. It is deep. It does not depend on which way the wind blows—it has an absolutely changeless source: God’s Living Word.

“For in your presence they will still overflow and be anointed. Even in their old age they will stay fresh, bearing luscious fruit and abiding faithful.” --:14

“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” -- Habakkuk 3:17-18

“Ever blessed, every prosperous.” When you delight in the ways of God, doing the things He approves of, God will prosper your deeds and you will succeed in God’s eyes. When you delight in the Word, you trust in the Word and God will work on the behalf of those who trust and wait on Him (Isa.64:4, II Chron.16:9).

The Blessed MAN of Psalm 1

Jesus Christ is the BLESSED MAN of this Psalm! He is the Evergreen of God’s garden! The flesh of man is like grass that withers but HIS leaf, His very life cannot wither. He is ever bearing pleasant fruits, prospering continually before the Father. His delight was continually in the plan of His Father. This is His “season” of exaltation; the fruit of His Branch-Life plants churches, wins the nations, expands the kingdom and brings the increase of His government to the earth.

Verse 4 “But how different are the wicked, all they are is dust in the wind—driven away to destruction!”

The ungodly have none of these promises. The righteous are like a tree, but the wicked are dry, barren, husks. When we do not live in Christ, we are dead and without substance. Peter was sifted as wheat, but the ungodly are called chaff or dust in the wind. The wind (Heb. ‘ruach’ - spirit) blows them away. Winds of difficulty blow the wicked away, for they have no sure foundation of righteousness beneath them. The whirlwind of judgment will overwhelm all the ungodly (Matt.7:24-27).

Their fate is like the chaff, which has no use. When I was little I would go with my grandfather to the local grain elevator. This is where they would take the grain that had been harvested to be cleaned. The grain would be funneled through a series of screens, which were buffeted by powerful fans. After several trips through, the grain would be cleansed of all impurities and be

6

prepared for food or to plant. The leftovers, or the chaff was burnt, because it was of no use. Indeed the seeds from assorted weeds, which were winnowed, could have caused serious damage to the crop if they had been planted.

Thus are the wicked They are of no eternal use. They will not be able to stand in the judgment. These are the ones who will be addressed by our Lord on the last day. "Depart from me I never knew you!" They are treated in the same way that they treated our God. They are ignored. But the way of the righteous are known or watched over.

Verse 5 “The wicked will not endure in the day of judgment, for God will not defend them.”

We stand by grace covered with the garments of righteousness, but the wicked have no standing before God. They will not stand or endure the righteous judgments of the Lord. Sinners will not abide in the congregation of the righteous. Even Ananias and Saphira give testimony to this truth (See Acts 5). You may fool people, but you will not fool God.

They shall “not endure in the…judgment,” that is, they shall be found guilty, shall hang down the head with shame and confusion, and all their pleas and excuses will be overruled as frivolous. They will not rise in the Day of Judgment, for their defense will be their shame. There are four future judgments with regard to mankind:

The Judgment Seat of Christ. This involves only those who are a part of the Body of Christ. It is our examination for rewards or loss of rewards in heaven (Romans 14:10-11, I Cor.3:11-15, II Cor.5:9-10).

The Tribulation Judgments. Also known as Jacob’s trouble and Daniel’s 70th week. This judgment will purge the earth and bring Israel to her Messiah (Rev. 6–19, I Thess.5:1-11, II Thess 2:1-12, Matthew 24, Isaiah 24-27).

Judgment of the Living. Occurring at the return of Christ as He separates the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the tares (Matthew 25). Unbelievers are separated from believers as the believers go into their reign on the earth with Jesus Christ.

The Great White Throne Judgment. This refers to the judgment of all unbelieving dead. It follows the ‘thousand year’ reign of Christ and pertains only to the unbeliever, which are cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20).

Verse 6 “But how different it is for the lovers of God. The Lord watches over them as they move forward while the paths of the godless lead only to doom.”

7

Jesus watches over your ways. He sees all you do, and approves of your heart of love toward Him. Your ways are blessed, protected, and anointed as you delight in Him. You are blessed because the Lord knows your way; he chose you for it, moved you to choose it, leads and guides you into it. The wicked will perish and the way of wickedness will one day perish with them. How passionate and pure should that make us as we see their end. All our ways are watched over by the Lord, our True Watchman (Prov.2:8).

Men and women are blessed or condemned on the basis of only one thing… the way they have chosen to walk. There are only two ways to choose and all will walk on one or the other.

Use of Psalm 1 for the Tabernacle of David:

Psalm 1 exalts the Word of God and points the way to righteousness. It would be appropriate to sing Psalm 1 on Rosh Hashanna, as the day breaks, or even as a new shift of singers and musicians takes their place. I have heard this Psalm sung in its entirety many times. It is perhaps one of the easier Psalms to sing spontaneously. Although there are no musical terms mentioned, it is well suited for male or female voices.

A possible use would be making a watch (or session) with all the Psalms that exalt the Word of God (Psalm 1, 19, 119, 138, etc).

Among the Jewish people as the Torah scrolls are being brought into the Sanctuary this Psalm would be sung by those carrying the ‘Ark.’ Psalm 1 is considered to be a “Wisdom” psalm and has as its focus the Word of God.

It could be sung at the ordination of a minister or the sending out of a missionary.

There is an evangelistic note that is heard in this Psalm, causing the listeners to make a decision about which path to walk upon.

A dramatic dance to this song would enhance its meaning. It could begin with a man at a crossroads trying to decide which way to go with others alluring him to join them in their wickedness. The wind sounds and effects could be added to the ending as he rejoices in his decision to follow the Lord.

Each phrase of this psalm points us to the Blessed Man, Christ Jesus who makes us living trees after His kind—fruitful and prosperous as we walk after Him.

Questions

1. What has God spoken to you as you read this Psalm?

8

2. Does Psalm 1 describe your life? How?

3. Is there a decision you need to make to walk in the path of light, turning from darkness?

4. Have you found that choosing the path of godliness has made you fruitful in every season of your life?

5. What does it mean to you that “the Lord watches over them (the righteous) as they move forward?”

6. Can you see the example of our Lord Jesus in this Psalm? How?

Notes: ______

9

______

10