The First Psalm

Mark Dunagan
10/24/10 - Sunday Morning

The First Psalm

Man did not just collect various Psalms and this happened to be designed as the place to start. In Acts 13:33 Paul said, “as it is also written in the second Psalm”. The second Psalm has always been the second Psalm, just as the first Psalm has always been the gatekeeper of this beautiful book. “So why is Psalm 1 Psalm 1? Because it packs a matter of such supreme importance. Here two ways, two humanities, two destinies are clearly spelled out. Jesus summed up the concern of Psalm 1 in Matthew 7:13-14 “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”. Paul 1 depicts this in terse, stark black and white, as if announcing, ‘Let the clarity begin!’ The Psalm is saying to you: Nothing is so crucial as your belonging to the congregation of the righteous” (The Way of the Righteous in the Muck of Life, Psalms 1-12, Dale Ralph Davis, p. 14). This clarifying of where we belong is especially needed in our generation. The Psalms are so much more than religious encouragement through poetry, in addition, they challenge us to commit wholeheartedly to God, make a decision, give up a sin, and adhere to sound doctrine.

1:1 “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers”

Right away, God makes it clear that nice guys, men with integrity, will finish first. Who is blessed? Who is fortunate? Who is really happy? Who is well-off? “And, as if he has no concern whatever for decent marketing, the psalmist begins with the negative. The righteous man is described by what he shuns. The happy man (or, the man enjoying God’s blessings) is the separated man, a man who is not in neutral but who has a bias against evil in all its forms” (Davis, p. 15).

• “Walk in the counsel”: The word “counsel” would include such things as one’s “principles”. He has nothing to do with a way of thinking, with forming plans, with a mind-set and outlook. He does not listen to the world, and does not think like other people do. He rejects all counsel and every world-view which is contrary to Scripture.
• “Stand in the path”: He rejects following sinful behavior. “The three complete phrases show three aspects, indeed three degrees, of departure from God, by portraying conformity to this world at three different levels: accepting its advice, being party to its ways, and adopting the most fatal of its attitudes – for the scoffers, if not the most scandalous of sinners, are the farthest from repentance (Proverbs 3:34)” (Derek Kidner, Psalms 1-73, pp. 47-48).
• “Sit in the seat of scoffers”: “The ‘seat’ of the scoffers implies a kind of belonging, where one settles most comfortably perhaps with the scathing unbelief that wants no truck with godliness and faithfulness” (Davis, p. 15). Thus, the righteous man does not enjoy ungodly advice, ungodly deeds or ungodly company. Scoffers make all sorts of arguments against absolute truth, God’s existence, the reliability of the Scriptures, the necessity to obey God, or the truthfulness about the narrow gate and the judgment. The godly man hears all these arguments that are designed to remove accountability and make the decisions at the moment easier – and takes no comfort in them.“He is counter-cultural. He is, in a word, different. He is not just a nice, easy-going, tolerant chap... He resists the vacuum-cleaner power-moves that evil puts on him” (Davis, p. 15). Remember, the pressure from the world will often come – not as a decision to renounce Christ or die, but rather “It may come in rather bump-a-long fashion from teachers or friends or family, or spouses: it simply suggests that if you don’t think this way, you will not be thought sharp; if you don’t act this way, you will not be ‘cool’; if you don’t laugh at what we mock, we don’t want any part of you” (Davis, p. 16).

1:2 “But his delight is in the Law of the Lord, and in His Law he meditates day and night”

If we thought at the righteous man is all business, all duty and no delight, we would have been absolutely wrong. He not only “delights”, but his delight is stronger than anything the world can throw at him. His life is not a collection of meager delights, but rather an intense delight that controls all that he thinks or does. “What leads him to renounce all the ‘appeals’ of verse 1? To turn and walk away from it all? The pursuit of pleasure!” (Davis, p. 16). The righteous man has discovered that pursuing God is not missing out on pleasure, rather it is rejecting all short-lived, meager pleasures for the one pleasure that actually lasts. In fact, one could argue that Christians actually love pleasure far more than the wicked, for they are actually willing to sacrifice all lesser sinful pleasures for the ultimate delight. As a Christian I am simply amazed at the low-level of enjoyment that most people are willing to accept in their lives. “Meditates”: God’s law gives him such delight because: 1) He frequently ponders what it teaches. 2) He is looking for real answers and is not content with shallow, temporary solutions. 3) He actually finds the answers for which he is looking. It is working for him.

1:3 “He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers”

Here is the result of his choices to reject the world (1:1) and side with God (1:2). He has stability (“planted”), vitality (“by streams of water”), productivity (“gives its fruit”), durability (“does not wither”), and prosperity. “I think stability-with-vitality captures the essence of this picture. That, by the way, is an interesting combination. We often set those characteristics against each other. We may know creative people who have hardly a whip-stitch of order, and we assume it goes with the turf. ‘Oh, she’s artsy – you can’t expect her to show up on time’. Or someone else is a neat-freak, and because of that we’re sure he would never consider a moment of spontaneous fun... But you’ve got stability and vitality combined in this blessed man. He is the one who is both rooted and lively; his stability is not monotonous and his vitality is not chaotic” (Davis, p. 19).

“Firmly planted”: The righteous man is not a flash in a pan, and neither is he a fad. For the moment other people will take the spotlight, but they will come with great fanfare and vanish. The godly man is like a huge oak tree. “Which yields its fruit in its season”:He is not someone who yielded fruit for just one year. The godly man grows (2 Peter 1:5-11). In each stage of his life, he yields the right fruit. He knows how to live when single, is wise when newly married, makes the right decisions when the children come along, is present when they are teenagers, and keeps on bearing fruit after they leave home. He is what a man is supposed to be at 16, 20, 30, 40, 50 etc...“Its leaf does not wither”: This suggests that the godly man will have his share of adversity. There will be lean times, times of hardship and drought. Yet his roots are deep. Even in barren times (hard times, times of suffering, persecution, etc.) the righteous person is doing more than simply surviving. “The promised immunity of the leaf from withering is not independence of the rhythm of the seasons... but freedom from the crippling damage of drought” (Kidner, p. 48). “It’s the Psalm 1 reflection – planted and still bearing fruit. I think it’s true. I can take you to believers who are in their 70s and 80s who will witness to this” (Davis, p. 21).

1:4 “The wicked are not so, but they are like chaff which the wind drives away”

“If the tree represents stability and vitality, chaff depicts rootlessness (1:4) and ruin (1:5-6). Look carefully at the text: note how four clauses explain and amplify the picture of the righteous as a tree, but only one line depicts the wicked as chaff. Very abrupt. Well, how much can you really say about chaff anyway?” (Davis, p. 20). “The metaphor of chaff reveals both the uselessness of the wicked and the ease with which God will deal with them. Even as the winnower casts the chaff to the afternoon breeze, so the Lord will drive away the wicked. No one will remember their place” (Gaebelein p. 57). “It emphasizes more explicitly what a man is than what he sees and feels... hence the unsparing conclusion. Chaff is, in such a setting, the ultimate in what is rootless, weightless and useless” (Kidner, p. 49). “What a drastic picture of futility when life yields nothing more substantial than useless remains scattered so completely as not even to be found when sought! That this is ultimately the fate of the life divorced from God is not always apparent in every case in outward and tangible results or the lack of them” (Leupold, p. 37).

1:6 “Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment”:

The wicked will be present at the judgment (2 Corinthians 5:10; Revelation 20:15) and will be judged (Matthew 25:31ff), but they won’t be able to hold up their heads, they won’t be able to fool God, and they won’t be able to talk themselves out of this situation. Clearly, the verse is teaching that God will not change His mind. “The end has nothing arbitrary about it: ‘Therefore’ leads inexorably out of what these men have chosen to be (4). Before the Judge they will have, in our similar phrase, not a leg to stand on, and among His people no place” (Kidner, p. 49). That is, they have no justification.

“Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous”: They will have no fellowship or communion, they are cut-off, and are outside the warmth of God’s flock.

“But the way of the wicked will perish”: Over and over we are told that the wicked have no hope – and it should be no surprise that this is exactly their state at the end.

1:6 “For the Lord knows the way of the righteous”: “To ‘know’ is more than to be informed: it includes to care about and to own or identify oneself with” (Kidner p. 49). “The reason for the certainty of the judgment lies in God’s knowledge of the affairs of men. God knows! The knowledge of God involves not only an objective knowledge about the righteous but also a subjective relationship with them, assuring them that He cares for His own, protects them, and will reward them” (Gaebelein, p. 58). Truly, “...the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal,” “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.” 2 Timothy 2:19

The Parting of the Ways

Look carefully at these two choices, lifestyles or destinies. No, they are not similar nor “kind of close”, rather “the wicked are not so”. Choose today who you are: A firmly, well-watered tree, or chaff. Do you choose to be known by God, or rejected? What future do you choose as your destiny? Being empty, cut-off and hopeless? Or a fruitful person of substance. My prayer is that you will be firmly planted in the shelter of God’s love.

Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net