For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Psalm 1 – The man who is blessed

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.

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.

6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

A. Find Out:

1. What 3 groups are to be avoided? v.1
2. Where instead is to be my delight? v.2
3. I will be like a tree situated where? v.3a
4. With what result? v.3b
5. The wicked are like what? v.4
6. What will happen to them? v.5,6

B. Think:

1. What two opposites are contrasted here?
2. What is the source of pleasure for each?
3. What is the end of each?

C. Comment:

     This psalm contrasts the wicked and the righteous.

    First of all, the DESCRIPTION of the wrongdoers who are described as wicked, sinners and scoffers. The wicked is a general description of those who do wrong. Their ‘counsel’ or way of thinking is declared wrong, ungodly wisdom. The sense when describing someone as a “wicked person” is that they have settled in their mind to be this. They are simply morally wrong people.   Sinners are those who actively do wrong against God, who rebel against Him and His law. They are not merely morally wrong, but they do that wrong against God first and foremost.   Scoffers are those who mock the truth and mock good and mock God. They don’t merely do wrong, they don’t just oppose God, but they take up a position where they actively mock good and God.

     Second, the PROGRESS of the wrongdoer, which has already been noted above, is downward and there is a three-stage progression shown here.

      They first walk in wrong. There is a sense in this picture of their counsel being a transient thing that the foolish fall into, but once in it, the ‘wicked’ person makes it his way and so walks or progresses in it.

       They then take up their position or stand in wrong against God. It’s become a way or path that they regularly take, but now they simply stand in this path, and there is a sense of having come to a standstill in this way, having decided this is the place to be.

       Eventually they settle there, they sit in the place of derision of good and the truth. They don’t only do wrong and think wrong, they actively deride those who do right.

      Third, the FUTURE of the wicked is clearly revealed: they will be blown away in God’s judgement, there will be no place for them among those who stand before God in eternity, they will perish.

      Fourth, the DESCRIPTION of the righteous, by stark contrast, who are seen to be those who delight in the things of God, who consider God’s desires all their waking hours.

      Fifth, the FUTURE of the righteous is sure, their future is fruitful. Like trees getting sustenance from nearby water, they get their sustenance from God’s word, and it nourishes them so that they grow strong, never to wither, and able to bear fruit at the right time. These are watched over by the Lord and they will be blessed with His blessing.

D. Application?

1. Negative: don’t join in with the wicked!
2. Positive: delight in God, draw on Him, be fruitful, flourish!