Psalm 1

The Way of the Blessed

Jubilee Coach

The Psalms are a book of prayer and praise. The very first song that opens the door is Psalm 1. The poet does not begin with hard theology. He paints one simple picture instead. There are two roads. One road leads to life. The other road blows away in the wind. Today we stand at that fork.

Scripture Union’s Daily Bible introduces today’s psalm under the title Truly Blessed. The word happy is not strange to us. It is what all of us want. Yet the psalm does not look for happiness where we usually look.

시편 1:1–2 — 개역개정

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, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night.

In his commentary on the Psalms, Calvin noticed the order of this first verse. The poet says first what we must not do. Do not follow the counsel of the wicked. Do not stand in the way of sinners. Do not sit with mockers. Calvin understood true godliness as beginning with guarding the heart against the bad advice of the world. The happy person is first someone who knows how to say no.

But the psalm does not stop at refusal. It moves at once to delight. The blessed person delights in the law of the LORD. Calvin said this delight is the heart of the matter. It is not a rule kept by force. It is a word the heart loves. To meditate day and night does not mean only a scholar’s desk. It means chewing on that word through the whole of an ordinary day.

In Hebrew, this psalm opens with the exclamation ashre. It is less a formal blessing and more a cry of admiration, something close to “O the happiness of.” The whole Psalter opens with this one word. It is a declaration that a life lived inside God’s word is a truly happy life.

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 1:3 — NIV

Now the poet shows us a picture. A tree planted by streams of water. This tree does not make its own water. It is simply planted beside it. Life does not come from inside the tree. It comes from the flowing stream. The person who meditates on the word is like this. He does not squeeze out fruit by his own strength. He sinks his roots by the stream of God’s word, and he bears fruit in season.

Life does not come from inside the tree. It comes from the flowing stream. We do not squeeze out fruit by our own strength. We simply sink our roots by the stream of the word.

Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Psalm 1:4–6 — NIV

Psalm 1 sets two people, two ways, and two endings side by side. One is like a tree rooted beside the water. The other is like chaff blown by the wind. But here we must pause. This psalm is not a prescription that says, live like this and you will be blessed. It is a description of who the truly blessed man actually is. Let us ask honestly. Is there anyone among us who has never walked in the counsel of the wicked, never stood in the way of sinners, never sat in the seat of mockers? Measured by this standard, all of us are like chaff, standing in the place of the wicked.

So who is the perfectly blessed man this psalm describes? Only one, Jesus Christ. He alone delighted fully in the Father’s word and walked that way without fault. What comes next is the wonder. The truly blessed One laid down his rights and hung on the tree to bear our curse. Scripture says, cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree (Galatians 3:13; Deuteronomy 21:23). Because the blessed One took the place of the wicked, we who were the wicked are counted blessed in him. Seen through Geerhardus Vos’s frame of the already and the not yet, we are already blessed in Christ, and the full fruit of that blessing is still ahead of us.

The blessed One became a curse for us. The blessing of Psalm 1 is not something we climb up to reach. It crosses over to us from the truly blessed One.

So this psalm does not lay a heavy load on us. Psalm 1 does not say, become perfect and then be blessed. It shows how a person who is already blessed in Christ now lives. Grace comes first. The life that now delights in the word is not a climb toward blessing. It is the fruit of a blessing already received.

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:11):
I've been following Scripture Union Korea's uh daily
meditation schedule for sometime and July 1st brings the
book of Psalms.
Let's take a look.
The Psalms are a book of prayerand praise.
The very first song that opensthe door is Psalm 1.
The poet, the psalmist, does notbegin with hard theology.

(00:34):
Now he paints one simple pictureinstead.
And there are two two roads.
One road leads to life, theother road blows away in the
wind.
Destruction.
Now today we stand at that fork.
Now Scripture Union's DailyBible introduces today's psalm
under the title Truly Blessed.

(00:56):
And the word for blessed is alsohappiness, happy.
So we are starting with wordsthat are very familiar to us
because we're all seekinghappiness.
We're all seeking to be blessed.
And yet this is what thePsalmist says.
The Psalm does not look forhappiness where most people

(01:20):
usually look.
Psalm one Blessed is the one whodoes not walk in step with the
wicked or stand in the way thatsinners take or sit in the
company of mockers, but whosedelight is in the law of the
Lord, and who meditates on God'slaw day and night.

(01:41):
In his commentary on the Psalms,Calvin noticed the order of this
first verse.
The poet says first what we mustnot do, we must not do.
Do not follow the counsel of thewicked, do not stand in the way
of sinners, do not sit withmockers.
So Calvin understood that truegodliness as beginning with

(02:04):
guarding the heart against thebad advice of the world.
And the happy person is first ofall someone who knows how to say
no to this world.
Now the Psalm does not stop atrefusal.
It moves at once to delight.
The blessed person delights inthe law of the Lord.

(02:26):
Calvin said that this delight isthe heart of the matter.
It is not a rule kept by force,it is a word the heart loves.
To meditate day and night doesnot mean like a scholar's desk.
No, it means chewing on the wordthroughout the whole of an

(02:47):
ordinary day.
Now in the original language ofthe Hebrew, the Psalm opens with
the exclamation point.
It is less a formal blessing andmore a cry of admiration,
something close to O thehappiness of Now this whole

(03:11):
Psalter opens with this one wordblessed.
It is a declaration that a lifelived inside God's word is the
truly happy life.

(03:40):
So the poet shows us a picture,a picture of a tree planted by
streams of water, and this treedoes not make its own water, it
is simply planted beside it.
Life does not come from insidethe tree, it comes from the

(04:01):
flowing stream.
So the person who meditates onthe word is like this.
He does not squeeze out fruit byhis own strength, but rather he
sinks his roots by the stream ofGod's word.
And then he bears fruit inseason and out of season.

(04:22):
So life does not come frominside the tree, let us
remember.
It comes from the flowingstream, and we do not squeeze
out fruit by our own strength,we simply sink our roots by the
stream of the Word.
Verse four through six says, Notso the wicked they are like
shafts that the wind blows away.

(04:45):
Therefore the wicked will notstand in the judgment, nor
sinners in the assembly of therighteous.
For the Lord watches over theway of the righteous, but the
way of the wicked leads todestruction.
So Psalm one sets two people,two ways and two endings side by
side.
One is like a tree rooted besidethe water, the other is like

(05:09):
chaff blown by the wind.
But here we must pause.
The Psalm is not a prescriptionthat says live like this and you
will be blessed.
That would be a prescription.
But someone is a description ofwho the truly blessed are.

(05:32):
So let us ask honestly here.
Now is there anyone among us whohas never walked in the council
of the wicked, never stood inthe way of the sinners and never
sat in the seat of mockers?
Now measured by this absolutestandard, all of us are like
Shav standing in the place ofthe wicked.

(05:54):
So who is this perfectly blessedman the Psalm is describing?
You guessed it.
Only one Jesus Christ.
He alone delighted in theFather's word and walked that
way without fault.
What comes next is the wonder.

(06:14):
The truly blessed one laid downhis rights and hung on the tree
to bear our curse.
Scripture says cursed iseveryone who is hung on a tree.
Because the blessed one took theplace of the wicked, we who were

(06:37):
the wicked are counted blessedin him.
Seen through Gerhard's Foss'sframe of biblical theology of
the already and not yet, we'realready blessed in Christ, and
yet the full fruit of thatblessing is still ahead of us.

(06:58):
So let us remember the blessedone became a curse for us.
The blessing of Psalm, the Psalm1, is not something that we
grasp, we climb up to reach it,but rather it crosses over to us
from the truly blessed one.
So this psalm does not lay aheavy load on us.

(07:20):
Psalm 1 does not say becomeperfect and then be blessed.
No, it shows how a person who isalready blessed in Christ now
lives.
Grace comes first.
The life that now delights inthe word is not a climb, a
struggle, an effort towardblessing.
It is the fruit of a blessingthat's already received.

(07:45):
Well, that's it.
Um on my blog, on my homepage, Ihave uh three uh coaching
questions.
I hope you'll visit and take alook.
In the meantime, thanks forjoining us once again.
And to all who love the Lordwith an undying love, may the
grace and the love of our LordJesus Christ abound in you this

(08:06):
day and forevermore.
Amen.