Psalm 1:1-2

Psalm 1 (New King James Version)

Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the [a]ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he [b]meditates day and night.
3 He shall be like a tree
Planted by the [c]rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.

4 The ungodly are not so,
But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

If we look at this psalm, we can see that it is physically divided into three stanzas. This is on purpose. The first stanza describes a godly person--what he should NOT do and then what he should do. It also describes what he will be like if he follows the godly plan.

The second stanza describes the ungodly person.

The third stanza is a sort of summary.

Let's focus on the godly person! The first verse says he will be "blessed." We hear this word often as in "Have a blessed day"! What does "blessed" mean? Well, in the Bible it means "happy." More specifically, it indicates a "deep-seated joy and contentment in God." (MacArthur Study Bible, p. 743.)

• What a godly person does NOT do:
• He does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly. In other words he does not take advice from ungodly people.
• He does not stand in the path of sinners. This means he does not generally hang out with ungodly people.
• He does not sit in the seat of the scornful. He doesn't identify himself with people who deny or ridicule the things of God.

              Notice the progression of the verbs--walk, stand, sit. This                        indicates a progression downward toward disaster.

• What a godly person DOES do:
• He delights in the law of the LORD. This is God's Word. Think about the word "delight." If we delight in something, we consider it important, and we find joy in it.
• He meditates on God's Word day and night. This is obviously hyperbole--exaggeration for effect--just like we might say, "I've said that a million times." Of course, it doesn't mean we are meditating on God's Word 24 hours a day! But I think it's reasonable to expect that it means we should meditate on it often, even every day.

If we really think about these two points, what we should not do and what we should do, we have to admit that we fall short on both accounts. I would say especially on the positive side. I don't know about you, but I find that the hours and days go by in a blur, and I struggle to delight in God's Word and to meditate regularly on it. We can do nothing about yesterday, but we can determine to do better tomorrow!