Psalm 1 A wisdom psalm-designed to instruct. Sometimes called Intoductory or Preface psalm because it’s a summary of the whole book.
1 Blessed is the one who does not walk in the counsel of (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.
SECTIONS
A- The godly & their blessedness (and their fruit)
B- The ungodly and their lifestyle (and ruination & judgment).God says there are two ways of life open to us (contrast) one leads to blessedness, happiness, and fruitfulness, but the other to cursedness, unhappiness, and judgment. The choice is ours.
THEME: Benefits of Meditating on God’s word
Note the contrasts in Psalm 1. There two classes of people in bible – God’s servants & God’s enemies. In the New Testament they are: the sheep & goats, the wise & foolish virgins, those who build on a rock & those who build on sand, the faithful servant & wicked servant, those on the right hand & those on the left, the wheat & tares (chaff), doers of good & doers of evil, fruitful & unfruitful tree. Only in In Jesus’ parable of the sower there appear several classes of the “unfruitful” soil, but even these are two divisions of the unfruitful and the fruitful hearers of God’s Word.
QUESTIONS
Why do you think we’re told not to follow advice of those who are wicked & don’t follow God?
Some people see Christians as foolish. We’re to separate from the world- but in what way? How can we be in the world but not of it?
What does the tree signify?
The “tree” is nourished by water from the river. How does this apply to Christians?
From where does water that nourishes us come?
Read Galatians 5:22-23: What is the “fruit” of the godly? What is the “fruit” of the ungodly?
How do people scoff at the Word of God or God?
What does it mean to delight yourself in the law of the Lord?
What does meditation mean to you?
We all need to ask ourselves: Is my delight in the “law of the Lord?” Do I study God’s Word on a daily basis?
Read Romans 1:18-30. What does it say the wicked do in these verses? What does God do in response?
ADDITIONAL VERSES TO READ (parallel verses):
2 Corinthians 6:14-17 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord.”
Isaiah 61:3 They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.
Jer. 17:8”Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. They will be like trees 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.
John 7:37-39 If anyone thirsts let him come to me. He who believes in me… out of his heart will flow rivers of living water …by this he spoke concerning the Spirit whom those believing in Him would receive.
Matthew 13:23 “But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
If we read and reflect on God’s word we’ll know truth and walk in it. We’ll learn the true character of God and our faith will grow.This is the nourishment that makes Christians like a strong tree that can bear fruit. “ quote: “Christianity is contagious, if you have a good dose yourself, you will give it to others around you as well. You will become a fruit producer.”
Habbakuk 1:10-11They scoff at kings and make rulers an object of scorn… They are guilty; their own strength is their god.
John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
Read Romans 1:18-30 (only part is shown here)The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. …God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen… so that people are without excuse. For …they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened…. the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator.. .Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. ….. God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity.
Isaiah 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.
Luke 6:43 No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.
Ps 119:11 =I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
Prov. 4:23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life,
“Chaff” is the seed covering and the debris separated from the grain or seed in threshing. Unlike the grain, it has no body/substance and is blown about by the wind and unstable.
“do not sit.” Literally can be translated, “to sit, dwell, remain, abide.” It’s means settled down, comfortable, content with the world with its patterns entrenching in our lives. Past Gallop polls compared the churched and unchurched and showed basically no difference in the way they lived their lives. Many in the church are comfortable with their religion.They aren’t advancing in their life with Christ, but are materialistic, earthly-oriented, living as earthdwellers and not sojourners.
If we love something, we’re likely to study it in detail and try to master it. That’s true of sports fans, woodworkers, golfers, etc. They not only study those things, but spend large sums of money in their pursuit. So we shouldn’t be surprised that a person who delights in God’s law would meditate on it day and night. This helps us avoid many of life’s pitfalls and comfort us when life is difficult. It nurtures our soul.
OTHER SOURCES:
Robert J. Morgan says in“Reclaiming the Lost Art of Biblical Meditation, that meditation is the powerful habit of pondering, personalizing and practicing Scripture. I love to begin quoting Scripture to myself when I wake up. Then I sit down forBible study and prayer. I start reading where I left off the day before, and I study and ponder and think about every verse, mark passages I like and memorize verses. All day I train my mind to mull them over, and ponder them. At night I read a comforting passage from the bible and fall asleep thinking about that a verse. If I awaken during the night I’ve found that quoting scripture is a great way to relax and go back to sleep. To fulfill God’s plan for us and accomplish his will, we must stop thinking the way the world thinks and start thinking the way God does. How? With biblical meditation.;We begin looking at life through his lens, viewing the world from his perspective. Our thoughts become happier.
If we separate from the world and meditate on the Word, whatever we do will prosper. We’ll mature. We may not always see visible success, but God is at work in our lives for His glory. The written Word is God’s love letter to us. Just as one would read the love letters of his or her sweetheart, so are we to read and study God’s Word with the same delight.
Blessed are those who do not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor …sit in the seat of mockers.In other words, we’re to separate ourselves from certain people, or, at least, live a separate life. We’re to be separate in our allegiance, attitude, action and availability.
First, this doesn’t mean we sever friendships, but we make sure these friendships don’t pull us down. Our first allegiance is to God.
Second, we should be separate from the world in our attitudes. The world is loud, angry and sensual, but the “The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). Is this fruit evident in our lives?
Third, we should be separate in our actions. The apostles preached the Gospel, but new believers didn’t know how to live as Christians. They’d grown up in a pagan culture. The New Testament writings taught them how to live. They were to be different from the culture around them, and so should we.
Fourth, we have to be separate from the world in our availability. If a friend or family member tries to get you to do something that goes against your better judgment or your conscience, you need to say no. At the same time we should be available for those in need.
http://www.absolutebiblestudy.com/Verse/A_Study_Of_Psalm_One.htm
Do you ever look up to great sports figures, actresses, the rich and famous and start to envy them and wish you had what they have? One of the greatest tricks the adversary pulls on us is to make it appear the ungodly are blessed because they are prosperous. But why are many successful people checking into drug and alcohol rehab centers or committing suicide. Many live a miserable life because God has no place in their life. But Satan wants it to appear like they have everything. He wants you to imitate and look up to these people instead of God. But we should be proud to follow Jesus and stand up for him and his values.
My relfection on Psalm 1
I grew up in a denomination that, at the time, did not have bible studies. The only bible I had was King James which was like a foreign language to me. When I first started to read the bible for myself I had to begin with a children’s bible. Then I went on the Good News bible. Today they offer many easier bibles to read, like “the Message,” for those just getting started. I took a bible study class, but I could tell the teacher didn’t really believe the bible. Isn’t it strange how you can tell if someone believes what they say or not?
I was struggling with issues of whether Jesus was really God’s son and if I really would go to heaven. I believed in God but didn’t know what I believed about Jesus. And I also didn’t know if my salvation was secure. So one day I decided I would ask God himself. That didn’t seem strange to me. I figured somehow he would get through to me because he could see how I seriously wanted to know with all my heart and didn’t know where else to turn since even my bible teacher didn’t seem to believe. Well I never expected God to answer the way he did! I felt led to start reading John. And when I got to Chapter 10 it was like a bolt of lightening from heaven came down and struck me. I literally shook and cried. From that moment I knew without a doubt that God himself was talking to me through his word! Because of the denomination I grew up in, I struggled with salvation. I knew Jesus died on the cross for our salvation, but I never felt my salvation was secure. It could have it one day if I acted perfectly or it would be gone the next if I messed up. But I read John 10:26-30 “..but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
Here were the answers I sought all in one fell swoop. I and the Father are one meant Jesus was God’s son! And no one will snatch them out of my hand meant I would not lose my salvation. I cried for an hour and felt like God had wrapped his arms around me and held me close to his heart as he ministered his truth and love to all my doubts and hurts. I knew what it must have felt like for Paul on the road to Damascus when he got hit by what felt like lightning. I confessed my many sins and accepted Jesus that day as my personal Savior. Being baptized as a baby, I did not have knowledge of God and could not accept him for myself. But now as an adult I was capable of making my own choice, and I chose Jesus.
I hungered for God’s word. I got into a great bible study that someone invited me to called Bible Study Fellowship. The women there were patient with me when sometimes I made strange comments about what I thought a particular bible verse meant. For instance, In our bible passage someone in the bible verse was asking about Jesus, “who do you say he is? Some thought Elijah come back.” Our question was “What do you think the verse means? So I piped up and said that must mean we are reincarnated. I can cringe now. But these women were gentle with me and didn’t laugh. They knew I was struggling to understand and eager to learn. I couldn’t get enough of God’s word. I made index cards and put an attribute of God on top of each card. Then I would find passages in the bible that would describe each attribute of God’s love or mercy or sovereignty. I learned so much truth about God that way.
Then one day I was praying to God and asked him to show me what he wanted me to do for him. What was his will for me? I heard him say to my heart that I should lead a bible study in a nursing home. I thought I must have not heard correctly. Besides that, I didn’t want to teach a bible study in a nursing home. But of course, God had his way in me. I couldn’t say no to him. But I did test the waters. I said, okay Father. I will make calls to a few nursing homes. But I bet they all say no. Then I know I probably didn’t hear you right after all. Who am I to lead a bible study? Guess what happened. Yep, the very first call I made to a nursing home they responded in excitement. They said I was an answer to prayer and asked me when could I start. Ambushed! But he does use the weak to confound the strong. It was a glorious experience and I had to depend on God each day to answer some of the questions the ladies would ask. God has such a sense of humor to use me. And I was never more blessed!
Christianpost.com
The following is an edited transcript of CP’s interview with lead actors Jessica Brown, who plays Queen Esther, and Justin Mazzella who portrays King Xerxes. The interview was at Sight & Sound Theaters back in March following their show’s theatrical debut. Both actors shared how the theme of the production impacted them and how it might help others during this time. The actors were asked this question: Can you talk about the importance of being still in these uncertain times?
Brown: I think that being still is so important. I was doing quiet time and God reminded me of this little incident that happened. So I had a dog, and she ran underneath the Christmas tree and she got stuck underneath the cords of the Christmas tree. I’m sitting there and I’m going, “If you just stop moving,” because she’s pulling, trying to get out, and it kept getting tighter and tighter on her legs, I was like, “Stop moving, I will come over there and take the cords off of you.”
I feel like that’s how we are in life. We try to do things in our own strength and we pull and pull, and we go out and do crazy things because we’re trying to do things for ourselves, and we’re trying to fix it. All He’s telling us to do is just, “Stop, I’m going to come over there and I will untie the cords from your legs.” I think that that’s just one of the really cool things.
Mazzella: You know we say that God whispers, and I believe He whispers because He’s close. If we would just be still and listen, we’ll hear Him. Sometimes we just want to fix things. Sometimes we just want to take control. And when we lose control we start to freak out a little bit. But sometimes being scared and just understanding that God is at work — the end endgame and goal will be made clear to you if you just wait for His word.
SONGS: Word of God Speak-Mercy Me, Voice of Truth -Casting Crowns, Thy Word-Amy Grant, Wonderful Words of Life, Be Still and Know that I am God