What Is The Meaning Of Psalms 1, “Blessed Is The Man”

Many believers wonder, what is the meaning of Psalms 1 and the phrase blessed is the man?  I’ve often wondered the same thing which is why I did a little research and was able to find some very good lessons to share.

The meaning of Psalms 1 is that man is blessed and happiest when he adheres to the laws of God while avoiding the pitfalls of disobedience and rebellion. That being said Psalms 1 has many applications and meanings, which we will discuss further as we continue through this study.

What Can We Learn From Psalms 1?

There’s is a ton we can learn from Psalms 1 and we’re going to jump right Into chapter vers 1.

1. “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful, 2. But his delight is in the law of the Lord: and in His Law doth he meditates day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season: his leaf also shall not wither: and whatsoever he does shall prosper”.

The word blessed here could be replaced with happy and so you could say, happy is the man who doesn’t get his advice from the ungodly.

But who is the ungodly? Well, the ungodly would be considered people who don’t believe in or listen to God. These are people who don’t believe the Bible is the Word Of God. They don’t think they’re under any obligation to obey the Bible. They don’t believe in prayer and don’t see any need to pray. They are just what the word says, “ungodly”. 

The number one reason that we should never walk in the counsel of the ungodly is that the ungodly unfortunately refuses to walk in the counsel of God.  

The verse goes on to say nor standeth in the way of sinners. First, the world standeth depicts the idea of continuing to stand, hanging around, engaging with, or accompanying, you get the point. Secondly, the word sinners is plural, which means the sinning is continuous. 

Now, all of us at one point or another have been guilty of sinning and even though that’s true for everyone we must not make it a practice of associating with people who continuously commit sin with no attempt or intention of stopping. It doesn’t mean that we’re better than people, it just means we want to do what God says.

Then we have, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful, who is the scornful? To be scornful is to mock, to be disparaging, abusive, contemptuous, haughty, and arrogant. What God is saying here is don’t let yourself be found being accused of any of these words. We as followers of Christ have to always be mindful of the fact that without God we are just the dust of the earth.

It’s disrespectful to God to be arrogant, scornful, or disparaging to anyone since everyone was made by Him and It’s by His allowance that any of us remain. One of the biggest dangers of being scornful is that you can be scornful toward someone in your mind without saying one word. 

Psalms 1 Life Application

Many times we don’t realize that the thoughts we are secretly thinking about others in our minds, God is taking note of them. It’s easy to think that no one knows what we’re thinking, but God will always know our hearts. 

The scornful are people who are atheists, they deny God. These are the people who look for fault with the Bible. These are people who don’t want the Bible in our public schools or anywhere else for that matter. In Proverbs 3:34 the Bible says: Surely He scorneth the scorners: but He giveth grace unto the lowly.

What God is saying here is that God-fearing people should never be associated with the scornful. The scornful are constantly and perpetually under the judgment of God. God-fearing people should always have an attitude of humility and servitude as outlined in 1 Peter 5:5-6 and Matthew 2:25.

Now if you noticed God does a very simple thing here. He describes a man who delights in and loves the Word of God, as a result of his delight in God’s word he is afforded certain blessings. He doesn’t have to pray for them. He doesn’t have to worry about them. He simply needs to receive what God says belongs to the one that delights in His Word.

The Lessons And Blessing Of Psalms 1

The man spoke of here is blessed and happy because God blesses those who meditate on His Word. Nowadays people don’t read and meditate on God’s Word, that’s just a fact. Far be it from me to point the finger at or judge anyone, but ask yourself, when is the last time you’ve gone an entire day without any devices, TV, phone, computer and just studied God’s Word?

Many may think that would be boring and unbearable without remembering that it’s by God’s allowance that we are able to breathe. Meditating in God’s Word is where the power and the blessings of God dwell. And because the law of the Lord is his delight verse 3 says:

I really do always love reading verse 3 because in this verse you can clearly see that the blessings of God are automatic and by default. The man or woman that meditates on God’s Word day and night will prosper period. They don’t have to fast for three days, pray for five hours, or touch and agree with anyone, these blessings are a result of them delighting in the law of the Lord and meditating on His law day and night. 

I should also say that a tree planted by the rivers of water could be considered an ideal situation for a tree. It wouldn’t have to depend on rain for its water, it would have a constant supply of the life-giving water that it needs to thrive. That would also be part of the reason that its leaves wouldn’t wither. A withering leaf is a sign of death and God is saying here that you would be an evergreen tree, full of life.

Now in verse 4.

 The ungodly are not so but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

Chaff weight-wise is not that much different than dust, which is easily blown away. This signifies a lack of stability and security and of course there is no security outside of God.  The ungodly again are under God’s curse and can’t succeed. This is why verse 5 and 6 says:

5. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

6. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

   Amen, Well friends I pray these words were edifying to you and I want to invite you to join our email list here to be the first to know about new and helpful content that God blesses us to produce. I want to thank you so much for studying with us and being here, we love you and we are praying with you that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is extended to you. Until next time we pray that your faith fails not.

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