Holman Old Testament Commentary - Psalms

Steven J. Lawson, Max Anders

• Publisher: Holman Reference
• Year: 2004
• ISBN:
  9781433674396
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Commentary

One in a series of twenty Old Testament verse-by-verse commentary books edited by Max Anders. Includes discussion starters, teaching plan, and more. Great for lay teachers and pastors alike.

Psalm 1

The Two Roads of Life

“Walk with God, and you cannot mistake the road; you
have infallible wisdom to direct you, permanent love to comfort
you, and eternal power to defend you.”

Charles H. Spurgeon

I. INTRODUCTION

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The High Way and the Low

John Oxenham, the noted British author and hymn writer of the well-known classic “In Christ, There Is No East Nor West,” wrote in his poem The Ways:

To every man there openeth
A Way, and Ways and a Way,
And the High Soul climbs the High way,
And the Low Soul gropes the Low,
And in between, on the misty flats,
The rest drift to and fro.
But to every man there openeth
A High way and a Low,
And every man decideth
The Way his soul shall go.

Penned with poignant language, this literary masterpiece states that there are many different paths before every person, a series of choices that open before each life. But amid these many different roads that could be taken, there are in reality only two paths—”a High way and a Low.” Every person's life and, ultimately his destiny, is marked by the choice he makes regarding “the Way his soul shall go.” So each life must choose wisely. Decisions determine destinies. The road a person chooses marks the course of his or her life, not only for the present but for the eternities that follow.

Psalm 1 differentiates between these two paths of life. One road leads to blessing, the other to cursing; one to salvation, the other to destruction. There are only two roads in life—the way of the godly and the way of the ungodly—and they lead to two opposite destinies—one to life, the other to death. Accordingly, this first psalm is considered a wisdom psalm, one that provides guidance for godly living. Like a clearly marked entrance to the path of righteousness, it serves as an introduction to the entire Book of Psalms, directing all travelers to the path of God's blessedness. This psalm, intentionally placed at the beginning, serves as a preface to the remaining 149 psalms.

II. COMMENTARY

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The Two Roads of Life

MAIN IDEA: Blessed are the righteous who live insulated from the deceptions and defilements of this evil world and who internalize God's Word while, to the contrary, the wicked are unstable and will perish.

The Way of the Godly (1:1–3)

SUPPORTING IDEA: The godly are abundantly blessed because they do not live according to the sinful philosophies, practices, or associations of fallen men but are deeply rooted in God's Word.

1:1a. This psalm begins with the emphatic declaration that God's abundant favor will rest upon the person who lives a truly God-centered life. In the original language, blessed is repeated. This is the Hebrew method of indicating the plural, intensifying its meaning. Thus, the phrase should read, “O, how very happy” or “the happinesses!” In reality, this soul satisfaction is pleasure found in the Lord himself. This promise of blessing is precisely what Jesus announced in the Beatitudes (Matt. 5:3–12). True happiness is the experience of all who trust in the Lord (cp. Pss. 16:11; 21:6; 34:8). The righteous are genuinely satisfied in the Lord (Phil. 4:4).

1:1b,c,d. This God-blessed life is first described negatively, or what the godly person does not practice. First, He does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, meaning he refuses the secular philosophy and humanistic values of the godless. He refuses the worldview that places man at the center of the universe and entices him to live by his own standards of morality and pursuits of pleasure.

Second, neither does the righteous person stand in the way of sinners. This infers that his personal behavior resists the lure of the crowd to participate in their carnal activities and sensual living.

Third, the godly person does not sit in the seat of mockers, meaning he refuses to associate with those who scoff at God. He avoids close relationships with blasphemers, infidels, and atheists, no matter how prosperous they may be, because “bad company corrupts good character” (1 Cor. 15:33).

1:2. Positively, the delight of the godly is in the law of the LORD. The person who knows genuine joy reads and relishes God's Word. This hunger for the Bible is a clear indication of the new birth as his new nature longs for the truths of God. This new appetite for God's truth leads him to meditate upon the Word day and night. He constantly sets his mind on the truths of the Bible, throughout the day focusing on Scripture because it reveals the glory of God and his supremacy.

1:3. The person who delights in God's law will be like a tree planted by streams of water which draws its life-sustaining nourishment from a stream flowing through its roots. The God-centered life draws its spiritual vitality from God's Word, which is compared to many streams. This word streams is in the plural, representing the abundant, overflowing supply of strength and sustaining grace conveyed in God's Word. The godly sets down deep roots into a reservoir which will never run dry—one that refreshes, revives, renews, cleanses, and satisfies those who draw upon it (John 15:3; Eph. 5:26). God's Word can sustain the godly (cp. Ps. 19:7–10).

When indwelt by the living Word, the leaf of the righteous does not wither, meaning all that he does will have eternal value and lasting results. Furthermore, he is like a tree that yields its fruit in season. This pictures a continual fruitfulness in every season of life, whether good times or bad times, triumphs or trials. So potent is God's Word that whatever he does prospers. He will enjoy a spiritually enriched life, the fullest life imaginable.

The Way of the Ungodly (1:4–6)

SUPPORTING IDEA: By contrast, the person who lives without God is morally corrupt and will be condemned and damned forever.

1:4. Are the ungodly blessed? Not so! Are they happy? Not so! Successful? Not so! Fruitful? Not so! They may sound gregarious and look successful, but they are not so! The ungodly actually do what God forbids in verse 1. They walk in the counsel of the wicked; they stand in the way of sinners; and they sit in the seat of mockers. Therefore, unlike the righteous who are like a tree whose leaf does not wither, the wicked are like chaff that the wind blows away. This is a picture drawn from harvest time. The part of the grain known as chaff was discarded as worthless and having no value. Accordingly, the wicked are empty, void, futile, unsubstantial, shallow, worthless, and, in the end, to be burned in the fire.

1:5. As a result, the wicked will not stand in the judgment. They will not have God's acceptance when they stand before him in the last day. Rather, they will be exposed for what they really are (Rev. 20:11–15). They will be justly condemned in their sin, sentenced to eternal punishment in hell. Such corrupt sinners will not be allowed to remain in the assembly of the righteous but will be excluded from the joyful fellowship of the saints (Rev. 21:8; 22:15). They will be revealed in the final judgment as unworthy sinners, rightly condemned by Christ (Acts 17:31), and removed from the presence of the godly forever.

1:6. The last verse summarizes the two ways in life—the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked. The Lord watches over the way of the righteous, which means far more than that he is informed about their ways. Rather, he has a personal, intimate relationship with the godly and is involved with them in order to guard, guide, and grace them. But the way of the wicked will perish. The ungodly sinner, judged and condemned in the final judgment, will be damned forever. The wicked will suffer relentless torment in a real place called hell, always perishing, forever suffering the eternal wrath of God, never finding relief from God's just vengeance.

MAIN IDEA REVIEW: Blessed are the righteous who do not participate in the deceptions and defilements of this evil world and who internalize God's Word.

III. CONCLUSION

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You Can Get There from Here!

Martyn Lloyd-Jones tells about a traveler in Ireland who once stopped a man working beside the road to ask directions. The traveler asked, “My friend, if you were going to Dublin, which way would you go?” The Irishman quipped, “I wouldn't go there from here.” Many people want to start from some place other than where they are in order to be where they want to be. But the truth is, we must start where we are, now, if we are to reach our desired destination. So it is, spiritually speaking. Many people want to enter the way of the godly, but they procrastinate, putting it off for another time...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title
• Full Title
• Copyright
• dedication
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Holman Old Testament Commentary Contributors
• Holman New Testament Commentary Contributors
• Introduction
• Psalm 1
• Psalm 2
• Psalm 3
• Psalm 4
• Psalm 5
• Psalm 6
• Psalm 7
• Psalm 8
• Psalm 9
• Psalm 10
• Psalm 11
• Psalm 12
• Psalm 13
• Psalm 14
• Psalm 15
• Psalm 16
• Psalm 17
• Psalm 18
• Psalm 19
• Psalm 20
• Psalm 21
• Psalm 22
• Psalm 23
• Psalm 24
• Psalm 25
• Psalm 26
• Psalm 27
• Psalm 28
• Psalm 29
• Psalm 30
• Psalm 31
• Psalm 32
• Psalm 33
• Psalm 34
• Psalm 35
• Psalm 36
• Psalm 37
• Psalm 38
• Psalm 39
• Psalm 40
• Psalm 41
• Psalm 42
• Psalm 43
• Psalm 44
• Psalm 45
• Psalm 46
• Psalm 47
• Psalm 48
• Psalm 49
• Psalm 50
• Psalm 51
• Psalm 52
• Psalm 53
• Psalm 54
• Psalm 55
• Psalm 56
• Psalm 57
• Psalm 58
• Psalm 59
• Psalm 60
• Psalm 61
• Psalm 62
• Psalm 63
• Psalm 64
• Psalm 65
• Psalm 66
• Psalm 67
• Psalm 68
• Psalm 69
• Psalm 70
• Psalm 71
• Psalm 72
• Psalm 73
• Psalm 74
• Psalm 75
• Glossary
• Bibliography