“Blessed is the man who walks not in the council of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor centers in the congregation of the righteous, for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness. It was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity. It was the season of light, it was the season of darkness. It was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.
– Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities.
In this Psalm, we get a tale of two as well. However, instead of cities, we have the tale of two men, a tale of a blessed man and the tale of a wicked man. One reaps life for flourishing and blessing, the other receives judgment, condemnation and destruction. What is the difference between these two paths or these two men? Well, we see right away that the blessed man refuses to walk in the way that the wicked man walks, stands and sits.
The wicked man is happy to do all those things in deceit while the righteous flees this evil path. And the way that he flees the evil path is by pursuing the law of the Lord, not only to pursue it, but to delight in it. Martin Luther said it is not only a love of the law, but that loving delight in the law, which no prosperity nor adversity nor the world nor the prince of it can either take away or destroy. For it victoriously bursts its way through poverty, evil report, the cross, death and hell. And in the midst of adversities shines the brightest. So this blessed man finds his delight in the law of the Lord and refuses to walk down the path that inevitably leads to destruction for the wicked.
Now, this calls us to a separation, but it’s not an isolation. It’s one that calls us to active participation in the good things that God has intended, the delight that we have in the law. And of course, the law, not only being the first five books of the Bible or just the Book of Deuteronomy, it is the entirety of the Bible, all that God has spoken. And so we also see that the righteous man, as he delights in the Word of God, he prospers while the wicked are driven away. This calls us to a consistent time with the Lord as a mark of being the righteous. Delight is found for the believer that digs in the treasure-filled minds of God’s Word.
I’m reminded of another Psalm, Psalm 92, verses 12 through 14, which tells us that the righteous flourish like the tree of Lebanon. They flourish in the court of our God. Jeremiah 17 alludes to the same thing, that the man who trusts in man is like a shrub in the desert contrasted with the one who delights in God, who flourishes in the place where God’s planted him.
And so, this tree, planted by streams of water, yields fruit, it produces goodness, it demonstrates itself in a life lived that is both enjoying the presence of God and displaying the character and goodness of his righteousness. The wicked end up not standing while the righteous continues this flourishing. And not only shall they, the wicked, perish themselves, but their way perishes.
That’s what Spurgeon says, that the righteous carves his name upon the rock, but the wicked writes his remembrance in the sand. So this wicked man and righteous man contrast probably displays itself best in us thinking of 1 Corinthians 15, 22, in Adam all die, in Christ all are made alive, and in Isaiah 11, 1, the shoot from the stump of Jesse that is going to come forth. In other words, the righteous man perfectly exemplified is in the person and work of Jesus Christ. He is the Righteous Man. He is also the tree that we want to be branches of as believers. So which are we? Are we the wicked or are we the righteous? How do we know that? Well, Psalm 139 gives this very heart-searching question that I hope we will keep in front of us as we work through this psalm book, this hymn book of the Bible, is Psalm 139, 23 through 24, which reminds us to ask God to search us.
The psalmist asks, search me, oh God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. So as we do this, we need to ask the Lord to help us not to walk, to stand, to sit, to become comfortable in wickedness, but instead to put off the wickedness and put on pursuit of righteousness.
And therefore, we know that we will have delight in God. The Psalms not only help us in thinking the right thoughts about God and shaping what we believe and how we act and even how we pursue joy and righteousness in Christ, but it also engages our minds and helps us in our prayer life. E. M. Bounds said that “the Word of God is the food by which prayer is nourished and made strong.” The Psalms are not only the song book or hymn book of the Bible, but they’re also the prayer book of God’s Word.
From The Psalms podcast: Psalm 1
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-psalms/id1648199537?i=1000583710445
Called to Words 