Psalms 1:1

Title

Psalms: “Praises”, instituted to praise and give thanks to God for His benefits. 1599 Geneva Bible

Psalmos – a set piece of music, a sacred ode. Strong’s Dictionary

We have now before us one of the choicest and most excellent parts of he OT, nay, so much is there in it of Christ and His gospel , as well as of God and His law, that it had been called the abstract, or summary, of both Testaments. The history of Israel let us to camps and councilboards, and there… instructed us in the knowledge of God. The book of Job brought us into the schools, and treated us with profitable disputations concerning God and His providence. But this book brings us into the sanctuary, draws us off from converse with men, with the politicians, philosophers, or disputers of this world, and directs us into communion with God, by solacing and reposing our souls in Him, lifting up and letting out our hearts towards Him. Thus we may be in the mount with God; and we understand not our interests if we say not, it is good to be here. Matthew Henry

Chapter 1

This Psalm may be regarded as the preface Psalm, having in it a notification of the contents of the entire book. It is the psalmist’s to teach us the way of blessedness, and to warn us of the sure destruction of sinners. This then… may be looked upon, in some respects, as the text upon which the whole of the Psalms make up a divine sermon. C.H. Spurgeon

… all the Godly must take on the duty of meditating upon the law of God. The sum and substance of the whole is, that they are blessed who apply their hearts to the pursuit of heavenly wisdom; whereas the profane despisers of God, although for a time may reckon themselves happy, shall at length have a miserable end. John Calvin

This is a Psalm of instruction concerning good and evil, setting before us life and death, the blessing and the curse that we may take the right way, which leads to happiness and avoid that which will certainly end in our misery and ruin. The different character and condition of Godly people and wicked people… is here plainly stated in a few words; so that every man… may see his own face and read his own doom. The division of men into saints and sinners, righteous and unrighteous... [and] by this men’s everlasting state will be determined, and the distinction will last as long as heaven and hell. MH

1:1:

• “Blessed”: See how this book of Psalms opens with a benediction… the original word was plural… hence we may learn the multiplicity of the blessing which shall rest upon the man whom God has justified, and the perfection and greatness of the blessedness he shall enjoy. We might read it, “Oh, the blessedness!” and may regard it as a joyful acclamation of the gracious man’s felicity. CHS
• It was of importance that the righteous should be confirmed in the way of holiness, by the consideration of the miserable condition of all men without the blessing of God, and the conviction that God is favorable to none but those who zealously devote themselves to the study of the divine truth. JC

“counsel of the wicked (ungodly)”:
• when a man hath given once place to evil counsel, or to his own concupiscence (lust or longing), he begins to forget himself in his sin, and so falls into contempt of God, which contempt is called the seat of the scornful. 1599 GB
• Here the gracious man is described both negatively (v.1) and positively (v.2). He is a man who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly. He takes wiser counsel, and walks in the commandments of the Lord his God. To him the ways of piety are paths of peace and pleasantness. His footsteps are ordered by the Word of God and not by the cunning and wicked devices of carnal men. It is a rich sign of inward grace when the outward walk is changed, and when ungodliness is put far from our actions. CHS
• … he teaches how impossible it is for anyone to apply his mind to meditation upon God’s law, who has not first withdrawn and separated himself from the society of the ungodly. A needful admonition surely; for we see how thoughtlessly men will throw themselves into the snares of Satan; at least how few comparatively there are who guard against the enticements of sin. The first step to living well, is to renounce the company of the ungodly, otherwise it is sure to infect us with its own pollution. Counsel – the wickedness does not yet show itself openly. JC
• A Godly man, that he may avoid the evil, utterly renounces the companionship of evil-doers, and will not be led by them. This part of his character is put first, because those that will keep the commandments of God must say to evil-doers Depart from us (Ps. 119:115), and departing from evil is that in which wisdom begins. The ungodly are unsettled, aim at no certain end and walk by no certain rule, but are at the command of every lust and at the beck of every temptation. MH

“he stands not in the way of sinners”:
• His company is of a choicer sort than it was… he dares not herd with the multitude that do evil. CHS
• The way – customary manner of living. When a person willingly walks after the gratification of his corrupt lusts, the practice of sinning so infatuates him, that, forgetful of himself, he grows hardened in wickedness. JC
• …such as are determined for the practice of sin and set it up as their trade. The ungodly are forward to give their advice against religion, and it is managed so artfully that we have reason to think ourselves happy if we escape being tainted and ensnared by it. That he may not imitate them, he will not associate with them, nor choose them for his companions. MH

“…nor sits in the seat of the scornful”:
• Let others make a mock of sin, of eternity, of hell and heaven, and of the eternal God… [he] has too much sense of God’s presence to endure to hear his name blasphemed. The seat of the scorner may be very lofty, but it is very near the gate of hell… it shall soon be empty, and destruction shall soon swallow up the man who sits therein. CHS
• The seat – he designates the obduracy (stubbornly resistant to moral influence; persistently impenitent) produced by the habit of a sinful life. Then follows a desperate obstinacy here expressed by sitting. JC
• …those that set their mouths against heaven. These the good man sees with a sad heart; they are a constant vexation to his righteous soul. MH

Summary:

• When men are living in sin they go from bad to worse. At first they merely walk in the counsel of the careless and ungodly, who forget God – the evil is practical rather than habitual – but after that they become habituated to evil, and they stand in the way of open sinners who willfully violate God’s commandments; and if left alone, they go one step further, and become themselves pestilent teachers and tempters of others, and thus they sit in the seat of the scornful. CHS
• The sum of the whole is that servants of God must endeavor utterly to abhor the life of ungodly men. Men do not, at first step, advance so far as a proud contempt of God; but having once begun to give ear to evil counsel, Satan leads them, step by step, farther astray, till they rush headlong into open transgression. We ought carefully to avoid all dangerous society, that we may be kept unstained by its impurities. The prophet not only commands the faithful to keep at a distance from the ungodly, from the dread of being infected by them, but his admonition further implies, that every one should be careful not to corrupt himself, nor abandon himself to impiety. JC
• They are described by three characters, ungodly, sinners, and scornful. See by what steps men arrive at the height of impiety – None reach the height of vice at once. They are ungodly first, casting off their fear of God and living in the neglect of their duty to Him. When… laid aside, they come to be sinners, they break out into open rebellion against God and engage in the service of sin and Satan… at length they come to be scorners, they openly defy all that is sacred, scoff at religion, and make a jest of sin… the bad grow worse, sinners themselves become tempters to others and advocates for Baal. MH

Personal Summary:

We must delineate between ourselves and the world, we must be willing to step out and be different from them. Especially in America where that may the only and hardest thing we have to do to strive for our walk. Where being an outcast can seem like the most severe form of punishment imaginable. We must differentiate ourselves from the lost world and quite frankly from the religiously incompetent. If the world views God through the prism of today’s Christianity then it is just as lost today as it was before it looked. We do nothing to separate ourselves from the world and the church and the secular have merged into one. Reformed people are running as fast as they can to join the apostate, the heretic, and the blasphemers of our day. So that even within religious circles there is no clear difference between Godly doctrines and the doctrines of men. We have become, unfortunately, spiritually ambiguous with the secular and the liberal church alike.
Yet this Psalm specifically tells us that we must change that, that we must strive for more, and that we must be willing to step out from our comfort zones and reach forward for the sake of God’s glory. MH said, “… departing from evil is that in which wisdom begins” and could he be more right? When we mingle with the world as if we are the same we become like them every time, not once (or rarely for certain) do they become like us. Why? Because they see nothing different! They see no reason in our lives to now claim the God they have sinned against and hated their entire lives. We must step away from the world and allow our light to shine as a city set on a hill that cannot be hid (Matt. 5:14). We must be on guard at work, at school, in friendships, when watching tv, listening to music, or reading books, we must not sit in the counsel of the ungodly. And what if calamity should befall us for our stepping out? Matt. 5:10-12, “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” If calamity is coming I say come swiftly! For our reward is waiting, and it is eternal, and it is beyond compare! But even so, not one hair on our head can be harmed aside from God allowing it in the sovereignty of his will, so we must fear not (Luke 21:16-18).
The other key factor here is what will happen when we do keep the company of sinners? It leads to evil within our lives as we have all surely experienced. As all of the commentaries stated it is not immediate. It is gradual, it sneaks up on you, and it is crafty and catches you when you are least aware. We rationalize this sin or that sin based first on the company we keep; and that may be in very trite matters. Later, we openly sin… no longer concerned with what people will think and least of all what God Himself thinks. Then in the greatest sign of sinfulness we openly advocate others to do as we have done and to walk in our sinful ways openly defying God. Many a Christian has been in these shoes, the younger you are and less mature in Christ the more apt you are to this error. We must be on guard at all times. We must focus on the Lord at all times. We must be mindful of every person and every activity we allow ourselves to be involved with. For nothing in this world is to further your walk with God apart from the things He Himself has given us. Hold on to those things for dear life! They will be the things that carry you through as you struggle through these issues and strive to be obedient and please the Lord in your life. The example and call to do so is presented in vs. 2.