Psalms 1:1-6

Psalms 1

Ver. 1. There are cases in which without a figure "ignorance is bliss." Observe that all the characters mentioned here may have their excellences and their attractions; for example, the ungodly may be rich, the sinners may be convivial, the scornful may be brilliant: yet blessed is the man who has nothing to do with them.

Ver. 2: "But his delight is in the law of the Lord," etc. The idea is that of a man who sees the law of the Lord in all nature, in all history, all life, everywhere and always, and delights to trace its beneficent and almighty power.

Ver. 3: "And he shall be like a tree," etc. A man's life should be rooted in God, in God's law, in God's service. It should not be as a plucked flower, but as a flower unplucked growing on the eternal stem.

Ver. 4: "The ungodly are not so," etc. To know whose they are, you must know where the wind is the wind of popularity, the wind of success, the wind of Divine visitation.

Ver. 5: "Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment," etc. These are the true and final tests of character. At present judgment is partial and uncertain, and at present society is mixed; but the time of judgment and separation is coming.

Ver. 6. Mark the three characters: the godly, the ungodly, the Lord! The final award is not with man, but with God. The destiny of the righteous and the ungodly is as distinct as their characters. There is no blending of one into the other the one lives; the other perishes.

Parker, The Ark of God,p. 113.

References: Psalms 1 I. Williams, The Psalms Interpreted of Christ,p. 74; S. Cox, Expositor, 2nd series, vol. i., p. 81; Preacher's Monthly,vol. iv., p. 123.