Blessed is he

Psalm 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 meditate day and night.

 3 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 doeth shall prosper.

I heard a sermon about this passage maybe a few months ago. I forgot where I heard it though, or who the speaker was. Could have come from a video, I don't know. But I remember what I've learned.


There are three kinds of people mentioned in verse 1: the ungodly, the sinners, and the scornful. And the verse says, "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly..." In where? In the counsel of the ungodly. Yes, they have counsel, they have advices, they have opinions and ideas. This is where I stopped and thought, "How many times have I sought my friends' counsels?"



My friends. My college friends. They're good people. Unlike many college students, I would consider them to be "good". They don't smoke, they don't drink alcohol, they don't have tattoos everywhere -- well, they're basically good people. They curse though, and cheat, and say bad things about people -- I guessed that's pretty normal, right? They are in college already, so that's as good as they can get.


How wrong I was. Not only were they ungodly, they were sinners and scornful as well. In verse 1 it continues on to say, "...nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." Besides having counsel, these people have a WAY, and a SEAT. Wow, I think. How many times have I really gone with their WAY, and sat in their SEAT? A lot of times, really.


Their was a time when I sat at the seat of the "scornful". He was a good friend, but he loves to say bad things about people in general. He finds it fun to sit on the bench, and watch people going by, and say what he hates about someone. He says things like, "I hate how he walks" or "That guy's hair looks stupid and funnyyy!" I sit beside him, laughing with him. It's alright just as long as I keep quiet, I think. I was wrong. I THOUGHT of the things he was saying, and AGREED. I sinned in my heart and in my mind, therefore sinning greatly as well.

 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.

What should we do then? 

 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

We should therefore DELIGHT in the law of the Lord, and meditate in it day and night. To delight in something is to take "pleasure and satisfaction" in it. To meditate, on the other hand, would mean to "reflect". And the passage tells us that we should DELIGHT and MEDITATE in God's Word. We are to take pleasure in reading His Word, and in reflecting in it.

 3 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 doeth shall prosper.

By doing this, the passage says, "he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water..." I would want to be like that tree. To be near the river, never drying out. 


To be by the rivers of God's Word, His love, and His truth, would be the best place for any Christian. To be always thirsty for the waters of His Word, and to be drinking from it, is my prayer. 


May we all strive then, to be near the Living Water, and may our thirst for him never be quenched as long as we live.