Psalm I

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.

4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaiF which the wind driveth

away.

5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment. Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

6 For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: — but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

The first sound of the harp of the sweet singer of Israel* might well be thought strange in a world lying in wickedness. It celebrates the present happiness of that man who has fellowship with God, and no fellowship with the ungodly. Behold the man! his eye arrested, not by the things of earth, but by what has been sent down from heaven — “the law of the Lord,” He has found the “river of living water;” he is like a

* David’s name is prefixed to seventy-three Psalms; but he is understood to be the penman of thirtij others that bear no title.

Historical
allusion.

2 PSALM 1. — THE PATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS ONE.

tree — like some palm or pomegranate-tree,* — laden with fruit, or like that tree of life in Rev. xxii. 2, that yieldeth its fruit every month, and yieldeth fruit of all variety. “Every bud of it grows into a grain,” says the Targunf, on the words “all that he doeth shall prosper,” taking n?i^ as it is used in Gen. vii. 11, 12. “He is the very contrast to the barren fig-tree, withered by the curse,” says a modern interpreter.

Perhaps this comparison to the tree and the streams should carry us back to Eden, and suggest the state of man holy and happy there. Redeemed man rises up again to Eden-blessedness. Is it the fact of its occurrence in this Psalm, or is it simply the expressiveness of the similitude, that has led to its repetition in Jer. xvii. 8?

But, besides, we are carried back to Joshua by the language used regarding the man’s prosperity. Joshua’s career was one of uninterrupted prosperity, except in one single case, when he forgot to consult the Lord; and the Lord’s words to him were these: —

“This book of the laiu shall not depart out of thy mouth, But thou shalt meditate therein day and nighty

That thou niayest observe to do according to all that is written therein; For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, And then thou shalt have good success.” — (Josh. i. 8.)

Perhaps this reference to the days of Joshua made this Psalm the more appropriate as an introduction to the whole book. It connected these ancient days with other generations. It sang of the same Lord, acting toward all men on the same principles. It sang of a race who had come to possess the land of Canaan, who acted on the holy maxims that guided Joshua when he took possession — a race of men guided by the revealed will of Jehovah. Prophetic The ungodly are not thus prosperous, — they are not as

“trees by the river side.” They are as “chaff,” ready to be driven away in the day of wrath, and unable to resist the slightest breath of Jehovah’s displeasure (Dan. ii. 35; Matt.

* Stanley (Pal. and Sinai, p. 145) thinks the o?eanc?e»* referred to. It grows common and abundant by river-sides in the East. But the oleander does not bear fruit.

iii. 12, the “day of decision”). Hence they cannot “stand.” Even as in Rev. vi. 17, the cry of the affrighted world — kings, captains, rich men, mighty men, bond, free — is, “The great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?” For the “Lord knoweth the way of the righteous.” Our Lord may have referred to this passage in his memorable expression so often used (Matt. vii. 23; Matt. xxv. 1 2; Luke xiii. 27), “/ 7iever knew you — / know you not.” O the happiness, then, of the godly! happy now, and still happier in that day which now hastens on, when the Husbandman shall separate “the chaff” from the wheat, and the kingdoms of earth be broken -in pieces “like the chaff of the summer threshing-floor,” and “the wind shall carry them away.” O the folly of those who “sit in the seat of the scorners,” and ask in these last days (2 Pet. iii. 3), “Where is the promise of his coming?”

We have noticed that our Lord seems to quote one of the used by cinist,

the Head.

expressions of this Psalm; and let us see how we may suppose it all read by him in the days of his flesh. We know He read it; his delight was in the law of the Lord; and often lias he quoted the book of Psalms. As he read, it would be natural to his human soul to appropriate the blessedness pronounced on the godly; for he knew and felt himself to be indeed The godly, who “had not walked in the counsels of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of the scornful.” He felt himself able to say at all times, “Thy law is within my heart!” Was He not the true palm-tree? Was He not the true pomegranate-tree? Can we help thinking on Him as alone realizing the description in this Psalm? The members of his mystical Body, in their measure, aim at this holy walk; but it is only in him that they see it perfectly exemplified. “His leaf never luithered;” “he did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth” (1 Peter, ii, 22); “he yielded his fruit in its season,” obeying his mother Mary, and being found about his Father’s business; going up to the feast “when his hour was come,” and suffering, when the time appointed came; everything “in season.” And “all he did prospered;” he finished the work given him to do (John xvii. 4), and because of his completed work, “therefore God hath highly exalted him,” (Philip, ii. 8, 9).

We who are his members seek to realize all this in our measure. We seek that everything in us should be to the glory of God — heart, words, actions — all that may adorn the gospel, as well as all that is directly holy. Having the imputed righteousness of this Saviour, we earnestly long to have his holiness imparted too; though conscious that He alone comes up to the picture drawn here so beautifully. In either view, we may inscribe as the title of this Psalm,

The blessed ‘path of the Righteous One.