The Blessed Man Part 1
PRAY I encourage you to please seek God’s face before starting any Bible study.
Psalm 1:1-6 (NKJV)
1 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, (the word of God) And in His law he meditates day and night.
3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.
4 The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6 For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish. NKJV
So, we start verse. 1
There are things we cannot do if we want to be blessed by God
*The Exclusions*
1 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
THE GODLY MAN (1:1-3)
God finds a high note and begins there the book of Psalms begins with the word “blessed,” or as it can be rendered, “happy.”
In the original, it is not in the singular but in the plural.
We can render the first word of the Psalms:
“Oh the blessedness of the man, or even more Happy, happy is the man, or: Oh, the happiness of the man
or as Phil Robertson says’s “Happy, Happy, Happy”
BLESSED = ‘ashre “835”, “blessed; happy.” All but 4 of the 44 biblical occurrences of this noun are in poetical passages, with 26 occurrences in the Psalms and 8 in Proverbs.
Basically, this word notes the state of “prosperity” or “happiness” that comes when a superior bestows his favor (blessing) on one. In most passages, the one bestowing favor is God Himself: “Happy art thou, 0 Israel: who is like unto thee, 0 people saved by the Lord” <Deut. 33:29>.
The state that the blessed one enjoys does not always appear to be “happy”: “Behold, blessed [KJV, “happy”] is the man whom God correcteth: therefore, despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: for he maketh sore, and bindeth up…’ <Job 5:17-18>.
(from Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words) (Copyright (C) 1985, Thomas ‘Nelson Publishers)
Every blessing is a possible curse or pain
So,
“Happy, happy happy is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly who stands not in the way of sinners, who sit not in the seat of the scornful.
” Modem psychology tells us to emphasize the positive; God begins by emphasizing the negative.
The happy, happy, happy man is marked by the things he does not do, the places to which he does not go, the books he does not read, the movies he does not watch, by the company he does not keep. Surely that is a strange way to begin!
God begins this book not with the power of positive thinking, but with the power of negative thinking! In other words, a man who would be a happy, happy man begins by avoiding certain things in life, things which make it impossible for happiness to flourish because they are poisonous, destructive, and counterproductive.
- The Godly Man’s Path
He Is Separated from the World (1:1)
The blessed man is not a widely ungodly man there is a definite difference
- He Does Not Listen to the Ungodly Man
“Blessed is the man who walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.”
Walk
Walk is a term that suggests passing by or “a casual movement along the way.”
With its entire phrase, it implies the idea of one who does not try to be like or go through the casual motions” of wickedness.
The word translated counsel comes from the Hebrew term meaning hard, firm Here, it means a definite, firm, planned direction. Consider this paraphrase of verse 1:
Oh, the happiness, many times over, of the one who does not even casually go through the motions or imitate the plan of life of those who live in ungodliness. . ..
It is not uncommon to flirt with the wicked life, occasionally copying the gestures of one without Christ. We may joke or, refer to the fun and excitement of ungodliness-or laugh at our children’s questionable actions.
The psalmist warns us against that. He tells us that we will be abundantly happier if we steer clear of anything that could give the erosion of spiritual compromise a head start.
Time will tell…
- He Does Not Listen to the Ungodly Man
- He Does Not Linger with the Sinful Man
“Blessed is the man who., stands not in the way (or path) of sinners.”
Watch the progression first we walk the we stand.
Walk
Stand
The Hebrew word for “stand” has the idea of coming and taking one’s stand.
The word path or way comes from the word meaning “a marked-out path, a certain and precise way of life.”
Can you see the progressive deterioration toward more involvement in sinful living? The casual passerby slows down and before you know it, he takes his stand.
On the other hand, by taking a firm stand for righteousness, we will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water one that cannot be eroded by the winds of wickedness and unrighteousness.
“Blessed is the man who., stands not in the way of sinners.”
There is nothing wrong with being friendly with lost men and women, of course. Jesus was.
He made friends with all kinds of people, but He did so in order to lead them to a higher, holier way of life. They called Him “a friend of publicans and sinners.
If this verse teaches, we are not to stand in the way of sinners; we are not to participate in their sinful activities.
Abraham stood in the way of sinners when he went down to Egypt to escape the famine in Canaan, where he told Pharaoh that Sarah was his sister, and lost his testimony.
Lot stood in the way of sinners when he listened to the king of Sodom instead of the king of Salem, went back to Sodom, and lost his family.
Peter stood in the way of sinners when he warmed himself at the world’s fire during the trial of Jesus and consequently denied his Lord with oaths and curses.
- He Does Not Listen to the Ungodly Man
- He Does Not Linger with the Sinful Man
3, He Does Not Laugh at the Scornful Man
“Blessed is the man who… sits not in the seat of the scornful.”
Walk
Stand
Watch the progression first we walk the we stand. and now we just sit and stay with them.
Sit
The next word the psalmist emphasizes is sit. This suggests a permanent settling down, an abiding, even permanent dwelling.
It is made even clearer using seat, meaning ‘habitation” or “a permanent residence.” Do not miss this:
His way of life is in the sphere of the scornful,” the one who continually makes light of that which is sacred.
Can you see the picture in the writer’s mind? We will be happy many times over if we maintain a pure walk, free from, even the slightest flirtation with evil. If we begin to walk in the counsel of the wicked,” it is easy to slip slowly into the habitation of the scornful.
“Blessed is the man who… sits not in the seat of the scornful.” The ungodly man has his counsel; the sinner has his way; the scornful has his seat.
Notice the progression: walking, standing, sitting. The one who is regularly influenced by people with little regard for God finds himself more and more at home with human viewpoints and misses God’s blessings.
Tony Evans Bible Commentary, The: Advancing God’s Kingdom Agenda.
Look at the progression in wickedness, the ungodly, the sinner, the scornful; and the corresponding progression in backsliding–walking, standing, sitting. As the company gets worse sin increases its hold.
What the Psalmist called the “seat” referred to what we would call the “chair” of the scornful. We speak, for instance, of the professor’s chair; the Hebrews would speak of their seat: “The scribes … sit in Moses’ seat” (Matthew 23:2), under the authority, that is, they were professors of the law.
The happy, happy man avoids the seat of the scornful. he avoids the classroom of the atheist and humanist who delight in shredding the faith of the unlearned.
- The Godly Man’s Path
He Is Separated from the World (1:1)
