The Blessed Man
Part 2
The Amplified Bible
Psalms 1
2 But his delight and desire the law of the Lord, and on His law (the precepts, the instructions. teachings of God) he habitually meditates (Ponders and studies) by day and by night.
- The Godly Man’s Prosperity
He Is Situated by the Waters (1:3)
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.
In the symbolism of Scripture, water for cleansing customarily represents the Word of God; water for drinking symbolizes the Spirit of God.
Meditation in Scripture releases the river of God’s Spirit so that our lives are refreshed and revitalized.
The Psalmist notes seven things which mark the life of the man who is situated by the river.
His Prominence. (standing) he is like “a tree.”
His Permanence: (stability) he is like a tree “planted.” Unlike the grass, which is mowed down in successive harvests, a tree sends its roots down deep into the soil. It has a deep, hidden life.
His Position: (place) he is planted “by the rivers of water. ” The droughts which bring bleakness and barrenness to others do not affect him. He has an unfailing source of life.
His Productivity:(output) he “brings forth fruit.” His branches run over the wall he is a blessing to everyone.
His Politeness (good behavior) he brings forth his fruit “in his season.” He is not a freak. There are times for fruit-bearing just as there are times for growth and times for rest. So long as we are abiding in the Spirit we need not worry about the fruit. It will come in its season.
His Perpetuity (forever) “his leaf also shall not wither.” There are two trees outside. One has leaves on it. They look very pretty, but soon they will fall to the ground. The other tree has fresh, green pine needles. It is an evergreen. That’s what we are to be like–not affected by the winter or the weather–always the same.
His Prosperity: (success) whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. Everything will prosper–his family life, his business life, his church life, his personal life. Such is the godly man, the happy, happy man. For God! It’s not name it and claim it, blab it and grab it, It’s for Gods glory not your gain. You don’t give to get, if you do you give for the wrong reason.
This is not a way to riches is the way to God’s blessing on your life
Spiritually prosper
Heb 13:5
5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
KJV
Heb 13:5
5 Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,”
NAS
The Amplified Bible
3 And he shall be like a tree firmly planted [and tended] by the streams water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not fade or wither and everything he does shall prosper [ and come to maturity]
- THE GODLESS MAN (1:4-6)
This is the person who leaves God out of his life. The “ungodly”-that is the mildest description of the lost man in the Bible. By definition a man is either married or unmarried, he is either happy or unhappy, ht is either thankful or unthankful, he is either godly or ungodly. Everything about the ungodly man in this psalm sets him in complete contrast with the godly man. The ungodly man is driven, doomed, and damned.
*The Promise*
- He Is Driven (l:4)
4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
CHAFF
The fine, dry material, such as husks (seed coverings) and other debris, which is separated from the seed in the process of threshing grain. In the Bible, chaff symbolizes worthless, evil, or wicked persons (or things) that are about to be destroyed (Ps 1:4; Matt 3:12; Luke 3:17). It is a fitting figure of speech to describe complete destruction by judgment. “The ungodly,” said the psalmist, “are like the chaff which the wind drives away (Ps 1:4).
(From Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Copyright (c)1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)
Having described the godly man, the Holy Spirit, with studied and deliberate contrast, introduces the ungodly man: “The ungodly are not so.”
In the Septuagint version there is a much more pungent way of expressing the double negative of this verse:
“Not so the ungodly, not so.
In contrast with the towering tree, with its roots deep in the soil, nourished by a permanent stream, the ungodly is likened to the chaff which the wind drives away.
The unsaved man is at the mercy of forces he does not see what he cannot control. Here is a ship, its engines broken, its steering out of order, caught in the grip of a wind. It is being driven by wind and tide toward the jagged rocks that guard the coast. Gripped by forces beyond its control it is being driven straight to disaster.
Such are the forces at work in the life of the ungodly. They are satanic forces, wielded by the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience,
The unsaved man does not believe in Satan or in evil spirits. His education has taught him to believe only in what he can test with his senses; but these are invisible forces and the pressure they exert is secret pressure.
The ungodly man is not the master of his own soul. the captain of his own destiny. He is being relentlessly driven. He is as powerless against these forces as the chaff is before the wind. That is how God describes the ungodly.
- He Is Doomed (l:5)
5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
The sinner has no standing in the day of judgment. He will be summoned to the great white throne there to find the heaven and the earth have fled away.
Everything familiar will be gone. Everything he has sought to build, everything in which he has invested his time and his talents-gone!
He has nowhere to stand. He has built his house upon the sand and the judgment has swept it all away.
- He Is Damned (1:6)
6 For the LORD knows the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
“For the LORD knows the way of the righteous; but the way of the ungodly shall perish.”
There are only two ways. There is the way of the cross, the way that leads by Calvary to glory.
And there is the way of the curse, the broad and popular way that leads to a lost eternity.
Jesus said in John 14:6
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
By nature, and by practice our feet are set on the broad way.
“We have turned everyone to his own way,” the prophet declares.
But, by deliberate choice, we can make the change. We come to Jesus, “the way, the truth, the life,” the One who says, “No man cometh unto the Father but by Me.
We take Him as Savior and become numbered with the godly We are no longer driven but directed. The lost man, on the other hand, can no more fight his end than the chaff can fight the wind. “The way of the ungodly shall perish.” That is the Holy Spirit’s sobering, closing word in this first great Hebrew hymn.
The central lesson in Psalm 1 is this: There is not the slightest similarity between the spiritually accelerating life of the righteous and the slowly eroding life of the wicked. Look at the contrasts:
Godly Ungodly
Godly Happiness many times over Ungodly Not so!
Godly Uncompromised. purity Ungodly Driven by the wind
Godly Has a guide-Word of God Ungodly No guide mentioned
Godly Like a tree Ungodly Like chaff
Godly Stands erect before God Ungodly Unable to stand at all
Godly Special object of God’s care Ungodly No right to stand, among righteous assembly
Godly Destiny secure, safe, prosperous Ungodly Perish
Let’s bring this study of Psalm 1 to a close with an expanded paraphrase:
Oh, the happiness, many times over, of the man who does not temporarily or even casually imitate the plan of life of those living in the activity of sinful confusion, nor comes and takes his stand in the midst of those who miss the mark spiritually, nor settles down and dwells in the habitation of the blasphemous crowd. But (in contrast to that kind of lifestyle) in God’s Word he takes great pleasure, thinking upon it and pondering it every waking moment, day, or night. The result: He will become treelike-firm, fruitful, unwithered, and fulfilling the goals in life that God has designed for him.
Not so, the ungodly! They are like worthless husks beaten about and battered by the winds of life (drifting and roaming without purpose). Therefore-on account of their inner worthlessness without the Lord-the ungodly are not able to stand erect on the day of judgment, nor do they possess any right to be numbered among the assembly of those declared righteous by God, because the Lord is inclined toward and bound to His righteous ones by special love and care; but the way of the one without the Lord will lead only to eternal ruin.
