Psalm 1

Blessed man, 

who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly

nor stands in the way of sinners

and does not sit in the seat of plague

Instead, his will is in the law of the Lord

and on His law he will meditate, day and night

And he shall be like a tree which is planted where waters flow, 

and shall produce fruit in season, 

never to drop its leaves, 

and all that he does shall succeed

Not so, with the ungodly - not so! - 

but they are like dust, 

scattered by the wind from the face of the earth

Therefore the ungodly shall not rise in judgement, 

neither will sinners in the counsel of the righteous

For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, 

but the way of the ungodly is destruction

Blessed man, who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly

This is our Lord Jesus Christ, the man who is Lord. However, the man of earth, Adam, did just that (1 Cor 15:47) when he agreed with his wife, who had been deceived by the snake, and so Adam broke God’s command.

nor stands in the way of sinners

Jesus did indeed come in the way of sinners, being born as sinners are, but he did not stand in that way since this world’s temptations did not grip him.

and does not sit in the seat of plague

Jesus did not seek an earthly kingdom with all its pride, which really would have been a seat of plague. Few escape the love to rule over others, but hunger after worldly glory. The seat of plague may also be understood to be damaging theology whose message spreads like a cancer (2 Tim 2:17).

Note also the order of the verbs: walk, stand, sit. For Adam walked away when he distanced himself from God. He stood still to enjoy his sin. He then sat, full of pride. But he could not return to God until He freed him by the One who had not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of plague.

Instead, his will is in the law of the Lord

The Apostle Paul wrote that the law is not made for a righteous person (1 Tim 1:9). However, it is one thing to be in the law, but quite another to be under the law. Whoever is in the law does as the law specifies. But whoever is under the law is subjected by the law. The former is a free person, the latter is a slave. Also, the law which is written down and imposed on a servant is quite different from the law which is in the way a person thinks for then there is no need for it to be written down.

and on His law he will meditate, day and night

This could mean an unceasing meditation, or, by day indicating to meditate on joys, and by night to meditate on troubles. For it is written that ‘Abraham saw my day and was glad’ (John 8:56), and of troubles it was said that ‘my inmost thoughts also have instructed me, even in the night’ (Ps 16[15]:7).

And he shall be like a tree which is planted where waters flow, and shall produce fruit in season, never to drop its leaves, and all that he does shall succeed

This can mean Wisdom (Prov 8), who took on the nature of a man for our salvation, that as a man He would then be the tree planted where waters flow. This can also be seen in another Psalm which says, ‘the river of God is full of water’ (Ps 65[64]:9). Or, when it is said of the Holy Spirit, ‘He shall baptise you with the Holy Spirit’ (Matt 3:11). Or when Jesus says, ‘If any man thirst, let him come to Me, and drink’ (Jn 7:37), or again, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and Who it is that is asking you for water, you would ask Him, and He would give you living water, which, if you drink it, you will never thirst, but it shall become in you a well of water springing up into everlasting life. (Jn 4:10-14).

Or the streams of water may indicate the sins of the people, as the waters are called ‘peoples’ by the Apostle John (Rev 17:15), and the stream runs downward due to mankind’s fall, caused by Adam’s sin. Then the tree is our Lord, the streams of water (sinful people) would be drawn from by Him, into the roots of His instruction, and they will produce fruit by establishing Churches. The ‘season’ would then be after He had been glorified by His Resurrection from death and Ascension into heaven. For it was when He sent the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, and in affirming their faith in Him, and by their mission to the whole world, that He made the Churches produce fruit.

He will never drop His leaves since His Word is always effective. For, ‘all flesh is grass, and the glory of man like the flowers of the grass; the grass withers, and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord remains forever. And whatever he does shall prosper’ (Is 40:6-8).  That is, whatever the tree produces - all its fruit and leaves, are actions and words.

Not so, with the ungodly - not so! - but they are like dust, scattered by the wind from the face of the earth

The ‘earth’ can be taken to mean the complete reliability of God, since it is written, ‘The Lord is my share and my inheritance; indeed, I have an excellent inheritance’ (Ps 16[15]:5,6). This is also why we read, ‘Wait on the Lord and keep His ways, and shall raise you up to inherit the earth’ (Ps 37[36]:34). Also, we read, ‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth’ (Mt 5:5). A further comparison is that, as the physical earth supports and holds the outer person, so the invisible world does these for the inner person.

The wind scatters the ungodly in their pride, which puffs them up. The psalmist sets himself on guard against this when, high on the riches of God’s house, and sated by the endless stream of its pleasures, he said, ‘don’t allow the feet of the proud to rise against me’ (Ps 36[35]:11). Pride drove from the earth the one who said, ‘I will place my seat in the north, and I will be like the Most High’ (Is 14:13,14).  The man who agreed to taste the forbidden tree was also thrown out for seeking to become like God, and hid himself from God’s face (Gen 3:8). And so the ‘earth’ refers to the inner person who is evicted from there due to his pride, which is clearly seen where it is written ‘Why is earth and ashes so proud? Because in life he lost his guts’ (Ecclus 10:9). When he was thrown out it may well be said that he actually threw himself out.

Therefore the ungodly shall not rise in judgement, neither will sinners in the counsel of the righteous

The ‘therefore’ is here to remind us that they were scattered like dust from the face of the earth. And so this was taken away from them, what they deeply desired in pride: the right to judge. This idea is found clearly in the next part which says, ‘neither will sinners in the counsel of the righteous’. This is a regular feature that, what is first stated elliptically is then repeated clearly.  So the ‘sinners' are the ‘ungodly’, and the ‘judgement’ is the ‘counsel of the righteous’. The ungodly are not he same thing as sinners, for every ungodly man is a sinner, but not every sinner is an ungodly man.

We read that the ungodly do not rise up in the judgement, yet the ungodly shall rise, but not to be judged, for they have already been condemned to certain punishment. However, sinners will not rise in the counsel of the righteous, that is, they do not rise to be judges, but to be judged.  The is why it is written, ‘Fire will test every person’s deeds to see of what they kind they were. If anyone’s deeds remain, he shall receive a reward. If anyone’s work shall burn, this shall be lost, but he will be saved, through fire’ (1 Cor 3:13-15)

For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly is destruction

It is said that medicine knows health, but does not know disease, and yet the practice of medicine recognises disease. In a similar way it is written here that the Lord knows the way of the righteous, yet He does not know the way of the ungodly. This not to say that the Lord has areas of ignorance, (even if He does say, ‘I never knew you’ (Matt 7:23)). When we read here that the way of the ungodly is destruction, this is the same as saying that He does not know this way. Indeed this is stated even more clearly in saying that He does not know what it is to be destroyed, instead what He knows is how to abide. Therefore this does not relate to God’s knowledge, but to His never knowing what it is not to be. For the Lord says, ‘I AM that I AM’ and ‘I AM has sent me’ (Ex 3:14).