Articles
“The Two Ways”
1 Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will 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 wicked will perish.
The first Psalm presents two approaches to life. Using imagery from nature, the Psalmist contrasts these two divergent pathways and their respective ends.
The Way of Life (vv.1-3)
(v.1) Here is described one who not only lives a happy life but is truly living, in every sense of the word. This person is “blessed” which could be translated as “happy.” Jesus would expound upon this concept of living a happy and full life in His sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5:3-12).
“Counsel,” “path” and “seat” are all ways of talking about the realms of thinking, behaving and belonging. By using the words “walk,” “stand” and “sit,” the Psalmist shows three degrees of departure from God. When a person walks by the advice of the world, lives in accordance with it to the extent that he identifies with it, he will live wickedly, sinfully and will mock those who don’t. The “scoffer” describes the person farthest from repentance, and thus, farthest from God. The man is “happy” who avoids this path!
(v.2) The journey of life begins in the mind with a choice, so the mind is the key to the “blessed” life. The happy man rejects the world’s counsel in favor of “the law of the LORD.” Whatever shapes a man’s thinking will shape his life. The happy man spends his time meditating on Scripture.
(v.3) What effect will this man’s meditation have? He will steadily grow and be fruitful. Like a “tree” drinking “water,” the happy man absorbs the Lord’s instruction which takes root within him to produce something new and delightful. In a word, he “prospers.” He will never be crippled by drought because of his consistent, healthy intake of God’s word.
The Way of Doom (vv.4-5)
(v.4) The wicked man is a desert shrub compared to the happy man (Jer. 17:6). He is rootless, weightless “chaff” driven by the wind. His life yields nothing useful. The image is one of winnowing the threshing floor in harvest, where the grain is tossed into the air and the bits of straw and empty husks are blown away. It's an ominous image with dark undertones of judgment (Lk. 3:17).
(v.5) The wicked may seem to be people of substance (Psa. 37:35-36) but when the day of “judgment” comes, the men of straw will be seen to be straw indeed, blown away and burned up (cf. 1 Cor. 3:12-13). They chose to “stand” in the path of sinners (v.1) but when their end comes, they will not have a leg to stand on. In fact, the only people who will be able to stand in the “judgment” are those who lived in the “assembly of the righteous” (Rom. 14:4, 10-11).
The Parting of the Ways (v.6)
To "know" is more than just being informed. The LORD recognizes and acknowledges, even guards (NET), “the way of the righteous.” The LORD recognizes the course of life of the “righteous” and rewards his choice to live in this direction with security and prosperity (perhaps not physical prosperity in the here-and-now [Psa. 73], but ultimate, eternal prosperity).
In the end, the “way of the wicked” comes to nothing. Their wicked behavior has set them on a course of life that ends in ruin (“perish”). His hopes are frustrated (Psa. 112:10), he wanders without direction (Psa. 119:76) and comes to grief (Psa. 9:6). Why? Because this man chose to fill his mind (and by extension, his life) with emptiness, the “counsel of the wicked” (v.1), instead of finding his “delight” “in the law of the LORD” (v.2).
Which Way Will We Choose?
Here, the two ways part for eternity. There is no third option. The first bastion to defend is the mind, what the Bible calls the “heart,” “for from it flow the springs of life” (Prov. 4:23). We must be careful what we choose to influence our heart with because it will alter the course of our lives and ultimately decide our destiny. Jesus sheds light on the eternal implications of what we choose to believe and trust in: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16). So, we are left with a choice to live or to perish.
Let the gospel be your meditation, night and day. Soak it up like the living water it is (Jn. 4:14). Be firmly planted at the foot of the throne of the God near the banks of the river of life so that you are fruitful and your leaves never whither (Rev. 22:1-2).
