Psalm 1

Two Ways to Live

 The Psalms
This was the song book of ancient
Israel
Several authors:
- David (73) (cf. 2 Sam 23:1)
- Asaph the seer (12) &
The Sons of Korah (12)
- Also Jeduthun (3), Solomon (2),
Moses & Ethan the Ezrahite (1 each)
- 46 anonymous
 The Psalms
When were they written?
- As early as the 1400’s BC (Moses)
- Lots around 1000 BC (David,
Asaph, Jeduthun, Solomon)
- As late as the 500’s BC (Psalm 137)
 The Psalms
When were they written?
- Subtitles are ancient and reliable
- Other technical terminology is
scattered throughout
- “Selah”
- “According to Muth-Laben”
Psalm 7 – A Shiggaion of David,
which he sang to the Lord
concerning Cush, a Benjamite.
 The Psalms
Hebrew Poetry
- Great metaphors, personification,
rhythm & occasional acrostics
- Chiasm

JFK:
Ask not what your country can do for you
Ask what you can do for your country
 The Psalms
Hebrew Poetry
- Parallelism
- rhyming ideas in pairs and triplets
- synonymous (even intensifying)
 The Psalms
Hebrew Poetry
- Parallelism
- rhyming ideas in pairs and triplets
- synonymous (even intensifying)
Psalm 32:1
Oh, what joy for those
whose disobedience is forgiven,
whose sin is put out of sight!
Yes, what joy for those…
 The Psalms
Hebrew Poetry
- Parallelism
- rhyming ideas in pairs and triplets
- synonymous (even intensifying)
- antithetical (black-and-white)
 The Psalms
Hebrew Poetry
- Parallelism
- rhyming ideas in pairs and triplets
- synonymous (even intensifying)
- antithetical (black-and-white)
Psalm 37:21
The wicked borrows and does not pay
back,
But the righteous is gracious and gives.
 The Psalms
Hebrew Poetry
- Parallelism
- This is what allows Hebrew
poetry to work so well in
translation
- But we need to view the words in
light of the whole
 The Psalms
Types of Psalms
- Wisdom (Psalm 1)
- Praise / Thanksgiving (Psalm 19, 23)
- Lament / Anger (Psalm 22, 32, 51)
 The Psalms
What can we learn from the Psalms?
- How to express our feelings to God

Most of the Bible speaks to us;

the Psalms speak for us.
 Derek Kidner
OT Scholar

Derek Kidner, vol. 15, Psalms 1–72: An Introduction and

Commentary, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, 41-42
(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973).

The psalms have among other roles in

Scripture one which is peculiarly their
own:
to touch and kindle us rather than simply
to address us.
 Derek Kidner
OT Scholar

Derek Kidner, vol. 15, Psalms 1–72: An Introduction and

Commentary, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, 41-42
(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973).

The passages on which we may be

tempted to sit in judgment have the
shocking immediacy of a scream,
to startle us into feeling something of the
desperation which produced them.
 Derek Kidner
OT Scholar

Derek Kidner, vol. 15, Psalms 1–72: An Introduction and

Commentary, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, 41-42
(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973).

This is revelation in a mode more indirect

but more intimate than most other forms.
 The Psalms
What can we learn from the Psalms?
- How to express our feelings to God
- Theology can get messy in our day-
to-day experiences
- What do we do when our feelings
don’t match the right answer?
- This is where theology intersects
our emotions, and our faith grows
- E.g. Journal entry vs. term paper
 Derek Kidner
OT Scholar

Derek Kidner, vol. 15, Psalms 1–72: An Introduction and

Commentary, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, 31-32
(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973).

The Psalter, taken on its own terms, is

not so much a liturgical library, storing
up standard literature for cultic
requirements,
 Derek Kidner
OT Scholar

Derek Kidner, vol. 15, Psalms 1–72: An Introduction and

Commentary, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, 31-32
(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973).

as a hospitable house, well lived in, where

most things can be found and borrowed
after some searching,
and whose first occupants have left on it
everywhere the imprint of their
experiences and the stamp of their
characters.
 Psalm 1
1 How blessed is the man who
does not walk in the counsel of the
wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
 Psalm 1
1 How blessed is the man who
does not walk in the counsel of the
wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!

Blessed = happiness, deep joy

(cf. Matt 5:3ff)
 Psalm 1
1 How blessed is the man who
does not walk in the counsel of the
wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
Psalm 10:4
In his pride the wicked man does not
seek Yahweh;
in all his thoughts there is no room for
God.
Psalm 1 is a call toPsalm
tread a different
1 path –
the path of relationship with Yahweh and
trust1inHow
him blessed is the man who
does not walk in the counsel of the
wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
Romans 3:10-12
There is no one righteous, not even
one… no one is seeking God. All have
turned away
 Psalm 1
1 How blessed is the man who
does not walk in the counsel of the
wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
 Psalm 1
1 How blessed is the man who
does not walk in the counsel of the
wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
Not necessarily chronological order, but
the scoffer is the farthest from God
Scoffer = Cynical, proud, full of self
Not avoiding “sinners”; avoiding the
“path of sinners”
 Psalm 1
2 But his delight is in the law of the
Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and
night.
Lord = “Yahweh”
Law = torah = “teaching,
instruction, Scripture”
 Psalm 1
2 But his delight is in the teaching of
Yahweh,
And in His teaching he meditates day
and night.
 Psalm 1
2 But his delight is in the teaching of
Yahweh,
And in His teaching he meditates day
and night.

Delight?
E.g. new dating relationship
Appreciation & time spent
Comes from taking action (John 13:17)
 Charles Spurgeon
19th c. Christian Author

Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Notes on

Psalm 1

And yet, in David's day, how small was the

volume of inspiration, for they had
scarcely anything save the first five
books of Moses!
How much more, then, should we prize
the whole written Word which it is our
privilege to have…
 Charles Spurgeon
19th c. Christian Author

Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Notes on

Psalm 1

But, alas, what ill-treatment is given to this

angel from heaven!...
How few among us can lay claim to the
benediction of the text!
 Charles Spurgeon
19th c. Christian Author

Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Notes on

Psalm 1

Perhaps some of you can claim a sort of

negative purity, because you do not walk
in the way of the ungodly;
but let me ask you—Is your delight in the
law of God?
 Charles Spurgeon
19th c. Christian Author

Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Notes on

Psalm 1

Do you study God's Word? Do you make it

the man of your right hand—your best
companion and hourly guide?
If not, this blessing does not belong to
you.
 Psalm 1
2 But his delight is in the teaching of
Yahweh,
And in His teaching he meditates day
and night.

Meditation?
- Clears the mind to focus on
Scripture (unlike new age concept)
- We live in info overload (e.g. rainstorm)
 Eugene Peterson
Christian Author
Eugene H. Peterson, Answering God
(Harper Collins: 1989), p. 26.

It involves murmuring and mumbling

words . . . getting the feel of the
meaning . . .
Isaiah used this word ‘meditate’ for the
sounds the lion makes over its prey
(Isa. 31:4).
 Psalm 1
2 But his delight is in the teaching of
Yahweh,
And in His teaching he meditates day
and night.

Tips for meditation

- Get a plan, a time and a quiet place
- Try memorization (scripturetyper.com)
- Repeat it in different ways
 Psalm 1
2 But his delight is in the teaching of
Yahweh,
And in His teaching he meditates day
and night.

Tips for meditation

- Rewrite it in your own words
- Pray through the passage
- Ask God how this applies
 Psalm 1
3 He will be like a tree firmly planted
by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he
prospers.
 Psalm 1
3 He will be like a tree firmly planted
by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he
prospers.
What it’s not saying:
- No dry times
- Always bearing fruit
- No suffering
 John White
Christian Author

John White, The Fight, p. 54-55

Many, many helpful books have been

written on this whole subject.
I only wish to let a wild, warm enthusiasm
flow from my heart down my arm to flood
from my pen on to the paper.
 John White
Christian Author

John White, The Fight, p. 54-55

Bible study has torn apart my life and

remade it.
That is to say that God, through his Word,
has done so.
 John White
Christian Author

John White, The Fight, p. 54-55

In the darkest periods of my life when

everything seemed hopeless,
I would struggle in the grey dawns of
many faraway countries to grasp the
basic truths of Scripture passages.
 John White
Christian Author

John White, The Fight, p. 54-55

I looked for no immediate answers to my

problems.
Only did I sense intuitively that I was
drinking drafts from a fountain that gave
life to my soul.
 John White
Christian Author

John White, The Fight, p. 54-55

Slowly as I grappled with textual and

theological problems, a strength grew
deep within me.
 John White
Christian Author

John White, The Fight, p. 54-55

Foundations cemented themselves to an

other-worldly rock beyond the reach of
time and space,
and I became strong and more alive.
 John White
Christian Author

John White, The Fight, p. 54-55

If I could write poetry about it I would.

If I could sing through paper, I would flood
your soul with the glorious melodies that
express what I have found.
 John White
Christian Author

John White, The Fight, p. 54-55

I cannot exaggerate for there are no

expressions majestic enough to tell of the
glory I have seen
or of the wonder of finding that I, a
neurotic, unstable, middle-aged man
have my feet firmly planted in eternity
and breathe the air of heaven.
 John White
Christian Author

John White, The Fight, p. 54-55

And all this has come to me through a

careful study of Scripture.
For in this study I have experienced an
ever deepening knowledge of a person.
Isaiah 40:8 – The grass withers, the
flower fades, but the word of our God
stands forever.
 Psalm 1
4 The wicked are not so,
But they are like chaff which the wind
drives away.
 Psalm 1
4 The wicked are not so,
But they are like chaff which the wind
drives away.
Psalm 37
35 I have seen a wicked, violent man
Spreading himself like a luxuriant tree in
its native soil.
36 Then he passed away, and lo, he was
no more; I sought for him, but he could
not be found.
 Psalm 1
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand
in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the assembly of the
righteous.

No future for those

who ignore God
 Psalm 1
6 For Yahweh knows the way of the
righteous,
But the way of the wicked will perish.

Not just “knows” but

“approves of,” “guards”
 Conclusions
1. There are only two ways
2. You can choose who you will
listen to
3. Will you let the world squeeze
you into its mould?
4. Or will be transformed by the
renewing of your mind?