1:1 Blessed is the man. It is appropriate that the Book of Psalms begins with a promise of divine blessing. It is also fitting that the first psalm defines the two ways a person could live (Psalm 1:6) and the two destinies a person would experience. Comparative paths of life is the key theme throughout the entire book.

1:1 way of sinners. The word “way” actually refers to a roadway. The first psalm, setting the pattern for the entire book of Psalms, is contrasting the two roads a person may travel—the broad road leading to destruction or the narrow road leading to everlasting life (Matthew 7:13-14).

1:1 seat of the scornful. Note the sad progression of the ungodly from “walking’ to “standing” to “sitting,” steadily “increas[ing] unto more ungodliness” (II Timothy 2:16).

1:2 his delight. To the godly man, God’s law is not a burden but a delight, for “the law of the Lord is perfect” (Psalm 19:7), and we may “behold wondrous things out of thy law” (Psalm 119:18). Paul said: “I delight in the law of God after the inward man” (Romans 7:22). The law cannot save, of course, but to the sinner saved by God’s grace through faith in Christ, he can say sincerely: “Thy law is my delight” (Psalm 119:77).

1:2 in his law. The “law” can be taken as the entire revealed Scriptures, and it is vital to know that true blessing on a life is a necessary product of true devotion and obedience to the written Word of God.

1:2 meditate day and night. The psalmist seems here to be drawing on the wise counsel of Joshua (Joshua 1:8). Contrast this habitual and profitable meditation on God’s Word with the ungodly “imaginings” of unbelievers (Psalm 2:1). The words “meditate” and “imagine” are translations of the same Hebrew word.

l:3 shall prosper. Again note Joshua 1:8. Fruit that is produced by a believer well grounded and stable in the Scriptures will “remain.” Note Colossians 2:7; John 15:7,16.

Psalm 2 (title). Although this psalm has no superscript identifying its author, it is attributed to David in Acts 4:25. It is also identified as “the second psalm” in Acts 13:33, showing that the chapter divisions in the book of Psalms have been there right from the start. That it is a Messianic psalm is confirmed by its being quoted in the New Testament at least five times, always referring to its fulfillment in Christ.