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.