“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful” (Psalm 1:1).

This beautiful Psalm has been a source of perennial joy and challenge to Christians everywhere. David wrote most of the 150 psalms of the Bible, and many of them, especially the first, he set forth a divine pattern for the life of a person of any age or culture.

Many translations, including the ancient Septuagint version, render the opening word “blessed” to read “happy.” This first psalm sets forth the pattern of soul enjoyment resulting from the positive study and investigation of the Word of God.

There is a series of interesting triplets in the first verse: walk, stand, sit; counsel, way, seat; ungodly, sinners, scornful. The man who avoids the second and third triplets by properly using the verbs in the first triplet is “happy.” The world offers three systems of communication: counsel, way, seat, all of which are very attractive. But consider the source of these three kinds of communication. They come from the triplet: ungodly, sinners, and scornful.

The second verse gives the justification for divine blessing on any individual who “delights in the law of the LORD” (v.2). In our day, the words “law of the LORD” can be broadened to mean the Bible. This is a day-and-night program, utilizing both spare moments and selected moments. The result: “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, . . . and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper” (v.3)

What a precious reservoir of blessing the Bible becomes to the one who occupies himself with the Word of God; “For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish” (v.6). JLG