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).