Psalm 1
1 Blessed is the man
that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of the scornful.
[Blessed: Increasing and
prospering in the knowledge of Christ. It is through faith that we gain wisdom
from above and exercise our discernment with truth.
[We see in this first verse the need to be able to identify the ungoldly,
the sinners, and the scornful. If distinction were set only by our own personal
feelings concerning these things, we would approve of those things which we
find agreeable to ourselves and disapprove of those things which we find disagreeable
to ourselves. There would be no blessing in this.]
[Walks: Active agreement. "Can two walk together unless they be agreed?" Amos 3:3]
[Ungodly: Fruitless ones.
These are those mentioned by Paul as having a form of godliness but denying the
power thereof. We see their boast in their giving of counsel which is the
wisdom of the world cloaked with a religious shield.]
[Walks not in the counsel of the ungodly: The activity of our faith is in
agreement with the law of the Spirit and not with the imaginations of the
heart.]
[Stands in the way of sinners:
Marking a point of confidence. As in “taking a stand for something”. Many stand
on the basis of religious convicitions while resisting the grace of God (that’s
what sinners do). We see this with the Pharisees and Saducees. There is no
blessing in that.]
[In contrast, we mark the point of our confidence in the way of the Lord
which is faith and patience. We have not selected this way for ourselves but
have yielded in submission to the power and authority of our Lord who has shown
us this way.]
[Sits in the seat of: In order
to instruct and judge according to a set standard.]
[The
Scornful:] Isaiah
28:13-15
13 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon
precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little,
and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and
snared, and taken.
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people
which is in Jerusalem
[Here is the seat from which they
instruct and judge:] 15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are
we at agreement; when the
overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have
made lies our refuge, and under
falsehood have we hid ourselves:
[We see all of the elements of Psalm
1:1 in this verse.]
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and
in his law does he meditate day and night.
[But his delight: making
contrast. They take delight in the power of their principle to oppress others
and the power of their imagination to create new covers for their shame. The
righteous of the Lord take delight in the restrictions set by God for the
expression of our faith and upon His counsel do we continually reflect.]
[Law: boundaries,
restrictions, and power to enforce. We show willingness to reflect upon the
covenant of our Lord because we intend to demonstrate our obedience to Him as
an expression of our love for Him.]
[Day and night: Upon waking in
the morning and upon laying our heads down to sleep. Knowing that our thoughts
easily drift we choose to keep our vesself full of faith through the
consistency of our choices to reflect upon and reciprocate with the knowledge
of our Lord.]
3 And he shall be like a tree
planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and
whatsoever he does shall prosper.
[Like a tree: finding its
strength in its roots.]
[Planted by rivers of water:
Showing wisdom and intention. Not as scattered seed but seed which has been
planted in a favorable environment.]
[Rivers of water: continual
flow of that which is necessary for life (grace).]
[His fruit: the fruit of
righteousness which is after His kind. This is the product of faith and is
provided for by the Lord.]
[In his season: Not out of
aspiration or projection but according to the cycle and power which we have no
control over but can cooperate with. A farmer plants seed in cooperation with
the seasons. The ungodly seek reward at the time of their choosing and teach
others to do the same.]
[His leaf shall not wither:
His lips shall continue to bring forth ointment for the souls of those who
receive his counsel.]
[Whatsoever he does shall prosper:
We see the confidence of the righteous is rooted in the mercy of God in
connection with the promises of His covenant. “I will be your God and you shall
be My people.” As we continue to join ourselves to Him we are continually
blessed by Him that we may prosper in His knowledge and in the increasing of
His Kingdom through fruitbearing.]
Ezekiel 47:1 Afterward
he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out
from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house
stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side
of the house, at the south side of the altar.
Ezekiel 47:12 And
by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow
all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall
bring forth new fruit according to his
months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and
the leaf thereof for medicine.
[We see many examples of trees growing
strong because of the waters in Ezekiel. We also see that strong trees can
become full of pride in forgetting the source of their strength. They that fear
the Lord remain rooted in Christ so that they are never separated from the
waters which He issues forth from off His throne through the contact points of
His covenant.]
Revelation 22:1-2
1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life,
clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the
river, was there the tree of life,
which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves
of the tree were for the healing of
the nations.
4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff
which the wind drives away.
[Again we see distinction.]
[Like the chaff: From the dictionary,
“Trivial and worthless matter”. The chaff is separated from grains of rice by
casting both into the air and allowing the wind to blow away the chaff while
the grain which is valued falls back to
the tarp to be collected and used for nourishment.]
[wind drives away: grace and
truth. By faith we are making selection according to the disction God set
between that which He values and that which He abhors.]
Psalm 35:5 Let
them be as chaff before the wind:
and let the angel of the LORD chase
them.
5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the
judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
[The ungodly shall not stand: their principle will have to bow down as
they are found to be without a gift before the King. We, as the holy ones, will
stand before Him with the fruit of His work made fully manifest in us as
fruitful trees in the summertime.]
[Congregation of the righteous: God makes distinction between those who
chose to exercise their sovereignty in the time of testing with faith and those
who chose instead to build with earthly things.]
Matthew 25:31-34,41,46 [God sets disction in faith according to His own standard which is
Christ.]
31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the
holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall
separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the
goats:
33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the
goats on the left.
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come,
ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world:
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart
from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his
angels:
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but
the righteous into life eternal.
6 For the LORD knows the way of the righteous:
but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
[Knows the way: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6). The
way of the Lord is by the record of His own soul. Out of pride Adam follows his
own record and calls that faith but the Lord has refused to know us by the
diversity of our signatures and has selected instead to know us only by the
pattern He set for our fruitbearing through faith in Christ.]
[The way of the ungodly shall perish: For the powers they use to sustain
their imagination shall be cut off at the fulfillment of this age. Because they
chose to join themselves to death by the things which they thought made life
worth living, they cut themselves off from the Light of the Lord which brings
healing and fruit to the souls of the righteous.]
Proverbs 12:28 In
the way of righteousness is life: and in the pathway thereof there is no death.
2 Corinthians 6:17
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and
touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.
[See Barnabas 9 – Apostle Barnabas
expounds on Psalm 1.]
