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We thank God for the start of another fresh year.  The Lord has been gracious to sustain us.  How should we respond appropriately to Him Who has dealt so mercifully with us?  I trust that this simple meditation on Psalm 1 will direct our hearts and minds to start the year right with the Lord. 

1. 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. 
2. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
3. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. 
4. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
5. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish. 

From the biblical viewpoint, there are only two ways - the way of the godly that leads to eternal life, and the way of the ungodly that leads to eternal damnation.  The godly are like a fruitful and flourishing tree whilst the godly are like chaff, which is easily blown away by the wind.

King David, “the man after God’s own heart,” and the author of this precious psalm, had discovered this blessed truth.  In a few well-chosen words, he sketched for us, two sharply contrasting portraits.  The first is of a godly man who is happy because he knows God and delights in His Word.  The second describes an ungodly man whose life without God is both aimless and miserable. 

The theme of this psalm is the permanent prosperity and happiness of the righteous, and the sure destruction of the wicked.  It shows the way to blessedness and life, and forewarns sinners of sure destruction in the hands of Almighty God Who is the Judge of all the earth.

Psalm 1 may be regarded as “The Preface Psalm” as it notifies the reader of the contents of the entire collection of psalms.  Significantly, it stands as an appropriate introduction to the whole book.  The psalm is divided into two parts.  The first three verses describe the ways and works of the godly, and their blessings from the Lord.  Their lives are directed, deeply influenced and transformed by the mighty power of God’s Word as they delight in it.  The next three verses contrast the tragic condition and character of the ungodly, reveal their future destiny, and portray, in telling language, their ultimate doom.

“This is a psalm of instruction concerning good and evil, setting before us life and death, the blessing and the curse, that we may take the right way which leads to happiness and avoid that which will certainly end in our misery and ruin.   The different character and condition of godly people and wicked people, those that serve God and those that serve him not, is here plainly stated in a few words; so that every man, if he will be faithful to himself, may here see his own face and then read his own doom.  That division of the children of men into saints and sinners, righteous and unrighteous, the children of God and the children of the wicked one, as it is ancient, ever since the struggle began between sin and grace, the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, so it is lasting, and will survive all other divisions and subdivisions of men into high and low, rich and poor, bond and free; for by this men’s everlasting state will be determined, and the distinction will last as long as heaven and hell” – Matthew Henry.

In His conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus reminded His hearers about the two destinies: “Enter ye in at the strait gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth into life, and few there be that find it” (Matt. 7: 13-14).   

The Lord spoke further about the time when He, as Judge, would separate the sheep (believers) on His right from the goats (non-believers) on His left (Matt. 25).  His sheep would receive “life eternal”, whilst the goats would “go away into everlasting punishment” (v. 46).

Psalm 1 speaks of the same “two ways.”   We find ourselves in either one of the two categories – the way of the godly that leads to eternal life, or the way of the ungodly that leads to everlasting damnation.  Only two ways!  Which way are we taking?  The road we take will determine our eternal destiny.   May we spend time to consider this all-important issue of the eternal state of our souls.   (… to be continued)

- Pastor