Psalm
1
Scriptures
Interpretively Paraphrased by Bill Bledsoe © 2008 ChurchThePeople.com
Subject
to the Terms of Use Below
Key
- Contrast,
Cause
and Effect, Repetition,
Pictures,
Comparison,
Progression
Contrasts Between the Righteous Man
and Ungodly People
The
righteous man
1)
Blessed
is the man who does not walk
in
the advice of the ungodly or stand
in
the way of sinners or sit
in
the seat of the critics. 2)
But
his
passion is in the
Law of the LORD,
and in His
Law
he meditates day and night. 3)
He shall
be like
a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth fruit in its season whose leaf shall
not wither. He shall prosper in whatever he does.
Ungodly
people
4)
The ungodly are not
so
- they are like
the chaff that the wind blows away.
5)
Therefore,
the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the
congregation of the righteous.
The
righteous man
6a)
For
the
LORD knows the
way of
the righteous,
Ungodly
people
6b)
but
the
way of
the ungodly shall perish.
Study
Guide
1) Author / Audience / Date / Background / Subject / Purpose Statement
- We do not know who the human author of Psalm 1 is.
- We do not know the specific person the writer wrote the Psalm to.
- We do not know the date that Psalm 1 was written.
- We do not know the background or the circumstances that caused the writer to write Psalm 1.
- We do know the subject – Contrasts between the righteous man and ungodly people.
- We can make an educated guess at the purpose – since the righteous man is highlighted throughout this Psalm, it seems likely that the Psalm was written to encourage people to live righteously and to minimize the influence of ungodly people.
So our Author / Audience / Date / Background / Subject / Purpose statement is:
The Old Testament writer wrote Psalm 1 to the people of Israel about “Contrasts between the righteous man and ungodly people” to encourage believers to live righteously and minimize the influence of ungodly people.
The subject and purpose of Psalm 1 is as applicable to Christian believers today as it was to Jewish believers in the Old Testament.
2)
Verses 1-3, 6a of Psalm 1 describe the righteous man.
1) Blessed
is the man who does not walk in the advice of the ungodly or stand in
the way of sinners or sit in the seat of the critics. 2) But his
passion is in the Law of the LORD, and in His Law he meditates day
and night. 3) He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth fruit in its season whose leaf shall not wither. He shall prosper in whatever he does.
6a)
For the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
Identify
these points in verses 1-3:
Negative
(verse 1).
What
are the three things listed in verse 1 that the righteous man does
not do?
What
is the significance of the negative progression from walking to
standing to sitting?
Positive
(verse 2).
What
is the one particular passion of the righteous man listed in verse 2?
How
does he let this passion affect his thinking?
Results
(verse 3).
What
are some of the results of being righteous that are described in
verse 3?
3)
Verses 4-5, 6b of Psalm 1 describe ungodly people
4) The
ungodly are not so - they are like the chaff that the wind blows
away. 5) Therefore, the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor
sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6b)
but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
4)
This Psalm is full of contrasts between the righteous man and ungodly
people.
Read
Psalm 1 again and then see if you can find the contrasts listed
below.
1)
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the advice of the ungodly or
stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of the critics. 2) But
his passion is in the Law of the LORD, and in His Law he meditates
day and night. 3) He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth fruit in its season whose leaf shall not wither. He shall prosper in whatever he does.
4)
The ungodly are not so - they are like the chaff that the wind blows
away. 5) Therefore, the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor
sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6a)
For the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
6b)
but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
The
Righteous Man Ungodly
People
does
not walk in the
advice of the ungodly The ungodly are not so.
advice of the ungodly The ungodly are not so.
stand
in the way of sinners The ungodly are
not so.
sit
in the seat of the critics. The ungodly
are not so.
his
passion is in the
Law
of the LORD, and
in
His Law he meditates
day
and night. The ungodly are
not so.
He
shall be like a tree
planted
by the rivers
of
water that brings forth
fruit
in its season They are like the
chaff
whose leaf shall not wither that the wind blows away.
whose leaf shall not wither that the wind blows away.
whatever
he does will prosper the ungodly shall not stand
in the judgment, nor sinners
in the congregation
of the righteous.
in the judgment, nor sinners
in the congregation
of the righteous.
For
the LORD knows the but the way of the
ungodly
way
of the righteous shall perish
5)
Why do you think that the writer of this Psalm describes the
righteous man in the singular but the ungodly in the plural?
6)
Psalm 1 describes very different consequences for the righteous man
and for ungodly people.
1)
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the advice of the ungodly or
stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of the critic. 2) But
his passion is in the Law of the LORD, and in His Law he meditates
day and night. 3) He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth fruit in its season whose leaf shall not wither. He shall prosper in whatever he does.
4)
The ungodly are not so - they are like the chaff that the wind blows
away. 5) Therefore, the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor
sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6a)
For the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
6b)
but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
List
3 consequences for each in Psalm 1:
The
Righteous Man Ungodly
People
7)
The Psalmist who wrote Psalm 1 wants us to know that being personally
righteous is very important to God.
Is
being personally righteous very important to you?
Is
it really?
8)
The Psalms are God's collection of Israel's worship songs. The
Psalms were not written numerically - they were arranged numerically
after all of them were written.
What
are some characteristics of Psalm 1 which may have caused it to be
chosen as the first Psalm in the collection?
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