Psalms 1:2 - Collection of Biblical Commentaries

Psalms 1:1
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Psalms 1:2
But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he
meditate day and night. His delight is in the law of the LORD;
and in his law doth he meditate both day and night
Psalms 1:2
So from a negative standpoint, the happy man is the man who
walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, but from a positive
standpoint, he is being directed by the counsel of God. He is
meditating in the law of the Lord day and night. And now mark
his positive character. ―His delight is in the law of the Lord.‖ He
is not under the law as a curse and condemnation, but he is in
it, and he delights to be in it as his rule of life; he delights,
moreover, to meditate in it, to read it by day, and think upon it
by night. He takes a text and carries it with him all day long;
and in the night-watches, when sleep forsakes his eyelids, he
museth upon the Word of God. In the day of his prosperity he
sings psalms out of the Word of God, and in the night of his
affliction he comforts himself with promises out of the same
book. ―The law of the Lord‖ is the daily bread of the true
believer. And yet, in David's day, how small was the volume of
inspiration, for they had scarcely anything save the first five
books of Moses! How much more, then, should we prize the
whole written Word which it is our privilege to have in all our
houses! But, alas, what ill-treatment is given to this angel from
heaven! We are not all Berean searchers of the Scriptures. How
few among us can lay claim to the benediction of the text!
Perhaps some of you can claim a sort of negative purity,
because you do not walk in the way of the ungodly; but let me
ask you - Is your delight in the law of God? Do you study God's
Word? Do you make it the man of your right hand - your best
companion and hourly guide? If not, this blessing belongeth not
to you.
Psalms 1:2
Day and night - Not seldom and slightly, but diligently, and
constantly.

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Psalms 1:2
But his delight is in the Law of the Lord. The righteous man
is not described positively, under two heads.
(1) He delights in the Law (camp. Psa 109:16, 47, 77; Rom
7:22).
(2) He constantly mediates in it. The "Law" intended— , not
—is probably not the mere Law of Moses, but God‘s law, as
made known to man in any way. Still, the resemblance of the
passage to Jos 1:8 shows the Law of Moses to have been very
specially in the writer‘s thoughts. In his Law doth he
meditate day and night; compare, besides Jos 1:8, the
following: Psa 63:6; Psa 119:15, Psa 119:48, Psa 119:78, Psa
119:97. Constant meditation in God‘s Law has characterized all
saint.Blessedness is obtainable in two ways: negatively, we may
avoid the society of the irreligious; positively, we must enter the
company of prophets and kings, of psalmists and historians, and
especially of God Himself, speaking in Scripture. Do not simply
read the Bible; meditate upon it. Better one verse really
masticated than a whole chapter bolted.The godly man beholds
in the spiritual law the declaration of the Divine nature, which is
essential love, and he delights in that law after the inner man.
(3) A right relation of the intelligence to the law of God. ―He
meditates on the law day and night.‖ We must know the law if
we are to perceive its beauty and appreciate its worth, and the
more we know of it, the greater shall be our joy in it. Many skim
the Bible as a novel, when they should ponder it, and master it,
line by line, like a grammar. He who is ignorant of the Divine
law, or misconceives it, cannot know true freedom and
blessedness; but he whose eyes are opened to the deep things
of the law, walks at liberty, and knows peace unspeakable.
Let us not seek bliss in things of time and sense, but let us
labour to know the will of God, and to have our hearts
harmonised with that will, and we shall find rest to our souls.

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Psalms 1:2
law — all of God‘s word then written, especially the books of
Moses (compare Psa 119:1, Psa 119:55, Psa 119:97, etc.).Psa
1:2 tells why it is that the things mentioned in Psa 1:1 are not
present with the God-fearing. It is because he finds his joy ―in
the law of the LORD‖ in which he ―meditates day and night‖ (cf.
Psa 26:4-8 ). It is impossible for anyone to be ―blessed‖ without
engaging in the Word of God. Not the acting according to the
law is in the foreground, but loving the law, finding one‘s joy in
it. Acting according to the law without love and joy we see with
the Pharisees. The heart of the God-fearing is occupied with it
day and night, that is, constantly, unceasingly.
The ―law‖ is not limited to the five books of Moses or even to
the Old Testament as a whole. The Hebrew word for law, torah,
implies all teaching that comes from God. The law is also God‘s
demand to live by His commandments to be justified thereby
(Lev 18:5 ). However, the psalmist is not speaking here of the
deadly effects that the law has for every person because he
cannot keep it. He is speaking of the life-giving aspects of the
law. He who walks with God and lives in fellowship with Him
because he has new life, finds his deepest joy in always being
engaged in the teaching of God, for this gives him the deepest
happiness.
It is a joy for the God-fearing to read God‘s Word and to
meditate in it day and night (cf. Psa 19:7-10 ). He has an
insatiable hunger for it and is like the believers in Berea, of
whom we read: ―They received the word with great eagerness,
examining the Scriptures daily [to see] whether these things
were so‖ (Act 17:11 ). It is not a meditation at a certain time of
day, but a day and night activity. He reads a text, takes it to his
heart and carries it with him all day. And if he can‘t sleep at
night, he continues to meditate in it. Regardless of the time of
day or the circumstances, the God-fearing responds to life in
accordance with God‘s Word.
We must remember by ―and in His law he meditates day and

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night‖ that the Spirit of God works through the Word of God. We
cannot separate them. The Word of God without the Spirit of
God is dead orthodoxy, merely intellectual, without new,
spiritual life. Likewise, the Spirit without the Word is an
impossibility. If that happens, the spirit, that is, the spirit of
man, will try to imitate the working of the Holy Spirit, and that
will only lead to unbridled fanaticism.
‗Day and night‘ does not mean that the believer studies the
Bible twenty-four hours a day and stop doing other things. The
believer who finds his joy in the Word day and night can be
compared to a young man in love who constantly thinks about
his beloved during all the activities of the day. During all the
activities of the day, everything is permeated with the
contemplation of the Word. What we read of Mary, the mother
of the Lord Jesus, indicates that meaning: ―But Mary treasured
all these things, pondering them in her heart‖ (Luk 2:19 ).v. 2.
But his delight is in the Law of the Lord, in the meditation
and study of the Law, of the Word of Jehovah, he finds full inner
satisfaction and happiness; and in His Law doth he meditate
day and night, reflecting upon its injunctions, applying its
instructions always and in all circumstances. Just how the
blessings of Jehovah come upon such a person is now described.
Psalms 1:2
(2) What the righteous man does.
But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
a. His delight is in the law of the LORD: Throughout
Psalms, the phrase law of the LORD is used to describe
God‘s entire word, not only the ―law‖ portion of the first five
books of the Bible. The righteous man is delighted with the
word of God!
i. What makes you happy? What gets you excited? This is
a good way to see what is important to you. If personal
pleasure is the only thing that makes you happy, then you

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are a selfish, self-centered person. If being with your
family or friends delights you, that can be better, but it
still falls short. The righteous man finds his delight...in
the law of the LORD.
ii. Martin Luther said that he could not live in paradise
without the word of God, but he could live well enough in
hell with it.
iii. ―Man must have some delight, some supreme pleasure.
His heart was never meant to be a vacuum. If not filled
with the best things, it will be filled with the unworthy and
disappointing.‖ (Spurgeon)
iv. If a person delights in something, you don‘t have to
beg him to do it or to like it. He will do it all by himself.
You can measure your delight for the word of God by how
much you hunger for it.
b. In His law he meditates day and night: The righteous
man ponders the word of God. He does not just hear it and
forget it; he thinks about it. Christians should meditate on
God‘s word!
i. In eastern meditation, the goal is to empty the mind.
This is dangerous, because an empty mind may present
an open invitation to deception or a demonic spirit. But in
Christian meditation, the goal is to fill your mind with the
word of God. This can be done by carefully thinking about
each word and phrase, applying it to one‘s self, and
praying it back to the Lord.
ii. ―Meditation chews the cud, and gets the sweetness and
nutritive virtue of the Word into the heart and life: this is
the way the godly bring forth much fruit.‖ (Ashwood, cited
by Spurgeon)
iii. Many lack because they only read and do not meditate.

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―It is not only reading that does us good; but the soul
inwardly feeding on it, and digesting it. A preacher once
told me that he had read the Bible through twenty times
on his knees and had never found the doctrine of election
there. Very likely not. It is a most uncomfortable position
in which to read. If he had sat in an easy chair he would
have been better able to understand it.‖ (Spurgeon)
iv. The righteous man only has God‘s word on his mind
two times a day: day and night. That about covers it all!
Psalms 1:2
But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he
meditate day and night.
Reader, you do not forget who it was that said, I delight to do
thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart; or, as the
margin of the Bible more strongly expresses it, in the midst of
my bowels, meaning in his very nature, being that Holy Thing
the angel described to Mary. See Psa 40:8; Luk 1:35. Sweet
view of Jesus this! And in him sweet also to all his people; for
when they are renewed by the Holy Ghost, and quickened in
Christ Jesus, God hath put his law in their inward minds, and
written it in their hearts: so that they can and do say, Oh! how I
love thy law! It is my meditation all the day. Psa 119:97.
Psalms 1:2
Will. He is wholly occupied and delighted in keeping God‘s
commandments. (Worthington) --- This distinguishes the saint
from him who only refrains from sin through fear. (Calmet) ---
Qui timet invitus observat. (St. Ambrose) --- Yet even servile
fear is of some service, as it restrains exterior conduct, and
may, in time, give place to filial reverence. (Haydock) ---
Meditate, and put in practice. (Menochius) --- Night. The Jews
studied the books of the law so earnestly from their childhood,
that they could recite them as easily as they could tell their own
names; (Josephus, contra Apion 2.; Deu 6:6) and is it not a
shame that many Christians should be so negligent, that they

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have never so much as read the gospels! (Calmet) though they
be eager enough after idle books. The sacred writings are the
records of our inheritance. They shew us our true destination,
and deserve to be most seriously considered from the beginning
to the end. (Haydock)
Psalms 1:2
A godly man, that he may do that which is good and cleave to
it, submits to the guidance of the word of God and makes that
familiar to him, Psa 1:2. This is that which keeps him out of the
way of the ungodly and fortifies him against their temptations.
By the words of thy lips I have kept me from the path of the
deceiver, Psa 17:4. We need not court the fellowship of sinners,
either for pleasure or for improvement, while we have fellowship
with the word of God and with God himself in and by his word.
When thou awakest it shall talk with thee, Pro 6:22. We may
judge of our spiritual state by asking, ―What is the law of God to
us? What account do we make of it? What place has it in us?‖
See here, (1.) The entire affection which a good man has for the
law of God: His delight is in it. He delights in it, though it be a
law, a yoke, because it is the law of God, which is holy, just,
and good, which he freely consents to, and so delights in, after
the inner man, Rom 7:16, Rom 7:22. All who are well pleased
that there is a God must be well pleased that there is a Bible, a
revelation of God, of his will, and of the only way to happiness
in him. (2.) The intimate acquaintance which a good man keeps
up with the word of God: In that law doth he meditate day and
night; and by this it appears that his delight is in it, for what we
love we love to think of, Psa 119:97. To meditate in God's word
is to discourse with ourselves concerning the great things
contained in it, with a close application of mind, a fixedness of
thought, till we be suitably affected with those things and
experience the savour and power of them in our hearts. This we
must do day and night; we must have a constant habitual
regard to the word of God as the rule of our actions and the
spring of our comforts, and we must have it in our thoughts,
accordingly, upon every occasion that occurs, whether night or
day. No time is amiss for meditating on the word of God, nor is

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any time unseasonable for those visits. We must not only set
ourselves to meditate on God's word morning and evening, at
the entrance of the day and of the night, but these thought
should be interwoven with the business and converse of every
day and with the repose and slumbers of every night. When I
awake I am still with thee.
Psalms 1:2
But his delight is in the law of the Lord - ‫חפצו‬ chephtso, his
will, desire, affection, every motive in his heart, and every
moving principle in his soul, are on the side of God and his
truth. He takes up the law of the Lord as the rule of his life; he
brings all his actions and affections to this holy standard. He
looketh into the perfect law of liberty; and is not a forgetful
hearer, but a doer of the word; and is therefore blessed in his
deed. He not only reads to gain knowledge from the Divine
oracles, but he meditates on what he has read, feeds on it; and
thus receiving the sincere milk of the word, he grows thereby
unto eternal life. This is not an occasional study to him; it is his
work day and night. As his heart is in it, the employment must
be frequent, and the disposition to it perpetual.
Psalms 1:2
But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD; and in his (b) law
doth he meditate day and night.
(b) In the holy scriptures.
Psalms 1:2
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,.... Not the law of
nature, which was inscribed on Adam's heart in innocence, but
now greatly impaired by sin, and become very imperfect and
very insufficient to make men happy, or to lead them to true
felicity; nor the law of Moses, which is a fiery law, and works
wrath, accuses of sin, pronounces guilty, curses and condemns
to death; and therefore cannot be delighted in by a sensible
sinner, unless as it is in the hands of Christ, and as fulfilled by

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him, who is the end of it; and as it is written on the heart of a
regenerate man, who, so far as it is, delights in it after the
inward man, and serves it with his spirit: but rather the
Scriptures, as much and as many parts of them as were written
in David's time; particularly the five books of Moses, which are
called the Law and the Testimony of the Lord; which being
inspired by God, were profitable and delightful to read, and to
hear explained; and as they were David's delight, and the men
of his council, Psa 119:24; so they were the delight of every
good man, there being many things in them concerning the
Messiah, his grace and kingdom; see Luk 24:44. Moreover the
word ‫תורה‬, here used, signifies "doctrine", and may intend the
evangelic doctrine, as it does in Psa 19:7; which is a psalm
concerning the doctrine of the apostles that went into all the
world; and in like sense is the word used in Isa 2:3; of the
doctrine of the Messiah, that is, the Gospel; and is the same
with the law, or doctrine of faith, in Rom 3:27. And this may be
called the doctrine of the Lord, because he is the author of it; it
came by him, he revealed it; and because he is the subject of it;
it is concerning him, his person, office, grace, and
righteousness; and so far as it was published in the times of
David, it was a joyful sound, good news and glad tidings, and
the delight of good men;
and in his law doth he meditate day and night; as Joshua
was directed to do, and David did, Jos 1:8. This is to be
understood of a diligent reading and serious consideration of it;
and of the employment of the thoughts, and of deep study upon
it, in order to find out the sense and meaning of it; and which is
to be done constantly, every day, as often as there is leisure
and opportunity for it; or, as Kimchi on the place observes,
whenever a man is free from the business of life; unless this
should be taken figuratively, of the day of prosperity and night
of adversity, whether in things temporal or spiritual, which are
each of them proper seasons to meditate in, upon the word of
God and Gospel of Christ.
Psalms 1:2

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But his delight - His pleasure; his happiness. Instead of finding
his happiness in the society and the occupations of the wicked,
he finds it in the truth of God. The law or truth of God is not
distasteful to him, but he so delights in it as to desire to become
more and more acquainted with it, and to have its truths
impressed more and more on his heart.
In the law of the Lord - The law of Yahweh - the small
capitals in the translation indicating here as elsewhere that the
original word is Yahweh. The word law in the Scriptures is used
in a considerable variety of significations. The Hebrew word ‫תורה‬
, properly means instruction, precept; and then, an
injunction, command, law, in the usual sense of the word. It
was applied particularly to the Pentateuch, or law of Moses
(compare the notes at Luk 24:44), as containing the first
written and recorded laws of God; and then the word came, in a
more general sense, to be applied to all the books of the Old
Testament, as being an exposition and application of the law.
Here the word undoubtedly refers to the written revelation of
the will of God as far as it was then made known. On the same
principle, however, the declaration here made would apply to
any part of a divine revelation; and hence, the sentiment is,
that a truly pious man finds his highest delight in the revealed
truths of God. This is often referred to as characteristic of true
piety. Compare Psa 19:10; Psa 119:97, Psa 119:99.
And in his law - On his law, or his truth. ―He doth meditate.‖
The word used here, ‫הגה‬ , means properly to complain, to
mutter; then, to speak; then, to utter in a low complaining
voice, as is often done by a person in deep meditation; hence,
in the usual sense, to meditate on anything; to think of it. So
Jos 1:8 : ―Thou shalt meditate therein (the law) day and night.‖
Psa 77:12 : ―I meditate on all thy work.‖ Pro 15:28 : ―the heart
of the righteous meditateth what to answer.‖ The meaning here
is, he thinks of it; he endeavors to understand its meaning; he
has pleasure in reflecting on it. It is not a subject which he puts
away from him, or in respect to which he is indifferent, but he
keeps it before his mind, and has satisfaction in doing it.

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Day and night - That is, continually - as day and night
constitute the whole of time. The meaning is:
(a) he does this habitually, or he intentionally forms the habit
of meditating on divine truth, by disciplining his mind in
order that he may do it;
(b) he takes time to do it - designedly setting apart suitable
portions of each day, that, withdrawn from the cares of life,
he may refresh his spirit by contemplating divine truth, or
may become better acquainted with God, and with his duty
to him, and may bring to bear upon his own soul more
directly the truths pertaining to eternal realities;
(c) he does this in the intervals of business, the moments of
leisure which he may have during the day - having thus an
unfailing subject of reflection to which his mind readily
reverts, and in which, amid the cares and toils of life, he
finds relaxation and comfort; and
(d) he does it in the wakeful hours of night, when sick and
tossed upon his bed, or when, for any other reason, his ―eyes
are held waking.‖ Psa 63:5-6 : ―my soul shall be upon my
bed, and meditate on thee in the night-watches.‖ Psa
119:54 : ―Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of
my pilgrimage.‖ Compare Psa 119:23, Psa 119:43; Psa
143:5. It is probable that the psalmist had the injunction in
his mind which is contained in Jos 1:8.
Psalms 1:2
But his delight is in the law of the Lord — In the study and
practice of it, as appears from the context. Having described the
character of the truly blessed man negatively, in the preceding
verse, he, in this, speaks of it positively. The law of God may be
here understood of the whole doctrine delivered by God to his
church, consisting of doctrines, precepts, promises, and
threatenings, &c.; or more particularly of the preceptive part of

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it, which is commonly called his law; and so this is recorded as
the particular character of a good man, that he takes delight,
not only in God‘s promises, which a bad man may delight in, but
even in his commands, which are unwelcome and disagreeable
to the wicked. In his law doth he meditate — The word ‫יהגה‬,
jehgeh, implies that he exercises a deep, serious, and
affectionate thoughtfulness about it; and by this it appears that
his delight is in it, for what we love, we love to think of. Day and
night &mdash Not seldom and slightly, but diligently and
constantly. Thus the Psalms, ―like the sermon on the mount,‖
says Dr. Horne, ―open with a beatitude; for our comfort and
encouragement directing us immediately to that happiness
which all mankind, in different ways, are seeking and inquiring
after. All would secure themselves from the incursions of
misery; but all do not consider that misery is the offspring of
sin, from which it is therefore necessary to be delivered and
preserved, in order to become happy, or blessed.”
Psalms 1:2
But his delight is in the law of the Lord.
The law of the Lord
We should all like to be blessed, and here is the way—delight in
the law of the Lord.
I. What is this law? Not the Mosaic, not the ceremonial law, for
which God often cared nothing; but the law according to which
the Lord hath ordered all things. This is the law which God says
He will put into our hearts and write on our minds. This is that
true and eternal law of which Solomon speaks in his Proverbs as
the Wisdom by which God made the heavens: and he tells us
that that Wisdom is a tree of life to all who lay hold on her. This
is that law which the inspired philosopher—for philosopher he
was indeed—who wrote that 119th Psalm, continually prayed
and strove to learn. Christ perfectly fulfilled it. He said, with His
whole heart, ―I delight to do Thy will, O My God.‖ The will of
God, for this law is nothing else. By keeping it we are blessed.
What God has willed we should be and do. But if so, it is plain

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we must heed the warnings of the first verse. For no one will
learn God‘s will if he takes counsel from the ungodly; or if he
stand in the way of profligate and dishonest men. If he do this,
all he will learn of God‘s law is the dreadful part of it told of in
the 2nd Psalm. God will ―rule him with a rod of iron, and break,‖
etc. But there is more hope for him—if he repent—than if he sits
in the seat of the scorners—the sneering, the frivolous, the
unbelieving, who laugh down religion as enthusiasm and worse.
When the greatest poet of our days tried to picture his idea of a
fiend tempting man to ruin, he gave him just such a character
as this: a very clever, agreeable, courteous man of the world,
and yet a being who could not love anyone, and believed not in
anyone; who mocked at both man and God, and who tempted
and mined men in mere sport as a cruel child may torment a fly.
Such was Mephistopheles. Beware, therefore, of the scornful as
well as of the openly sinful. And remember—
II. This law is the law of the Lord—our Lord Jesus Christ. Who
can stand with Him? ―Why do the heathen rage,‖ etc. Men will
not believe in this law. But sooner or later they have to, and
often in terrible ways they find out their mistake. ―He that
sitteth in the heavens shall laugh.‖ For Christ is on the throne of
the universe. And His might and power are continually being
made known. Even now He bruises His enemies as with a rod of
iron. It is of no use to talk about the goodness of God and of the
gentleness of Christ. We flatter ourselves that if gentle, He may
be also indulgent and weak. But there is an awful side to His
character. Think of these things. You are kings—at least over
yourselves; and judges—at least of your own conduct. Therefore
let each and all of us, high and low, take the warning and love
law—for that is the true meaning—before the Son of God, as
subjects before an absolute monarch, because His will is only
and always a good will. (Charles Kingsley.)
The good man’s delight
I. Such delight is necessary. By ―the law of the Lord‖ we mean
religion both experimental and practical. Now such delight in it

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is necessary for a Christian man, because—
1. Without it there is no heart in religion. But the very
essence of religion lies in the heart.
2. Works and acts acceptable to God will not be produced.
But it is for these that religion is designed.
3. A man cannot be a true Christian and understand the true
gospel without feeling a delight in it. The true gospel, mark
you, for there are gospels preached by some men that no
man can delight in, But the true gospel must make the heart
happy.
II. The manifestations of this delight.
1. He will continually think of the law of the Lord.
2. He will be sure to speak of it. There is too little
conversation now about Christ. I suppose it is with some
Christians as the sailor said it was with the parrot. He had a
remarkable parrot which he sold to a good woman, telling
her it could talk no end of things. After she had kept it a
week and it had said nothing, she took it back to the sailor.
―Well, ma‘am,‖ said he, ―I dare say it has not said much, but
it has thought the more.‖ And there are people like that
parrot. Like it, too, in that the parrot did not think, though
the sailor said it did. Nor do they, or else if they had thought
they would have spoken. What is in the well will come up in
the bucket.
3. Endeavours to spread the knowledge of it.
4. And will not rest until he has brought others to delight in it
also.
III. The happy effects of this delight.

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1. It Will make a man bold.
2. Very calm and quiet in the day of affliction.
3. It will prepare him for heaven. To you who have no such
delight, this law of the Lord, which was designed to be your
delight, will become your scourge. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
A meditative life
I. This Psalm is not a commendation of a meditative life only.
We cannot in this world of imperative work live such a life.
Those in cloisters and convents have tried and failed. As when
we fix the eyes on one object only, they get weary, filmy, dull.
But rightly understood, our life is to be fat more than
meditation. It is to be like a tree planted and bringing forth fruit.
The man is to be a doer, and what he does is to prosper. The
law on which he meditates is specially related to men‘s active
life. It is not merely to be thought about, but practically obeyed.
Merely to meditate on it would be as if a soldier, having received
from the general‘s hand the order book, were to take that book
to his tent and were to sit down and spend all the hours of the
day admiring his general‘s skill and the grasp of his mind
instead of proceeding to obey the orders and to prepare the
army for the impending battle.
II. The meditation here commended is one thoroughly
consistent with working, active life; indeed, is for this very
thing. And the happy man is he who through meditation on
God‘s law comes to live the life of holy service. He is to be ―like
a tree‖ as contrasted with ―the chaff ‖ Our lives must be as one
or the other.
III. Note the force of the image employed. For a tree vividly
sets forth the connection between thinking and working;
between the roots and the fruit of conduct. Strong characters
are produced only by strong thinking. Occasional, weak, fugitive
thinking, even on good things, may exist—too often does—with
evil lives. Thoughts must be deep, and go down to the roots of

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the soul and take possession of it. The ungodly man is he who
does not take God into account. He acts upon expediency.
Hence he is like the chaff. There are different sorts of trees, but
any tree is better than the chaff. But seek to be like the tree
told of here.
IV. How? You must be ―planted,‖ that is, ―transplanted.‖ The
tree has been put where it is designedly. And this is what
meditation means. It is the self-planting of the man by the
rivers of waters God has caused to flow forth for us from His
Word. The rivers told of are not natural rivers, but artificial
streams made for the purpose of irrigation. Solomon made
many such in his day. And Hezekiah also. The Turkish
Government has let them fall into decay, and hence Palestine is
now nearly desert. Lord Lawrence made such streams for
Northwest India, to its vast advantage. Merv in Central Asia is
an oasis in the desert, for the Turcomans have dammed up the
streams that flow down form the Afghan mountains and led
their waters along artificial canals, and so the country is watered
and reclaimed. Day and night the dam is watched by Turcoman
sentinels, for if it were once destroyed the country would again
become desert. But the herbs and the trees will never lack for
water while these streams are preserved, and as long as the
snows abide on the hills which lift their white peaks against the
distant sky. What a parable all this is! If we would toil so to
bring the living waters of God‘s Word into the moral desert of
our souls, what a reclamation of waste places there would be,
what lives like trees bearing fruit! Missions, churches, worship
are all such endeavours. And what a channel for such streams is
a godly, consistent life! Such lives are ever a blessing. As a tree
is a thing both of beauty and of use, so are they. And every
God-filled man and woman is such a tree. This is the secret of
the happy life. (J. Vincent Tymms.)
The godly man’s pleasure
Note the Christian duty and holy practice of a godly man. He is
much and often in serious and Christian meditation. He is
conversant with Holy Scriptures; his meditation is concerning

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the ―law,‖ that is, the heavenly doctrine which shows the will of
God and His worship, what man must and ought to believe and
do to gain eternal life. It is his daily study and continual
exercise. Not that he doth nothing else; the meaning is, he
setteth some time apart daily to serve God. The godly man, who
is truly blessed and happy, doth wonderfully love, and is greatly
affected with the Word of Almighty God, and hath exceeding
delight and joy in the doctrine of God, because there is revealed
the will of God, whereunto men must be careful to frame and
conform all their desires, thoughts, words, and deeds, because
herein is chalked out and declared the very highway of eternal
life and salvation. It is a special note and property of a godly
man to perform Christian duties to God willingly and cheerfully,
and to make them his delight and joy. (Samuel Smith.)
Blessed Bible reading
I. Its characteristics. It is read—
1. Independently.
2. Thoughtfully.
3. Frequently.
4. Submissively.
5. Gladly.
6. Prayerfully.
II. The results of such reading.
1. Stability of Christian character.
2. Fruitfulness.
3. Freshness and beauty.

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4. Success in all his righteous undertakings. (J. Morgan.)
The good man in relation to the Word of God
I. His practice. ―His delight is in,‖ etc. How does he use the
Bible?
1. He studies it independently.
2. Deeply.
3. Sympathetically.
II. His pleasure. His delight is in,‖ etc.
1. He enjoys the pleasure of congeniality.
2. Novelty.
3. Profit.
III. His prosperity.
1. He is stable.
2. Fair and fruitful.
3. Successful. (J. Spencer Hill.)
The believer’s delight
1. The feeling with which the believer views the Holy
Scriptures.
2. Some of the grounds which give rise to this delight in the
heart of the believer. Its own intrinsic worth and excellence.
He knows by experience its quickening and converting power.
It has given and still gives the believer light. In the Word of
God he has found peace. The Word gives the believer

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freedom. It consoles and supports the true believer in
distress and temptation.
3. What is the result of this delight? What effect, does this
feeling produce upon the believer‘s practice? He ―meditates
on the law of the Lord ―day and night.‖ (C. R. Hay, M. A.)
The saints’ spiritual delight
I. The godly man is described by way of negation, in three
particulars. ―Sitting‖ implies a habit in sin, familiarity with
sinners. Diamonds and stones may lie together, but they will not
solder or cement.
II. By way of position. The not being scandalous will no more
make a good Christian than a cipher will make a sum. It is not
enough for the servant of the vineyard that he cloth no hurt
there, he doth not break the trees or destroy the hedges; if he
doth not work in the vineyard he loseth his pay.
1. You may not be outwardly bad, and yet not inwardly good.
Though you do not hang out your bush, yet you may secretly
vend your commodity; a tree may be full of vermin, yet the
fair leaves may cover them that they are not seen.
2. If you are only negatively good, God makes no reckoning
of you, you are as so many ciphers in God‘s arithmetic, and
He writes down no ciphers in the book of life.
3. A man may as well go to hell for not doing good as for
doing evil. One may as well die with not eating food as with
poison. A ground may as well be spoiled for want of good
seed as with having tares sown in it. A two-fold description of
a godly man.
III. He delights in God‘s law. A man may work in his trade and
not delight in it, but a godly man serves God with delight. What
is meant by the Law? Take the word more strictly and it means
the Decalogue, or Ten Commandments. Take it more largely, it

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is the whole written Word of God; those truths deducted from
the Word; the whole business of religion. The word is a setting
forth, and religion a showing forth, of God and Law. What is
meant by delight in the law? Hebrews and Sept. render, ―his will
is in the law of the Lord,‖ and that which is voluntary is
delightful. A child of God, though he cannot serve the Lord
perfectly, yet serves Him willingly. He is not a pressed soldier,
but a volunteer. The saints‘ delight in the law of the Lord
proceeds from—
1. Soundness of judgment. The mind apprehends a beauty in
God‘s law, now the judgment draws the affections, like so
many orbs, after it.
2. From the predominancy of grace. When grace comes with
authority and majesty upon the heart it fills it with delight.
Grace puts a new bias into the will, it works a spontaneity
and cheerfulness in God‘s service.
3. From the sweetness of the end. Well may we with
cheerfulness let down the net of our endeavour when we
have so excellent a draught. Heaven at the end of duty
causeth delight in the way of duty.
Two cases to be put.
1. Whether a regenerate person may not serve God with
weariness. Yes; but this lassitude may arise from the inbeing
of corruption (Rom 7:24). It is not, however, habitual, and it
is involuntary. He is troubled by it. He is weary of his
weariness.
2. Whether a hypocrite may not serve God with delight? He
may, but his delight is carnal. How may this spiritual delight
be known? He that delights in God‘s law is often thinking of
it. If we delight in religion there is nothing can keep us from
it, but we will be conversant in Word, prayer, sacraments. He
that loves gold will trade for it. Those that delight in religion
are often speaking of it. He that delights in God will give Him

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the best in every service. And he doth not much delight in
anything else but God. True delight is constant. Hypocrites
have their pangs of desire, and flashes of joy which are soon
over. Delight in religion crowns all our services, evidenceth
grace, will make the business of religion more facile to us. All
the duties of religion are for our good. Delight in God‘s
service makes us resemble the angels in heaven. Delight in
God‘s law will not breed surfeit. Carnal objects do oft cause a
loathing and nauseating. We soon grow weary of our
delights. For the attaining of this delight set a high estimate
upon the Word. Pray for a spiritual heart. Purge out the
delight of sin. (T. Watson.)
Meditative Bible reading
―He shall be like a tree planted by rivers of water.‖ Who shall?
He whose delight is in the law of the Lord. His life shall be
rooted in the richest of soils; he shall never lack resources; his
soul shall delight itself in fatness. But what is ―the law of the
Lord‖? The laws of the Lord are scattered over this book with
almost bewildering plentitude and variety. They are almost as
thick as autumn leaves. The Orientalist takes great masses of
rose leaves, and from them distils that precious essence we call
otto of roses. Can anyone take these scattered leaves of law,
mass them together, and give us the essence of all law? Can
anyone take these almost unmanageable quantities, and return
them to us in a small phial, which can be carried in the hand of
a little child? Yes, Jesus Christ has done it. ―All the law is
fulfilled in one word—thou shelf love.‖ Love is the essence of
law. He who delights in love and loving shall be like a tree
planted by rivers of water. Now we are permitted to look into
―the mind of Christ,‖ into love‘s great laboratory and see the
great Lover at work. Love is the only element in which He
works, but it is prepared in different ways. At one time love is
very tender, to woo a tender blade; again it is very fierce, to
burn a stubborn weed. It reveals itself in different ways to suit
men‘s different needs. If, then, I would know how love should
work I must study the mind of Christ, and meditate thereon
both night and day. To delight in the law of the Lord is to live as

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devoted students in the mind of Christ. That mind is opened out
for us in the gospel. All the dispositions of Jesus are laid bare. It
is revealed to us how His love disposed itself in very varied
circumstances and to very different needs. If we would be
planted in a rich soil, and have a fruitful and luxuriant life, we
must be rooted in the mind of Christ, delight ourselves in the
mind of Christ. Now the mind of Christ cannot be known at a
glance. It demands earnest and persistent study. We shall have
to meditate in it day and night. The word ―meditation‖ has an
antique, old-world flavour about it, as though it belongs to an
age when men took slow, measured strides, and the wheels of
time moved leisurely. How many of us meditate, hold the mind
before a subject until it becomes steeped in it, saturated with it,
through and through? We live in an age of mental haste and
gallop. Impressions are abundant; convictions are scarce. Go to
the academy in any of the summer months, and see how the
crowds gallop round the galleries, hastily glancing at the
hundreds of pictures which adorn the walls, with the result that
the memory retains nothing in distinction, but only a recollection
of masses of colour in endless confusion. How is it with the art
student? He goes early in the morning. He selects his picture.
He sits down before it. He studies it—its perspective, its
grouping, its colouring, the artist‘s mannerisms, every line,
every light and shade. He meditates upon it. The picture
becomes imprinted upon his mind and educates his taste. It
steals into his own soul, and afterwards imperceptibly influences
his own pencil and brush, and becomes part of the man forever.
Well, in the four Gospels we have four picture galleries, and the
different pictures are different phases of the mind of Christ.
Christ is depicted in different attitudes and conditions: alone on
a mountain at prayer; in the midst of a vast inquisitive
multitude; in the severities of temptation in a wilderness; in a
quiet home at Bethany; facing the Cross; the triumph of
Calvary. The real student, the real disciple of the Master, wants
to know the mind of his Master, and he sits down before one
picture at a time, and lingers before it, and studies every line
and feature of it, and beauty after beauty breaks upon his
delighted vision. He meditates upon it, and the beauty of the

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picture steeps into his soul, refines his moral taste, influences
his hand and heart, and becomes part of himself forever. I tell
you, we know almost nothing of the moral and spiritual
loveliness of our Jesus, almost nothing of the mind of Christ,
because we do not hold ourselves before it in lingering
meditation. Why don‘t we? Why are we not devoted students of
these pictures of the mind of Christ? Let us be frank with
ourselves. Is not Bible studying wearying and wearisome? To
how many of us is it a delight? It is because so many put the
virtue in the reading itself. We think when we have read a
chapter we have discharged a duty. People open their Bibles,
and read a few verses, and close them, and think that by their
reading they have pleased God. You may have displeased Him!
Some people think that when they read the Bible the very act of
reading is a kind of talisman to hedge about their lives with
increased security. Oh no, it may be that you are falling into the
very snare of the tempter! John Ruskin says there is nothing
which so tends to destroy the accuracy of the artistic eye as a
hurried gallop round an art gallery, even though it contains the
works of the most eminent masters. May not that be equally
true of this gospel gallery, where the mind of the great Master is
exhibited in a hundred different ways; a hurried and half-
indifferent gallop may only destroy the accuracy of the moral
eye, and impair rather than strengthen your spiritual vision?
Bible reading is virtuous when it leads to virtue. My text
declares that those who thus live in continual meditation upon
the ways of the Lord shall be in a rich rootage. They shall be like
trees planted by rivers of water. They shall have vast resources.
Are we all planted there? If we are rooted elsewhere our life will
be stunted and unhealthy. ―His leaf shall not wither.‖ The leaf is
the thing of the spring time. It is the first thing that comes.
Well, in the Christian life spring leaf shall ever remain. The
spring greenness of life shall not wither as the years roll by. The
beauties of the spring time shall continue through all the
seventy years. The beauties of early life, of young life, the
beauties of childhood shall never be destroyed. ―His leaf shall
not wither.‖ His childlikeness, the glory of the spring time of life,
shall always be fresh and beautiful; it shall never wither away.

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There shall be other developments. Life shall grow. It shall
increase in knowledge. It shall broaden in experience. It shall
open out large capacities and powers. But, amid all the
developments, the beatifies of childlikeness shall remain; his
spring leaf shall not wither; the glory of the spring time shall
never be lost. (J. H. Jowett, M. A.)
Meditations
Grace breeds delight in God, and delight breeds meditation.
Meditation is like the watering of the seed, it makes the fruits of
grace to flourish. If it be required to show what meditation is, I
answer—
1. It is the soul‘s retiring of itself. A Christian, when he goes
to meditate, must lock himself up from the world. The world
spoils meditation.
2. It is a serious and solemn thinking upon God (Hebrews),
with intentness to recollect and gather together the thoughts.
Meditation is not a cursory work. A carnal, flitting Christian is
like the traveller, his thoughts ride post, he minds nothing of
God. A wise Christian is like the artist, he views with
seriousness and ponders the things of religion.
3. It is the raising of the heart to holy affections. Meditation
is a duty imposed. The same God who hath bid us believe
hath bid us meditate. It is a duty opposed. We may conclude
it is a good duty, because it is against the stream of corrupt
nature. As it is said, ―You may know that religion is right
which Nero persecutes.‖ The meditation of a thing hath more
sweetness in it than the bare remembrance. The
remembrance of a truth without the serious meditation of it
will but create matter of sorrow another day. A sermon
remembered, but not ruminated, will only serve to increase
our condemnation. Meditation and study differ in three ways.
In their nature—Study is the work of the brain, meditation of
the heart. In their design—The design of study is notion, the
design of meditation is piety. In their issue and result—Study

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leaves a man never a whit the better; it is like a winter sun
that hath little warmth and influence. Meditation leaves one
in a more holy frame. It melts the heart when it is frozen,
and makes it drop into tears of love. There are things in the
law of God which we should principally meditate upon. His
attributes. His promises of remission, sanctification,
remuneration. Meditate upon the love of Christ; upon sin;
upon the vanity of the creature; upon the excellency of
grace; upon the state of your souls; upon your experiences.
The necessity of meditation will appear in three particulars.
1. The end why God has given us His Word, written and
preached, is not only to know it, but that we should meditate
in it. Without meditation we never can be good Christians.
The truths of God will not stay with us. Meditation imprints
and fastens a truth in the mind. Without meditation the
truths which we know will never affect our hearts. And we
make ourselves guilty of slighting God and His Word. If a
man lets a thine, lie by and never minds it, it is a sign he
slights it.
Answers to objections—
1. I have so much business in the world that I have no time
to meditate. The business of a Christian is meditation, just as
the business of the husbandman is ploughing and sowing.
2. This duty of meditation is hard. The price that God hath
set heaven is labour. We do not argue so in other things.
Entering into meditation may be hard, but once entered it is
sweet and pleasant. As to rules about meditation—Be very
serious about the work. Read before you meditate. Do not
multiply the subjects of meditation. To meditation join
examination Shut up meditation with prayer, and pray over
your meditations. Reduce it to practice. Live over your
meditation. (T. Watson.)
A man known by his delight
And he seems to frame his process in this manner: a man is

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known what he is by his delight; for such as a man‘s delight is,
such a man himself is; and therefore a godly man delights not
to Walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor to stand in the way of
sinners, nor to sit in the chair of scorners, for these are all
lawless delights—at least, delights of that law of which St. Paul
saith, ―I find another law in my members‖: they agree not with
a godly man‘s nature, and though a delight there must be, there
is not living without it; yet a godly man will rather want it than
take it up in such commodities. The godly man begins to appear
in his likeness; for this delighting in the law of God is so
essential to godliness that it even constitutes a godly man and
gives him his being. For what is godliness but the love of God?
and what is love without delight? that we may see what a
sovereign thing godliness is, which not only brings us delight
when we come to blessedness, but brings us to blessedness by
a way of delighting. For the Prophet requires not a godliness
that bars us of delight; he requires only a godliness that
rectifies our delight; for as the wrong placing our delight is the
cause of all our miseries, so the right placing it is the cause of
all our happiness; and what righter placing it than to place it in
the right? and what is the right but only the law? But is there
delight, then, in the law of God? Is it not a thing rather that will
make us melancholy? and doth it not mortify in us the life of all
joy? It mortifies indeed the life of carnal delights, but it quickens
in us another delight, as much better than those as heaven is
above the earth. For there is no true delight which delights not
as much to be remembered as to be felt; which pleaseth not as
well the memory as the sense; and takes not as much joy to
think of it being done as when it was a-doing. For is it not a
miserable delight when it may be threatened with this? You will
one day remember this with pain. Is it not a doleful delight,
when grief besets the borders of gladness—when sorrow follows
it at the heels? Is it not a fearful delight when, like a magician‘s
rod, it is instantly turned into a serpent? (Sir Richard Baker.)
Delight in the Divine law
And as in this study of the law of God there is no fear of
melancholy, so in the delight that is taken in it there is no fear

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of satiety; all other delights must have change, or else they cloy
us; must have cessation, or else they tire us; must have
moderation, or else they waste us: this only delight is that of
which we can never take enough—we can never be so full, but
we shall leave with an appetite, or rather never leave, because
ever in an appetite. It is but one, yet is still fresh; it is always
enjoyed, yet always desired; or, rather, the more it is enjoyed,
the more it is desired. All other delights may be barred from us,
may be hindered to us; this only delight is free in prison, is at
ease in torments, is alive in death; and indeed there is no
delight that keeps us company in our death beds, but only this.
All other delights are then ashamed of us, and we of them; this
only sits by us in all extremities, and gives us a cordial when
physic and friends forsake us. (Sir Richard Baker.)
Delight in the law of God
Many delight in the law, because it teacheth many hidden and
secret mysteries; but these are vain men, and delight not in the
law, but in superfluous knowledge. (Sir Richard Baker.)
The law of God the chief joy of the believer
And how, then, shall we come to know the delighting which is
true and perfect from that which is counterfeit and defective?
Shall we say, it must be a delighting only, or but only chiefly?
Not only, for so we should delight in nothing else; and who
doubts but there are many other delights which both Nature
requires and God allows? therefore, not only, but chiefly; yet so
chiefly as in a manner only; for chiefly is properly where there
may be comparison; but this is so chiefly as admits of no
comparison. In presence of this, all other delights do lose their
light; in balance with this, all other delights are found to be
light. (Sir Richard Baker.)
A Constant delight in the Divine law
For as it is but a dead faith that brings not forth the fruit of good
works, so it is but a feigned delight that brings not forth the
work of exercising; and as it is but an unsound faith that works
but intermittingly and by fits, so it is but an aguish delighting

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that hath its heat but at turns and seasons; but where we see a
constancy of good works, as we may be bold to say there is a
lively and sound faith, so where we see a continual exercising,
we may be confident to say there is a true delighting. The
working shows a life of faith; the constancy of working, a true
temper of that life. The exercising shows a delighting; the
continuance of exercising, a sincerity of that delighting. (Sir
Richard Baker.)
Doing the Divine law
Contemplation brings us but to, ―I see and approve the better‖;
and if ―I pursue the worse‖ do follow, then godliness is stopped
in her race at the very goal: the building is left unperfect when
it is come to the roof. We cannot make a demonstration of true
godliness out of all the premises, unless that be added which
follows, ―And in His law he will exercise himself day and night‖;
but if this be added, then the roof of the house is set on, and
then the goal of godliness is won. And though it may seem a
wearisome thing, summer and winter, day and night, all a man‘s
life long, to do nothing else but always one thing, yet this is the
godly man‘s task; he must do so, or he cannot be the man we
take him for. For to be godly but sometimes is to be ungodly
always; and no man is so wicked but he may sometimes have
good thoughts, and do good works. But this serves not our
godly man‘s turn; his sun must never set, for if he ever be in
darkness he shall ever be in darkness; at least, he shall find it
more work to kindle his fire anew than to have kept it still
burning. Or if he should bestow the whole day in the exercise of
godliness, and yet at night return to his vomit, that man would
be but as a half-moon—bright on one side, and horrid blackness
on the other. For godliness is a thing entire; it cannot be had in
pieces. (Sir Richard Baker.)
Doing the law day and night
He will do it in the day, that men, seeing his good works, may
glorify his Father which is in heaven; and he will do it in the
night, that he may not be seen of men, and that his left hand
may not know what his right hand doeth. He will do it in the

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day, to show he is none of those who shun the light; and he will
do it in the night, to show that he is one of those who when in
darkness shine. He will do it in the daytime, because, the day is
the time of doing, as St. Peter [the Lord] saith, ―Work whilst it is
day; and he will do it in the night, lest his Master should come
as a thief in the night and find him idle. (Sir Richard Baker.)
Meditation
A fragment of spar at first seems lustreless and unattractive,
but as you turn it in your hand and let the light strike it at a
certain angle it reveals beautiful radiance and even prismatic
colours. A fragment of Scripture which is comparatively lifeless
to a superficial reader becomes to the real student a marvel of
beauty. He turns it round, views it at every angle till he sees the
light of God break through it, and it shines with the sevenfold
beauty of the Divine attributes. The true beauty of Scripture
does not lie on the surface, or reveal itself to the careless eye.
As we reflect one truth is obvious. The principal lesson of the
Bible is Christ. He is the light and lustre of each part. Faith
cannot look but some new beauty of the Lord appears. (R.
Venting.)
Impressions fixed by meditation
The photographer at the first has no security of the picture
which he has taken. He cannot be said, in any true sense, to
possess it. It is true, the impression is made upon the sensitive
plate, but in its first condition, for all practical purposes, it is
useless. The slightest exposure to the light would mar it
hopelessly. It must be taken into the darkened room, and there,
by being immersed in chemical solutions, it becomes fixed and
assumes a permanent form. Just so is it with the thoughts which
enter the mind. They are volatile and fugitive unless
permanently fixed in the chambers of the mind by steadfast
meditation. (Charles Deal.)
Psalms 1:2
the law = instruction: i.e. the whole Pentateuch which contains
it.

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meditate: i.e. continually and habitually.
Psalms 1:2
A godly person is influenced not by unrighteous people but by
his meditation on the Word of God. Such meditation necessarily
involves study and retention. This is possible only if he has a
desire to do so, here referred to as a delight. The psalmists
found direction, not drudgery, from the Law of God.1
Psalms 1:2
law—all of God‘s word then written, especially the books of
Moses (compare Ps 119:1, 55, 97, &c.).2
Psalms 1:2
The psalmist begins with the character and condition of a
godly man, that those may first take the comfort of that to
whom it belongs. Here is,
I. A description of the godly man‘s spirit and way, by which
we are to try ourselves. The Lord knows those that are his by
name, but we must know them by their character; for that is
agreeable to a state of probation, that we may study to answer
to the character, which is indeed both the command of the law
which we are bound in duty to obey and the condition of the
promise which we are bound in interest to fulfil. The character of
a good man is here given by the rules he chooses to walk by
and to take his measures from. What we take at our setting out,
and at every turn, for the guide of our conversation, whether
the course of this world or the word of God, is of material
consequence. An error in the choice of our standard and leader
1
John F. Walvoord, Roy B. Zuck and Dallas Theological Seminary, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of
the Scriptures (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1983-c1985), 1:790.
2
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, A. R. Fausset et al., A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New
Testaments, On Spine: Critical and Explanatory Commentary. (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997),
Ps 1:2.

Psalms 1:1
31 wanderean ©2024
is original and fatal; but, if we be right here, we are in a fair
way to do well.
1. A godly man, that he may avoid the evil, utterly renounces
the companionship of evil-doers, and will not be led by them (v.
1): He walks not in the council of the ungodly, etc. This part of
his character is put first, because those that will keep the
commandments of their God must say to evil-doers, Depart
from us (Ps. 119:115), and departing from evil is that in which
wisdom begins. (1.) He sees evil-doers round about him; the
world is full of them; they walk on every side. They are here
described by three characters, ungodly, sinners, and scornful.
See by what steps men arrive at the height of impiety. Nemo
repente fit turpissimus—None reach the height of vice at once.
They are ungodly first, casting off the fear of God and living in
the neglect of their duty to him: but they rest not there. When
the services of religion are laid aside, they come to be sinners,
that is, they break out into open rebellion against God and
engage in the service of sin and Satan. Omissions make way for
commissions, and by these the heart is so hardened that at
length they come to be scorners, that is, they openly defy all
that is sacred, scoff at religion, and make a jest of sin. Thus is
the way of iniquity down-hill; the bad grow worse, sinners
themselves become tempters to others and advocates for Baal.
The word which we translate ungodly signifies such as are
unsettled, aim at no certain end and walk by no certain rule, but
are at the command of every lust and at the beck of every
temptation. The word for sinners signifies such as are
determined for the practice of sin and set it up as their trade.
The scornful are those that set their mouths against the
heavens. These the good man sees with a sad heart; they are a
constant vexation to his righteous soul. But, (2.) He shuns them
wherever he sees them. He does not do as they do; and, that
he may not, he does not converse familiarly with them. [1.] He
does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly. He is not present at
their councils, nor does he advise with them; though they are
ever so witty, and subtle, and learned, if they are ungodly, they
shall not be the men of his counsel. He does not consent to

Psalms 1:1
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them, nor say as they say, Lu. 23:51. He does not take his
measures from their principles, nor act according to the advice
which they give and take. The ungodly are forward to give their
advice against religion, and it is managed so artfully that we
have reason to think ourselves happy if we escape being tainted
and ensnared by it. [2.] He stands not in the way of sinners; he
avoids doing as they do; their way shall not be his way; he will
not come into it, much less will he continue in it, as the sinner
does, who sets himself in a way that is not good, Ps. 36:4. He
avoids (as much as may be) being where they are. That he may
not imitate them, he will not associate with them, nor choose
them for his companions. He does not stand in their way, to be
picked up by them (Prov. 7:8), but keeps as far from them as
from a place or person infected with the plague, for fear of the
contagion, Prov. 4:14, 15. He that would be kept from harm
must keep out of harm‘s way. [3.] He sits not in the seat of the
scornful; he does not repose himself with those that sit down
secure in their wickedness and please themselves with the
searedness of their own consciences. He does not associate with
those that sit in close cabal to find out ways and means for the
support and advancement of the devil‘s kingdom, or that sit in
open judgment, magisterially to condemn the generation of the
righteous. The seat of the drunkards is the seat of the scornful,
Ps. 69:12. Happy is the man that never sits in it, Hos. 7:5.
2. A godly man, that he may do that which is good and cleave
to it, submits to the guidance of the word of God and makes
that familiar to him, v. 2. This is that which keeps him out of the
way of the ungodly and fortifies him against their temptations.
By the words of thy lips I have kept me from the path of the
deceiver, Ps. 17:4. We need not court the fellowship of sinners,
either for pleasure or for improvement, while we have fellowship
with the word of God and with God himself in and by his word.
When thou awakest it shall talk with thee, Prov. 6:22. We may
judge of our spiritual state by asking, "What is the law of God to
us? What account do we make of it? What place has it in us?‘‘
See here, (1.) The entire affection which a good man has for the
law of God: His delight is in it. He delights in it, though it be a

Psalms 1:1
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law, a yoke, because it is the law of God, which is holy, just,
and good, which he freely consents to, and so delights in, after
the inner man, Rom. 7:16, 22. All who are well pleased that
there is a God must be well pleased that there is a Bible, a
revelation of God, of his will, and of the only way to happiness
in him. (2.) The intimate acquaintance which a good man keeps
up with the word of God: In that law doth he meditate day and
night; and by this it appears that his delight is in it, for what we
love we love to think of, Ps. 119:97. To meditate in God‘s word
is to discourse with ourselves concerning the great things
contained in it, with a close application of mind, a fixedness of
thought, till we be suitably affected with those things and
experience the savour and power of them in our hearts. This we
must do day and night; we must have a constant habitual
regard to the word of God as the rule of our actions and the
spring of our comforts, and we must have it in our thoughts,
accordingly, upon every occasion that occurs, whether night or
day. No time is amiss for meditating on the word of God, nor is
any time unseasonable for those visits. We must not only set
ourselves to meditate on God‘s word morning and evening, at
the entrance of the day and of the night, but these thought
should be interwoven with the business and converse of every
day and with the repose and slumbers of every night. When I
awake I am still with thee.
II. An assurance given of the godly man‘s happiness, with
which we should encourage ourselves to answer the character of
such. 1. In general, he is blessed, Ps. 5:1. God blesses him, and
that blessing will make him happy. Blessednesses are to him,
blessings of all kinds, of the upper and nether springs, enough
to make him completely happy; none of the ingredients of
happiness shall be wanting to him. When the psalmist
undertakes to describe a blessed man, he describes a good
man; for, after all, those only are happy, truly happy, that are
holy, truly holy; and we are more concerned to know the way to
blessedness than to know wherein that blessedness will consist.
Nay, goodness and holiness are not only the way to happiness
(Rev. 22:14) but happiness itself; supposing there were not

Psalms 1:1
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another life after this, yet that man is a happy man that keeps
in the way of his duty. 2. His blessedness is here illustrated by a
similitude (v. 3): He shall be like a tree, fruitful and flourishing.
This is the effect, (1.) Of his pious practice; he meditates in the
law of God, turns that in succum et sanguinem—into juice and
blood, and that makes him like a tree. The more we converse
with the word of God the better furnished we are for every good
word and work. Or, (2.) Of the promised blessing; he is blessed
of the Lord, and therefore he shall be like a tree. The divine
blessing produces real effects. It is the happiness of a godly
man, [1.] That he is planted by the grace of God. These trees
were by nature wild olives, and will continue so till they are
grafted anew, and so planted by a power from above. Never any
good tree grew of itself; it is the planting of the Lord, and
therefore he must in it be glorified. Isa. 61:3, The trees of the
Lord are full of sap. [2.] That he is placed by the means of
grace, here called the rivers of water, those rivers which make
glad the city of our God (Ps. 46:4); from these a good man
receives supplies of strength and vigour, but in secret
undiscerned ways. [3.] That his practices shall be fruit,
abounding to a good account, Phil. 4:17. To those whom God
first blessed he said, Be fruitful (Gen. 1:22), and still the
comfort and honour of fruitfulness are a recompense for the
labour of it. It is expected from those who enjoy the mercies of
grace that, both in the temper of their minds and in the tenour
of their lives, they comply with the intentions of that grace, and
then they bring forth fruit. And, be it observed to the praise of
the great dresser of the vineyard, they bring forth their fruit
(that which is required of them) in due season, when it is most
beautiful and most useful, improving every opportunity of doing
good and doing it in its proper time. [4.] That his profession
shall be preserved from blemish and decay: His leaf also shall
not wither. As to those who bring forth only the leaves of
profession, without any good fruit, even their leaf will wither
and they shall be as much ashamed of their profession as ever
they were proud of it; but, if the word of God rule in the heart,
that will keep the profession green, both to our comfort and to
our credit; the laurels thus won shall never wither. [5.] That

Psalms 1:1
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prosperity shall attend him wherever he goes, soul-prosperity.
Whatever he does, in conformity to the law, it shall prosper and
succeed to his mind, or above his hope.
In singing these verses, being duly affected with the
malignant and dangerous nature of sin, the transcendent
excellencies of the divine law, and the power and efficacy of
God‘s grace, from which our fruit is found, we must teach and
admonish ourselves, and one another, to watch against sin and
all approaches towards it, to converse much with the word of
God, and abound in the fruit of righteousness; and, in praying
over them, we must seek to God for his grace both to fortify us
against every evil word and work and to furnish us for every
good word and work.3
Psalms 1:2
Verses 1-3 move from the past tense, where one has taken a
clear position with Yahweh (v. 1), to a present tense of
satisfaction (v. 2), to a hope for a happy future (v. 3). The
Hebrew term derek, ―way,‖ indicates the conduct of individuals
(Ps. 37:5-7) or of all Israel (Isa. 40:3), a way mysteriously
directed by God, yet clear in its moral expectations.4
Psalms 1:2
The exclamatory ‫י‬ ֵ
‫ר‬ ְׁ
‫ש‬ ַ
‫א‬, as also 32:2; 40:5, Prov. 8:34, has
Gaja (Metheg) by the Aleph, and in some Codd. even a second
by ְְׁׁ
‫ש‬, because it is intended to be read ashe
rê as an exception,
on account of the significance of the word (Baer, in Comm. ii.
495). It is the construct of the pluralet. ‫ים‬ ִ
‫ר‬ ָ
‫ש‬ ֲ
‫א‬ (from ‫ר‬ ַ
‫ש‬ ָ
‫א‬,
cogn.‫ר‬ ַ
‫ש‬ָ‫י‬, ‫ר‬ ַ
‫ש‬ ָ
‫כ‬, to be straight, right, well-ordered), and always in
the form ‫י‬ ֵ
‫ר‬ ְׁ
‫ש‬ ַ
‫א‬, even before the light suffixes (Olsh. § 135, c), as
3
Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible : Complete and Unabridged in One Volume
(Peabody: Hendrickson, 1996, c1991), Ps 1:1.
v. verse
4
James Luther Mays, Publishers Harper & Row and Society of Biblical Literature, Harper's Bible Commentary (San
Francisco: Harper & Row, 1996, c1988), Ps 2:1.

Psalms 1:1
36 wanderean ©2024
an exclamation: O the blessedness of so and so. The man who
is characterised as blessed is first described according to the
things he does not do, then (which is the chief thought of the
whole Ps.) according to what he actually does: he is not a
companion of the unrighteous, but he abides by the revealed
word of God. ‫ים‬ ִ
‫ע‬ ָ
‫ש‬ ְׁ
‫ר‬ are the godless, whose moral condition is
lax, devoid of stay, and as it were gone beyond the reasonable
bounds of true unity (wanting in stability of character), so that
they are like a tossed and stormy sea, Is. 57:20f.;65
‫ים‬ ִ
‫א‬ ָ
‫ט‬ ַ
‫ח‬ (from
the sing. ‫א‬ ָ
‫ט‬ ַ
‫ח‬, instead of which ‫א‬ ֵ
‫ֹט‬‫ח‬ is usually found) sinners,
ἁμαρτωλοί, who pass their lives in sin, especially coarse and
manifest sin; ‫ים‬ ִ
‫צ‬ ֵ
‫ל‬ (from ‫לּוץ‬, as ‫ת‬ ִ
‫מ‬ from ‫)מּות‬ scoffers, who make
that which is divine, holy, and true a subject of frivolous jesting.
The three appellations form a climax: impii corde, peccatores
opere, illusores ore, in accordance with which ‫ה‬ ָ
‫צ‬ ֵ
‫ע‬ (from ‫ץ‬ ַ
‫ע‬ָ‫י‬
figere, statuere), resolution, bias of the will, and thus way of
thinking, is used in reference to the first, as in Job 21:16;
22:18; in reference to the second, ‫ְך‬ ֶ
‫ר‬ ֶ
‫ד‬ mode of conduct, action,
life; in reference to the third, ‫ב‬ ָ
‫מוש‬ which like the Arabic méglis
signifies both seat (Job 29:7) and assembling (Ps. 107:32), be it
official or social (cf. 26:4f., Jer. 15:17). On ְְׁׁ
‫ְךְׁב‬ ַ
‫ל‬ ָ
‫ה‬ , in an ethical
sense, cf. Mic. 6:16, Jer. 7:24. Therefore: Blessed is he who
does not walk in the state of mind which the ungodly cherish,
much less that he should associate with the vicious life of
sinners, or even delight in the company of those who scoff at
religion. The description now continues with ‫ם‬ ִ
‫יְׁא‬ ִ
‫כ‬ (imo si, Ges. §
155, 2, 9): but (if) his delight is, = (substantival instead of the
verbal clause:) he delights (‫ץ‬ ֶ
‫פ‬ ֵ
‫ח‬ cf. Arab. chfḍ f. i. with the
65
Nevertheless we have not to compare ‫רעש‬, ‫רגש‬, for ‫רשע‬, but the Arabic in the two roots Arab. rs’ and rsg
shows for ‫רשע‬ the primary notion to be slack, loose, in opposition to Arab. ṣdq, ‫צדק‬ to be hard, firm, tight; as
Arab. rumḥun ṣadqun, i.e., according to the Kamus Arab. rmḥ ṣlb mtîn mstwin, a hard, firm and straight spear. We too
transfer the idea of being lax and loose to the province of ethics: the difference is only one of degree. The same two
primary notions are also opposed to one another in speaking of the intellect: Arab. ḥakuma, wise, prop. thick, firm,
stout, solid, and Arab. sachufa, foolish, simple, prop. thin, loose, without stay, like a bad piece of weaving, vid.,
Fleischer’s translation of Samachschari’s Golden Necklace pp. 26 and 27 Anm. 76. Thus ‫ע‬ ָ
‫ש‬ ָ
‫ר‬ means the loose man
and indeed as a moral-religious notion loose from God, godless [comp. Bibl. Psychol. p. 189. transl.].

Psalms 1:1
37 wanderean ©2024
primary notion of firmly adhering, vid., on Job 40:17) in ‫תְׁה‬ ַ
‫תור‬
‫׳‬ ,
the teaching of Jahve, which is become Israel‘s νόμος, rule of
life; in this he meditates profoundly by day and night (two acc.
with the old accusative terminations am and ah). The perff. in v.
1 describe what he all along has never done, the fut. ‫ה‬ ֶ‫ג‬ ְׁ
‫ה‬ֶ‫י‬, what
he is always striving to do; ‫ה‬ ָ‫ג‬ ָ
‫ה‬ of a deep (cf. Arab. hjj,
depressum esse), dull sound, as if vibrating between within and
without, here signifies the quiet soliloquy (cf. Arab. hjs,
mussitando secum loqui) of one who is searching and thinking.
With ‫ה‬ָ‫י‬ ָ
‫ה‬ ְׁ‫ו‬,66
in v. 3, the development of the ‫אשרי‬ now begins; it
is the praet. consec.: he becomes in consequence of this, he is
thereby, like a tree planted beside the water-courses, which
yields its fruit at the proper season and its leaf does not fall off.
In distinction from ְַׁ
‫טּוע‬ ָ
‫נ‬, according to Jalkut § 614, ‫תּול‬ ָ
‫ש‬ means
firmly planted, so that no winds that may rage around it are
able to remove it from its place (‫איןְׁמזיזיןְׁאתוְׁממקומו‬ ). In ‫ם‬ִ‫י‬ ַ
‫יְׁמ‬ ֵ
‫ג‬ ְׁ
‫ל‬ ַ
‫פ‬ ,
both ‫ם‬ִ‫י‬ ַ
‫מ‬ and the plur. serve to give intensity to the figure; ‫ג‬ ֶ
‫ל‬ ֶ
‫פ‬
(Arab. fal’ , from ‫פ‬
‫לג‬ to divide, Job 38:25) means the brook
meandering and cleaving its course for itself through the soil
and stones; the plur. denotes either one brook regarded from its
abundance of water, or even several which from different
directions supply the tree with nourishing and refreshing
moisture. In the relative clause the whole emphasis does not
rest on ‫ֹּתו‬ ִ
‫ע‬ ְׁ
‫ב‬ (Calvin: impii, licet praecoces fructus ostentent,
nihil tamen producunt nisi abortivum), but ‫יו‬ ְׁ
‫ר‬ ִ
‫פ‬ is the first, ‫ֹּתו‬ ִ
‫ע‬ ְׁ
‫ב‬
the second tone-word: the fruit which one expects from it, it
yields (equivalent to ‫ה‬ ֶ
‫ש‬ ֲ
‫ע‬ַ‫י‬ it produces, elsewhere), and that at its
appointed, proper time (= ‫ֹּתו‬ ְׁ
‫ד‬ ִ
‫ע‬ ְׁ
‫ב‬, for ‫ת‬ ֵ
‫ע‬ is = ‫ת‬ ֶ
‫ד‬ ֵ
‫ע‬ or ‫ת‬ ֶ
‫ד‬ ֶ
‫ע‬, like ‫ת‬ ֶ
‫ד‬ ֶ
‫ר‬,
‫ת‬ ֶ
‫ד‬ ֶ
‫ל‬, from ‫ד‬ ַ
‫ע‬ ָ‫)ו‬, without ever disappointing that hope in the
66
By the Shebâ stands Metheg (Gaja), as it does wherever a word, with Shebâ in the first syllable, has Olewejored,
Rebia magnum, or Dechî without a conjunctive preceding, in case at least one vowel and no Metheg—except
perhaps that standing before Shebâ compos.—lies between the Shebâ and the tone, e.g., ‫ה‬ ָ
‫ק‬ ְׁ
‫ֹּת‬ ַ‫נ‬ ְׁ‫נ‬ (with Dechî ) 2:3,
‫הּו‬ ֵ‫נ‬ ֱ
‫ע‬ ֶ
‫א‬ ְׁ‫ו‬ 91:15 and the like. The intonation of the accent is said in these instances to begin, by anticipation, with the
fugitive ĕ.

Psalms 1:1
38 wanderean ©2024
course of the recurring seasons. The clause ‫בול‬ִ‫ְׁי‬ ‫א‬
ֹ ‫ְׁל‬ ‫הּו‬ ֵ
‫ל‬ ָ
‫ע‬ ְׁ‫ו‬ is the
other half of the relative clause: and its foliage does not fall off
or wither (‫ל‬ ֵ
‫ב‬ ָ‫נ‬ like the synon. Arab. dbl, from the root ‫)בל‬.
The green foliage is an emblem of faith, which converts the
water of life of the divine word into sap and strength, and the
fruit, an emblem of works, which gradually ripen and scatter
their blessings around; a tree that has lost its leaves, does not
bring its fruit to maturity. It is only with ‫ֹל‬‫כ‬ ְׁ‫ו‬, where the language
becomes unemblematic, that the man who loves the Law of God
again becomes the direct subject. The accentuation treats this
member of the verse as the third member of the relative clause;
one may, however, say of a thriving plant ְׁ ַ
‫ח‬ ֵ
‫ל‬ ָ
‫צ‬, but not ְׁ ַ
‫יח‬ ִ
‫ל‬ ְׁ
‫צ‬ ִ
‫ה‬.
This Hiph. (from ‫צלח‬, Arab. ṣlḥ, to divide, press forward, press
through, vid., 45:5) signifies both causative: to cause anything
to go through, or prosper (Gen. 34:23), and transitive: to carry
through, and intransitive: to succeed, prosper (Judg. 18:5).
With the first meaning, Jahve would be the subject; with the
third, the project of the righteous; with the middle one, the
righteous man himself. This last is the most natural: everything
he takes in hand he brings to a successful issue (an expression
like 2 Chron. 7:11; 31:21, Dan. 8:24). What a richly flowing
brook is to the tree that is planted on its bank, such is the word
of God to him who devotes himself to it: it makes him,
according to his position and calling, ever fruitful in good and
well-timed deeds and keeps him fresh in his inner and outward
life, and whatsoever such an one undertakes, he brings to a
successful issue, for the might of the word and of the blessing of
God is in his actions.5
Psalms 1:2
And now mark his positive character. His delight is the the
law of the LORD. He is not under the law as a curse and
condemnation, but he is in it, and he delights to be in it as his
5
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament. (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2002), 5:48-
50.

Psalms 1:1
39 wanderean ©2024
rule of life; he delights, moreover, to meditate in it, to read it
by day and think upon it by night. He takes a text and carries
it with him all day long; and in the night-watches, when sleep
forsakes his eyelids, he muses upon the Word of God. In the
day of his prosperity he sings psalms out of the Word of God,
and in the night of his affliction he comforts himself with
promises out of the same book. The law of the LORD is the
daily bread of the true believer. And yet, in David‘s day, how
small was the volume of inspiration, for they had scarcely
anything save the first five books of Moses! How much more,
then, should we prize the whole written Word which it is our
privilege to have in all our houses! But, alas, what ill-treatment
is given to this angel from heaven! We are not all Berean
searchers of the Scriptures. How few among us can lay claim to
the benediction of the text! Perhaps some of you can claim a
sort of negative purity, because you do not walk in the way of
the ungodly; but let me ask you—Is your delight in the law of
God? Do you study God‘s Word? Do you make it the man of
your right hand—your best companion and hourly guide? If not,
this blessing does not belong to you.6
Psalms 1:2
To meditate in God‘s word, is to discourse with ourselves
concerning the great things contained in it, with close
application of mind and fixedness of thought. We must have
constant regard to the word of God, as the rule of our actions,
and the spring of our comforts; and have it in our thoughts
night and day. For this purpose no time is amiss.7
Psalms 1:2
Continuance in the Lord’s law. Law, ‗teaching‘, such as a
caring parent offers to a loved child (Pr. 3:1). Delight …
meditates. Behind the active obedience of v 1 lies the inward
6
C. H. Spurgeon, Psalms, Crossway classic commentaries (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 1993), 4.
7
Matthew Henry and Thomas Scott, Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research
Systems, 1997), Ps 1:1.

Psalms 1:1
40 wanderean ©2024
godliness of emotions and mind exercised day and night in the
word of God.8
Psalms 1:2
A person who is saturated with the Word (v. 2).
Those whom God blesses are not delighted with what pertains to
sin and the world; they delight in the Word of God. It is love for
and obedience to the Bible that brings blessing on our lives. See
Josh. 1:8. The people God blesses not only read the Word daily,
but they study it, memorize it, and meditate on it during the
day and night. Their mind is controlled by the Word of God.
Because of this, they are led by the Spirit and walk in the Spirit.
Meditation is to the soul what ―digestion‖ is to the body. It
means understanding the Word, ―chewing on it,‖ and applying it
to our lives, making it a part of the inner person. See Jer.
15:16, Ezek. 3:3, and Rev. 10:9.9
Psalms 1:2
But a person who is to be happy must also engage in a
positive task, which is identified in v 2 as being related to the
Torah. Although the term Torah can be used of the law, or of
the Pentateuch, or even (at a later date) of the whole OT, its
significance here is the most fundamental one. Basically, the
word Torah means ―instruction‖; specifically, it is the instruction
which God gives to mankind as a guide for life. Thus it may
include that which is technically law, but it also includes other
more general parts of God‘s revelation. The Torah is to be a
source of ―delight‖ (see further the Explanation, below), a
delight which is discovered by means of constant meditation on
its meaning. Just as the king would learn to live a life of humility
and righteousness through constant reflection on the meaning
of Torah (Deut 17:18–20), so too could all mankind. And an
8
D. A. Carson, New Bible Commentary : 21st Century Edition, Rev. Ed. of: The New Bible Commentary. 3rd Ed. /
Edited by D. Guthrie, J.A. Motyer. 1970., 4th ed. (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, Ill., USA: Inter-Varsity Press,
1994), Ps 1:2.
9
Warren W. Wiersbe, Wiersbe's Expository Outlines on the Old Testament (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1993), Ps 1:1.
OT Old Testament

Psalms 1:1
41 wanderean ©2024
understanding of Torah contributed to long life, peace and
prosperity (Prov 3:1–2), for in its words God has set down the
nature of a life which would reach the true fulfillment for which
it was created.10
10
Peter C. Craigie, vol. 19, Word Biblical Commentary : Psalms 1-50, electronic ed., Logos Library System; Word
Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1998), 60.

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Psalms 1:2 - Collection of Biblical Commentaries