Psalms 1:1

Blessed [is] the man,.... This psalm begins in like manner as Christ's sermon on the mount, Matthew 5:3; setting forth the praises and expressing the happiness of the man who is described in this verse and Psalms 1:2.

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. The Hebrew title of this book is 'The Book of Praises'.

Psalms 1 THE This Psalm was put first as a preface to all the rest, as a powerful persuasive to the diligent reading and serious study of the whole book and of the rest of the Holy Scripture, taken from that blessedness which attends upon the study and practice thereof. The godly blessed, Psalms 1:1. Their delight in God's law, Psalms 1:2. Their fruitfulness, Psalms 1:3. The wretched course and condition of the ungodly, Psalms 1:4-6. The Hebrew words are very emphatical, Blessedness belongs to that man, or, Oh the blessedness of that man Thrice blessed is that man; who is here described negatively, and in the next verse positively. That walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, i.e. that doth not lead his life according to their counsel, or course, or manner of living; that doth not associate himself with them, nor follow their evil instigations or examples. Walking notes choice of it, and continuance or process in it; otherwise good men do sometimes step aside into an evil action. For the explaining of the phrase, see Genesis 49:6 2 Chronicles 22:3-5 Proverbs 1:15 4:14 Micah 6:16. Nor standeth; which notes a more settled abode, hardness, and obstinacy in it. In the way, i.e. in their course or manner of conversation; in the practice of those things which they choose and use to do; which is called a man's way, Psalms 5:8 25:4 2 Peter 2:2,15. Of sinners; emphatically so called here, as also Psalms 26:9 Ecclesiastes 9:2 Matthew 26:45 Luke 7:37 John 9:16,31, who give up themselves to the power and practice of sin, making it their great business and their delight. Nor sitteth in the seat; which notes their association or incorporation of themselves with them; a constant and resolved perseverance in their wicked courses, with great content and security; and a great proficiency and eminency in the school of wickedness, and an ability and readiness to instruct others therein. Of the scornful; of those who are not only diseased, but reject, despise, and scorn all remedies; who make a mock of sin, and of God's threatenings and judgments against sinners; who deride all wholesome reproofs and counsels, and make it their trade to scoff at goodness and good men. Divers have observed a gradation in this verse; the following clause still exceeding the former, for standing is more than walking, and sitting more than standing. And the way or course may seem to be worse than the counsel or design, and the seat is worse than the way; and sinners, in Scripture use, are worse than the ungodly, and the scornful are the worst of sinners. But I would not lay great stress upon such observations.

Psalms 1:1 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.The Book of Psalms] So Christ calleth it, Luke 20:42. The Hebrew word signifieth hymns, or praises, because the greater part of these psalms serve to set forth the praise of God. This title seemeth to be taken from Psalms 145:1, called David’ s Hymn, or Psalm of praise; so highly prized by the ancient Hebrews that they pronounce him an heir of heaven who shall three times a day devoutly repeat it. The Greeks call this Book the Psalter (Athanas., Chrysost.); and deservedly give it many high commendations; as that it is the soul’ s anatomy, the Jaw’ s epitome, the gospel’ s index, the garden of the Scriptures, a sweet field and rosary of promises, precepts, predictions, praises, soliloquies, &c.; the very heart and soul of God, the tongue and pen of David, a man after God’ s own heart; one murmur of whose Michtam, or Maschil, one touch of whose heavenly harp, is far above all the buskin raptures, garish phantasms, splendid vanities, pageants, and landscapes of profaner wits; far better worthy to be written in letters of gold than Pindar’ s seventh ode in the temple at Rhodes (though Politian judged otherwise, liken wretch as he was), and far more fit to have been laid up, as a rare and precious jewel, in that Persian casket, embroidered with gold and pearl, than Homer’ s Iliad, for which it was reserved by Great Alexander. But that cock on the dunghill never knew the worth of this peerless pearl; as did our good King Alfred, who himself translated the Psalter into his own Saxon tongue; and as the Emperor Andronicus, who caused this Book to be bound up in a little volume by itself, to serve as his manual, and attend him in his running library (Turk. Hist.); for therein he found amulets of comfort, more pleasant than the pools of Heshbon, more glorious than the tower of Lebanon, more redolent than the oil of Aaron, more fructifying than the dew of Hermon, as one expresseth it. All the latitude of the Holy Scriptures may be reduced to the Psalms, saith Austin, after Athanasius. Luther calleth them Parva Biblia, et summarium utriusque Testamenti, a little Bible, a summary of both Testaments. The Turks disclaim both the Old and New Testament, and yet they swear as solemnly by the Psalms of David as by the Koran of Mahomet. Anciently they were sung in the temples, and in the primitive Christian Church happy was that tongue held that could sound out aliquid Davidicum, any part of a psalm of David. Nicephorus telleth us that as they travelled and journeyed they used to solace themselves with psalms, and that thereby there was at a certain time a Jew converted.

(1) Blessed.—The Hebrew word is a plural noun, from the root meaning to be “straight,” or “right.” Literally, Blessings to the man who, &c. Walketh . . . standeth . . . sitteth.—Better, went, stood, sat. The good man is first described on the negative side. In the short summary of evil from which he has been saved, it is the custom of commentators to see an epitome of the whole history of sin. But the apparent gradation was a necessity of the rhythm. The three terms employed, however, for evil have distinctive significations. (1) The ungodly. Properly, restless, wanting in self-control, victims of ungoverned passion, as defined in Isaiah 57:20. (2) Sinners. General term for wrong-doers. (3) Scornful. A proverbial word, defined in Proverbs 21:24 : Aquila has “mockers;” Symmachus “impostors;” the LXX. “pests;” Vulgate “pest.” The words expressing the conduct and the career, “counsel,” “way,” are aptly chosen, and correspond with “went,” “stood.” Possibly “seat” should be “assembly.” (Comp. Psalms 107:32.) It has an official sound, and without unduly pressing the language, we think of the graduation in vice which sometimes ends in deliberate preference for those who despise virtue. (Comp. Psalms 26:4-5.)

THE BOOK OF PSALMS Chronological Notes relative to the Psalms written by David, upon the supposition that they were all composed in a period of about forty-seven years. See the Introduction. -Year from the Creation, 2942-2989. -Year before the birth of Christ, 1058-1011. -Year before the vulgar era of Christ's nativity, 1062-1015. -Year since the Deluge, according to Archbishop Usher, and the English Bible, 1286-1333. -Year from the destruction of Troy, according to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, 123-170. -Year before the first Olympiad, 286-239. -Year before the building of Rome, 309-262. -Year of the Julian Period, 3652-3699. -Year of the Dionysian Period, 460-507. PSALM I The blessedness of the righteous shown, in his avoiding every appearance of evil, 1. In his godly use of the law of the Lord, 2. This farther pointed out under the metaphor of a good tree planted in a good well-watered soil, 3. The opposite state of the ungodly pointed out, under the metaphor of chaff driven away by the wind, 4. The miserableness of sinners, and the final happiness of the godly, 5, 6. NOTES ON PSALM I Verse 1. Blessed is the man] This Psalm has no title, and has been generally considered, but without especial reason, as a preface or introduction to the whole book. The word אשרי ashrey, which we translate blessed, is properly in the plural form, blessednesses; or may be considered as an exclamation produced by contemplating the state of the man who has taken God for his portion; O the blessedness of the man! And the word האיש haish, is emphatic: THAT man; that one among a thousand who lives for the accomplishment of the end for which God created him. 1. God made man for happiness. 2. Every man feels a desire to be happy. 3. All human beings abhor misery. 4. Happiness is the grand object of pursuit among all men. 5. But so perverted is the human heart, that it seeks happiness where it cannot be found; and in things which are naturally and morally unfit to communicate it. 6. The true way of obtaining it is here laid down. That walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly] There is a double CLIMAX in this verse, which it will be proper to note:- There are here three characters, each exceeding the other in sinfulness. 1. The UNGODLY רשעים reshaim from רשע rasha, to be unjust; rendering to none his due; withholding from God, society, and himself, what belongs to each. Ungodly - he who has not God in him; who is without God in the world. 2. SINNERS, חטאים chattaim, from חטא chata, "to miss the mark," "to pass over the prohibited limits," "to transgress." This man not only does no good, but he does evil. The former was without God, but not desperately wicked. The latter adds outward transgression to the sinfulness of his heart. 3.

1–3. The happiness of the righteous.

Blessed is the man - That is, his condition is a happy or a desirable one.

1. Blessed—Hebrew, blessings. The plural may stand for intensity, as “O, the exceeding happiness of the man!” etc., or for the variety of blessings belonging to such a character.