“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.” Psalm 1:1
The Psalmist describes two paths of life in this Psalm: the path of the godly and the path of the ungodly or wicked. “Blessed” or “happy” is the godly person who avoids the way of the wicked or ungodly person (1:1). Notice the progression of verbs in this first verse: “walks…stands…sits.” Departing from the Lord begins with casually listening (“walks”) to “the counsel” or wisdom “of the ungodly.” As they are influenced by that counsel, they begin to slow down (“stands”) enough to pay attention to “the path of sinners” who are separated from God. While spending time in the company of sinners (“sits”), they become more deeply involved with “the scornful” who mock God and ridicule what is godly.
“Blessed” is the godly person who avoids every form of wickedness in every place the Psalmist says (1:1). Instead of focusing on the way of the wicked person, the godly person focuses (“meditates”) on “the law of the Lord” (God’s Word) throughout all his waking hours (“day and night”) which produces a healthy root system or stability (“planted”) that nourishes (“by the rivers of water”) his spiritual life so that it “brings forth its fruit” at the proper time (“in its season”) and endures (“whose leaf also shall not wither”) times of spiritual dryness (1:2-3a). What we focus on will influence how we live our lives. We can focus on God’s ways and Word which benefits us and others (“whatever he does shall prosper”- 1:3b), or we can focus on the way of the wicked which embraces evil (1:1) and provides temporary pleasure only to be destroyed in judgment (1:4-5, 6).