Psalm 1

Commonplace –

“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” (Psalm 1:1).

Matthew Henry has much to say on this Psalm, so I will let him take the lead.

“This is a psalm of instruction concerning good and evil, setting before us life and death, the blessing and the curse, that we may take the right way which leads to happiness and avoid that which will certainly end in our misery and ruin. The different character and condition of godly people and wicked people, those that serve God and those that serve him not, is here plainly stated in a few words; so that ever man, if he will be faithful to himself, may here see his own face and then read his own doom. That division of the children of men into saints and sinners, righteous and unrighteous, the children of God and the children of the wicked one, as it is ancient, ever since the struggle began between sin and grace, the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, so it is lasting, and will survive all other divisions and subdivisions of men into high and low, rich and poor, bond and free; for by this men’s everlasting state will be determined, and the distinction will last as long as heaven and hell” (194).

Further on, Henry continues,

“whoever collected the psalms of David (probably it was Ezra) with good reason put this psalm first, as a preface to the rest, because it is absolutely necessary to the acceptance of our devotions that we be righteous before God (for it is only the prayer of the upright that is his delight), and therefore that we may be right in our notions of blessedness and in our choice of the way that leads to it. Those are not fit to put up good prayers who do not walk in good ways” (194).

And so we begin with Psalm 1. As Matthew Henry noted, it is a psalm of instruction. I highlighted the first verse, because the writer states very clearly his position and the position of any person who chooses the path of good. In order to be blessed, a person must choose to avoid

1. ungodly counsel,
2. becoming a stumbling block to others, and
3. being a person who derides others.

Instead, a person who desires to be blessed must choose to delight in God’s law and make it his meditation all day. Such a person will be firmly rooted and watered in blessing.

This psalm is connected to the final psalm, Psalm 150, of the Book of Psalms. Matthew Henry notes this connection in his opening to Psalm 150.

“The first and last of the psalms have both the same number of verses, are both short, and very memorable. But the scope of them is different: the first psalm is an elaborate instruction in our duty, to prepare us for the comforts of our devotion; [Psalm 150] is all rapture and transport, and perhaps was penned on purpose to be the conclusion of these sacred songs, to show what is the design of them all, and that is to assist us in praising God” (645).

Therefore, let us begin with the end in mind: a life of praising God.

Works Cited

Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 1.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3 and Volume 6, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

© 2025 Angela Hormberg