Week 1: Planting
Worship: Endlessly-Bethel
Psalm 1:1-6
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+1%3A1-6&version=NASB
Day 1: Psalm 1:1
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
As we begin this study, I want you to notice that verse one starts with the word “How.” Normally, this is used to start a question, but here it is not. In fact it is using an exclamation point. Keep that in mind as we dig into this blessed man in verse one.
1. There three groups of people listed in verse one not including the blessed man. Who are they?
A. Wicked
B.
C.
2. What are the three things associated with each of these groups?
A. Counsel
B.
C.
3. What are the three things that the man, who is blessed, not do with them?
A. Walk in the counsel
B.
C.
Notice all three of these scenarios have to do with people and a close proximity. They have more to do with a form of companionship or a personal level of involvement.
The blessed man doesn’t WALK IN, STAND IN, or SIT IN their presence.
If he would plant himself in their presence, he would be greatly outnumbered. 1:many
4. What could happen in he planted his presence in an outnumbered situation?
Reflect:
1. Where do you plant your presence?
2. Do you ever find yourself in a situation where you feel outnumbered in your values?
3. If so, is this by choice or due to circumstances?
4. Is this a struggle? If so, how? If not, how?
Day 2: Psalm 1:2
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
1. In verse 1, where do the wicked, sinners, and scoffers find their delight?
A. In their own counsel
B.
C.
2. Where does the blessed man find his delight?
3. When does he find his delight?
I want to point out that this is a 1:1 ratio. I also want to point out that he is making a decision to meditate day and night on the law of the Lord. The outcome is that it is delightful which is a blessing.
I also want to point out that the scripture doesn’t say he is blessed because:
1. He walks in the counsel of Godly wisdom.
2. He stands in the path of righteous.
3. He sits in the seat of a pleasant person.
Although, those are all good things, the man is not blessed by keeping good company. He is not blessed because of humans.
He is blessed because he plants himself in the presence of God and delights in it.
4. In verse two it uses the verb meditate. What kind of conclusion can you come to when comparing meditate to the other verbs: walk, stand, sit?
Reflect:
1. Where do seek delight?
2. When you seek to delight in the word of God, do you notice a difference in your day?
Spending time with God in His Word allows you to be blessed by His Presence.
Day 3: Psalm 1:3
He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.
Verse three is stating the blessed man is like a tree.
What do we notice about this tree.
A. It is firmly planted
B. It is near a fresh water source, which is needed to survive.
C. It bears fruit.
D. It bears fruit in the season that is appropriate for that tree.
E. It’s leaves do not wither, which is not natural. Therefore it is operating in the supernatural.
F. Since the leaves do not wither, photosynthesis is constantly occurring. That is a key process for plant survival.
G. Day and night has its sources for survival: moonlight/sunlight for photosynthesis and the stream.
As an elementary school teacher, when I read this verse I think of erosion. Streams, naturally erode the banks and if you have ever been to a river, you can see tree roots exposed along the banks.
Although erosion is exposing the roots, the firmly planted trees help prevent massive erosion. The plant roots help secure and hold down the soil along the bank along with any other kind of plant life.
So if the blessed man is like this tree by the stream:
1. He multiplies at the right or appointed time.
2. He is able to be nourished day and night because he is planted by a stream which is the law of God.
3. He is always able to grow because he is able to access light, the law of God, since his leaf does not wither.
4. He is able to be firmly planted, because he is rooted in the law of God.
5. Therefore, he prospers because he is always a tree that will bear fruit.
Reflect:
1. How deep are your roots?
2. What are you rooted to?
3. Are you bearing fruit?
4. What does this say about where you plant your presence?
Day 4: Psalm 1:4
The wicked are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
Now the focus has shifted from the blessed man to the wicked. The wicked are compared to chaff which is the inedible part of the seed that is removed during the threshing process.
1. What are your thoughts about the chaff being removed from the seed compared to fruit bearing tree which therefore produces many seeds?
One of the ways the chaff was removed was by tossing the threshed wheat with a winnowing fork up in the air. The chaff would then be blown away by the wind since it is light while the rest would fall.
2. What are your thoughts about the chaff being so easily blown compared to the firmly planted tree?
3. It says that the wind DRIVES the wind away which means a force is separating it. What force separates the blessed man from the wicked, sinners, and scoffers?
Reflect:
1. Is there a process of separation or a driving out of the chaff in your life?
2. Whatever your answer is, how does it correlate to the time you spend meditating on the law of the Lord day and night.
Day 5: Psalm 1:5
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgement, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous
The switch continues here. Verse one told us what the blessed man does not do. Now we are seeing what the wicked and sinners will not get to do.
*The wicked will not stand in the judgement
* Sinners will not stand in the assembly of the righteous.
If they won’t stand in judgement, then they cannot receive mercy. If they are not in the assembly if the righteous, then they are far from people who are blessed and could witness the delight of the Lord.
1. Go back to verse four. What is causing this separation?
2. Go back to verses 1-2. What keeps the blessed man separated from the wicked and the sinners?
Reflect:
1. What is the opposite of blessed? Cursed!
If the blessed man would keep company with the wicked, sinners, and scoffers what intentional and unintentional curses could he receive?
2. Notice the wicked cannot stand in their own circumstances. The will be blown away. The blessed man chooses not to stand in the presence of the wicked. Instead the blessed man is planted in God’s presence day and night. What is the difference between standing and being planted?
Day 6: Psalm 1:6
For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish.
The blessed man meditates on the law of the Lord day and night.
1. Therefore, what is the instruction manual for the blessed man whose way is righteous?
2. Who created those “ways?”
3. Reflecting on the two questions above, explain why the Lord knows the way of the righteous?
4. Describe the relationship that exists between the Lord and the blessed man based on verse 2 and 6.
The way of the wicked has no source of life. The wicked, sinners, and scoffers don’t necessarily find their way in the same source. There is only one source and one way that brings delight and life. It works for everyone when we are in relationship day and night with the Lord.
5. If your source of delight is nothing, what do you become and what happens to you according to verse 6?
Reflect:
Notice the blessed man is one and chooses not to plant himself in a situation of wickedness or sin. He chooses not to be in a group where he is outnumbered by them.
However, by the end, the blessed man is like a tree producing fruit in season. Those fruit were a part of him. He is a multiplier.
Sometimes, we seem alone in this world as a Christian, but if you are meditating day and night with the Lord you become a multiplier. You get to stand in the judgement. You get to be in the assembly of righteous.
The wicked only have death to look forward to. Perish is defined in several ways: sudden death, rot, decay, complete destruction.
This should concern you when we think of unsaved people, prodigals, or apostates in our lives.
Their own sin will eventually separate them from the assembly of the righteous. But, being in a righteous crowd does not make anyone blessed.
Only being in relationship with Jesus Christ brings true blessings.
Pray that their heart turns to the Lord and they seek delight in the Word of God and pray that you continue growing roots by meditating on it day and night.
Note:
(This Study is not saying that we don’t reach out through ministry or mission based outreach. Sometimes going into enemy territory is necessary, but it is typically within a group setting, has been bathed with prayer, and has a purpose of speaking truth in love and not sharing/partaking in an experience of sin or wickedness.)
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