Psalm 1 reads as follows by from the New King James version of the Bible:
1 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;
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
3 He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.
4 The ungodly are not so,
But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6 For the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Although this psalm takes place in the context of people, both the congregation of the righteous and also the easy to find path of the sinners, this psalm is really talking to and contrasting what can happen to an individual. It is John verses John, Mary verses Mary and you verse you. There are two contrasting routes to take, and they are rather nearby. It’s talk about taking the path that sinners tread, meaning that this path can actually be taken. They are near enough in some way to give advice, or even sit with. Some of their advice might be quite compelling.
The primary contrast to this, that is taking their advice, sitting with them and taking their paths, is to delight in the law of the Lord and meditate on it day and night. This is done on an individual level, so the psalm is not first saying to go out and take the advice of the others that have good advice, but to internalize and meditate on the laws of the Lord. Day and night would mean rather continuously, and doesn’t mention a stopping point.
The streams of water would be the link up with the Lord, and the streams of his grace, his presence and goodness. This would tend to fruitful endeavors, and prosperous results and experiences in all that those who follow this path do.
What puts all this in jeopardy is following the path of the sinners. Indeed the paths of the wicked are in some ways navigable, but don’t take it.
The importance of this psalm is it is saying just how you can miss out on so much, by taking the wrong path as an individual. What God has for you, is not chaff that blows away with the wind. But that is what you get on the path to wickedness. And while that is bad enough, it is even worse because you are missing what you would have had, on the other way. I now have a pittance verses what I would have had I followed the good path. And this may have nothing to do with measures such as money. I could have a billion dollars and get the chaff that the wind drives away.
Most important is that God is watching over me as an individual. This watch involves awareness, alertness. Jesus told his disciples to wake up and watch in prayer with him in the garden.
The bottom line is that God is watching over the righteous. I could go astray, the question is am I still under God’s watch or is there some indication I’m erroneous. Don’t go any place or involve yourself in anything where God isn’t going with you.
With regards to prayer, since God is watching, ask for God’s view on the matter. There can be some real gray lines out there, and lack of discernment is possible. According to the psalm, evil is lurking close by and you can easily brush against it.
What this psalm is ultimately warning against, is you don’t want to compromise what
God has for you and is contained under his watch.
The wrong road is what you get there, verses what you would have gotten had you not otherwise chosen this way and had meditated on the law of the Lord day and night. Getting chaff that gets blown away by the wind hurts all the more contrasted against what could have been that was so much better.
There will be righteous around as well. There are trees, not one tree planted by the streams.
In verse 5, where it says therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, it is saying they will have no power as intercessors. For example, Moses was a great intercessor who stood in the gap for his people. Moses dialogued with the Lord, there was back and forth communication and discussion and the Lord came back to Moses with what He had to say on the matters being discussed. This was a privileged position. Elijah was an intercessor whose prayer could change weather patterns and the state of the land for years on end. The righteous will congregate, back then maybe it might have been a privilege akin to a seat on the Senate in Rome. The wicked will lose that privilege. That this psalm mentions this as a loss, means that some of these wicked could have been, great intercessors, privileged members of the congregation, had they not turned away. By making the wrong turn, and then following through, they have lost their intercessory powers. The initial call to meditate on the law of the Lord at the beginning of this psalm must have included intercessory prayer and the power to do that as this is what is being lost by not following that way and call and then turning aside from the call. At one point it might have been close, so these wicked might not have always been that way and more than likely knew the Lord, knew how to meditate on his law day and night but rejected that way and followed the ways of the wicked, whether they were enticed or otherwise. In all ways, this psalm is about what could have been, what could have been if these individuals had stayed the path of righteousness. Look even at recent history, quite brilliant and gifted people have been involved in the most heinous of crimes. What this psalm is saying, don’t let anything actually capture you except of the law of the Lord, and keep it right in front of you and in your meditations and before you choose, keep the meditations of your heart on the Lord and his the word of his law.
The law or precepts of the law will delight the soul. Verse one of this psalm talks about happiness. Happy are those who do not. Verse 2 mentions the delight that can be found in prayer and mediation. True happiness and delight is part of the discernment process. If for example, you hate your job, check and see if wickedness is nearby. The direct encounter with the Lord involves delight and the right paths involve happiness. Turns that don’t involve that should be put into immediate question as to what is actually going on. As this psalm is talking about contrasting routes or paths, and talks about being happy not to go on some paths, happiness is an important indicator spiritually. Give the Lord some happy proposals in prayer. Tell the Lord what would and what has made you happy.
The place of prosperity is spoken of in verse 3 which says from the New Oxford Annotated version of the Bible,” They are like trees, planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither, and in all they do, they PROSPER.”
The key verse in understanding this psalm and the prosperity it speaks of is verse 5 which says,” “ therefore the wicked will not stand in judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.”
There are 4 possible scenarios presented here. The major theme is that there is a standing that some do have in the congregation as intercessors for both themselves and others that results in prosperity both for themselves and others when that standing is gone into through the realm of intercessions, but the connection is not always direct so it is not always clearly understood that this is the case. Someone might intervene for one issue and the prosperity will come back in another area, so the direct link is not always observable.
But it is the power of intercession in prayer that directly relates to the prosperity and the places of prosperity that are spoken of in this psalm.
An example would again be the case of Elijah, who intervened for the weather on the whole earth, and the resultant answers affected things everywhere but also it came to Elijah personally. The spiritual truth is what you pray for on a wide basis, can spread and affect things everywhere but also affect you. But also, it may not be direct. Someone might intervene for the lands of Africa, and then the surfing conditions on this side of the Atlantic might arise from this prayer in a way that pleases the intercessor who is now going surfing, The direct cause of his intercession for Africa causing the good surfing conditions for him, isn’t clear but this is what is actually happening in the spiritual realm.
First would be those who have the standing in the congregation, and this standing would be also towards great intercessions or great intervening within the realm of prayer.
In the case of Elijah, he had the standing to intervene and went into this standing.
But Elijah, might have had this standing, but could have not used it or used it sparsely; he might have been distracted from his own prayer power by any number of things and while he could have the standing, it doesn’t automatically follow that he would exercise this standing.
Someone might have the ability to run a marathon at a good pace, but they may never get off the couch., but the standing to do this might still be there, but just not followed through upon.
So the second scenario is someone may have the standing, but may be using it lightly or under utilizing it.
The third scenario is also presented in this psalm. There are those who had the standing and turned their backs on it and traveled the road of perdition. The result was they were eventually driven away like chaff in the wind. They were in the third category of possibilities.
The 4th scenario is this, those who never had the standing, they might have been evildoers from the get go or in the realm of the Kingdom in some ways they weren’t chosen. Whatever the actual reasons are, they were never in the position of have the standing of someone like Elijah or the standing in the congregation. This psalm is not talking about that grouping.
This psalm is more so talking about the first 3 scenarios. There is a direct contrast from the standing of the great intercessor and those who had it and lost it. But scenario two is also important, there might be the case of what could have been, had those will this great standing, not underutilized it for any number of reasons.
Things can spread widely for better or for worse. The recent news talks of widespread financial ruin that just seems to be spreading everywhere. In lamentations Chapter 2 verse13 it says from the New King James version of the Bible” for your ruin is spread as wide as the sea, who can heal you?”
This is just to show how widely things can manifest from the spiritual realm and into the realm of the physical, and natural and in the case of Elijah the effects of his prayer spread throughout the whole earth in the physical realm of nature, even though he had exercised his intercession in the spiritual realm.
This psalm also relates to psalm 92 where it talks about ongoing blessings and prosperity with no drop off even at advancing agesa nd widely changing conditions.
While intercessions that do not deal with prosperity can result in prosperity from the spreading affect off this spiritual realm, there is also the call to go directly in the eye of the storm and pray for prosperity for yourself and others.
The places of prosperity are indeed described in verse, 3
He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.
This verse is talking about the one person enjoying prosperity that is rooted and directed upon him, This place of prosperity could however be from the spreading of prosperity, even a result of his own prayers and he is within the places of prosperity that may be manifold but are also directly upon him. But this doesn’t exclude the possibility of others sharing in this.
It is also interesting that this Garden of Eden like image is presented in the first psalm and this is showing that ideals such as this are still available.
In 3 John verse 2 it says,”
2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. 3 For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
In this same verse it is talking about prosperity to one individual and also speaking of the brethren.
There is a mention of the prosperity of the soul, and prosperity in all things which would include the material.
But the idea of all things is important in that, someone could have material wealth and if lot’s of things out there are going wrong, it will affect their overall sense of prosperity. Even a harsh conversation is one of those things that can leave someone feeling down. So prosperity is an all encompassing concept in the context of these verses.
Also, the verse is saying that he is praying that he would prosper, so it is correct to go right into the eye of the storm and pray for prosperity for others. Obviously, John had the standing to do this. A good route to the places of prosperity is intercessory prayer for others that they would prosper in the ways mentioned in this verse from John, and that there is a connectivenss to prosperity, health, wealth and prosperity of the soul all of which is to be the subject of prayer and intercessions. It might not be a consecutiveness that you can identify as things don't spreak uniformly. Just exactly how the rains of prosperity will fall is uncertain, just as we don’t know exactly how natural rainfall will manifest in a given storm. But prayers will bring us to places of prosperity, although the preciseness of this place is unknown.
Finally, prosperity is also a place of discernment as is happiness. If for example a work place is not prosperous and not happy for you, you need to examine if also there is evil nearby that is part of the reason for this, and there may be the need for a separation.
The places of prosperity are found in correlation with the standing in the congregation that should be maintained and cultivated to action.
1 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;
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
3 He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.
4 The ungodly are not so,
But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6 For the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Although this psalm takes place in the context of people, both the congregation of the righteous and also the easy to find path of the sinners, this psalm is really talking to and contrasting what can happen to an individual. It is John verses John, Mary verses Mary and you verse you. There are two contrasting routes to take, and they are rather nearby. It’s talk about taking the path that sinners tread, meaning that this path can actually be taken. They are near enough in some way to give advice, or even sit with. Some of their advice might be quite compelling.
The primary contrast to this, that is taking their advice, sitting with them and taking their paths, is to delight in the law of the Lord and meditate on it day and night. This is done on an individual level, so the psalm is not first saying to go out and take the advice of the others that have good advice, but to internalize and meditate on the laws of the Lord. Day and night would mean rather continuously, and doesn’t mention a stopping point.
The streams of water would be the link up with the Lord, and the streams of his grace, his presence and goodness. This would tend to fruitful endeavors, and prosperous results and experiences in all that those who follow this path do.
What puts all this in jeopardy is following the path of the sinners. Indeed the paths of the wicked are in some ways navigable, but don’t take it.
The importance of this psalm is it is saying just how you can miss out on so much, by taking the wrong path as an individual. What God has for you, is not chaff that blows away with the wind. But that is what you get on the path to wickedness. And while that is bad enough, it is even worse because you are missing what you would have had, on the other way. I now have a pittance verses what I would have had I followed the good path. And this may have nothing to do with measures such as money. I could have a billion dollars and get the chaff that the wind drives away.
Most important is that God is watching over me as an individual. This watch involves awareness, alertness. Jesus told his disciples to wake up and watch in prayer with him in the garden.
The bottom line is that God is watching over the righteous. I could go astray, the question is am I still under God’s watch or is there some indication I’m erroneous. Don’t go any place or involve yourself in anything where God isn’t going with you.
With regards to prayer, since God is watching, ask for God’s view on the matter. There can be some real gray lines out there, and lack of discernment is possible. According to the psalm, evil is lurking close by and you can easily brush against it.
What this psalm is ultimately warning against, is you don’t want to compromise what
God has for you and is contained under his watch.
The wrong road is what you get there, verses what you would have gotten had you not otherwise chosen this way and had meditated on the law of the Lord day and night. Getting chaff that gets blown away by the wind hurts all the more contrasted against what could have been that was so much better.
There will be righteous around as well. There are trees, not one tree planted by the streams.
In verse 5, where it says therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, it is saying they will have no power as intercessors. For example, Moses was a great intercessor who stood in the gap for his people. Moses dialogued with the Lord, there was back and forth communication and discussion and the Lord came back to Moses with what He had to say on the matters being discussed. This was a privileged position. Elijah was an intercessor whose prayer could change weather patterns and the state of the land for years on end. The righteous will congregate, back then maybe it might have been a privilege akin to a seat on the Senate in Rome. The wicked will lose that privilege. That this psalm mentions this as a loss, means that some of these wicked could have been, great intercessors, privileged members of the congregation, had they not turned away. By making the wrong turn, and then following through, they have lost their intercessory powers. The initial call to meditate on the law of the Lord at the beginning of this psalm must have included intercessory prayer and the power to do that as this is what is being lost by not following that way and call and then turning aside from the call. At one point it might have been close, so these wicked might not have always been that way and more than likely knew the Lord, knew how to meditate on his law day and night but rejected that way and followed the ways of the wicked, whether they were enticed or otherwise. In all ways, this psalm is about what could have been, what could have been if these individuals had stayed the path of righteousness. Look even at recent history, quite brilliant and gifted people have been involved in the most heinous of crimes. What this psalm is saying, don’t let anything actually capture you except of the law of the Lord, and keep it right in front of you and in your meditations and before you choose, keep the meditations of your heart on the Lord and his the word of his law.
The law or precepts of the law will delight the soul. Verse one of this psalm talks about happiness. Happy are those who do not. Verse 2 mentions the delight that can be found in prayer and mediation. True happiness and delight is part of the discernment process. If for example, you hate your job, check and see if wickedness is nearby. The direct encounter with the Lord involves delight and the right paths involve happiness. Turns that don’t involve that should be put into immediate question as to what is actually going on. As this psalm is talking about contrasting routes or paths, and talks about being happy not to go on some paths, happiness is an important indicator spiritually. Give the Lord some happy proposals in prayer. Tell the Lord what would and what has made you happy.
The place of prosperity is spoken of in verse 3 which says from the New Oxford Annotated version of the Bible,” They are like trees, planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither, and in all they do, they PROSPER.”
The key verse in understanding this psalm and the prosperity it speaks of is verse 5 which says,” “ therefore the wicked will not stand in judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.”
There are 4 possible scenarios presented here. The major theme is that there is a standing that some do have in the congregation as intercessors for both themselves and others that results in prosperity both for themselves and others when that standing is gone into through the realm of intercessions, but the connection is not always direct so it is not always clearly understood that this is the case. Someone might intervene for one issue and the prosperity will come back in another area, so the direct link is not always observable.
But it is the power of intercession in prayer that directly relates to the prosperity and the places of prosperity that are spoken of in this psalm.
An example would again be the case of Elijah, who intervened for the weather on the whole earth, and the resultant answers affected things everywhere but also it came to Elijah personally. The spiritual truth is what you pray for on a wide basis, can spread and affect things everywhere but also affect you. But also, it may not be direct. Someone might intervene for the lands of Africa, and then the surfing conditions on this side of the Atlantic might arise from this prayer in a way that pleases the intercessor who is now going surfing, The direct cause of his intercession for Africa causing the good surfing conditions for him, isn’t clear but this is what is actually happening in the spiritual realm.
First would be those who have the standing in the congregation, and this standing would be also towards great intercessions or great intervening within the realm of prayer.
In the case of Elijah, he had the standing to intervene and went into this standing.
But Elijah, might have had this standing, but could have not used it or used it sparsely; he might have been distracted from his own prayer power by any number of things and while he could have the standing, it doesn’t automatically follow that he would exercise this standing.
Someone might have the ability to run a marathon at a good pace, but they may never get off the couch., but the standing to do this might still be there, but just not followed through upon.
So the second scenario is someone may have the standing, but may be using it lightly or under utilizing it.
The third scenario is also presented in this psalm. There are those who had the standing and turned their backs on it and traveled the road of perdition. The result was they were eventually driven away like chaff in the wind. They were in the third category of possibilities.
The 4th scenario is this, those who never had the standing, they might have been evildoers from the get go or in the realm of the Kingdom in some ways they weren’t chosen. Whatever the actual reasons are, they were never in the position of have the standing of someone like Elijah or the standing in the congregation. This psalm is not talking about that grouping.
This psalm is more so talking about the first 3 scenarios. There is a direct contrast from the standing of the great intercessor and those who had it and lost it. But scenario two is also important, there might be the case of what could have been, had those will this great standing, not underutilized it for any number of reasons.
Things can spread widely for better or for worse. The recent news talks of widespread financial ruin that just seems to be spreading everywhere. In lamentations Chapter 2 verse13 it says from the New King James version of the Bible” for your ruin is spread as wide as the sea, who can heal you?”
This is just to show how widely things can manifest from the spiritual realm and into the realm of the physical, and natural and in the case of Elijah the effects of his prayer spread throughout the whole earth in the physical realm of nature, even though he had exercised his intercession in the spiritual realm.
This psalm also relates to psalm 92 where it talks about ongoing blessings and prosperity with no drop off even at advancing agesa nd widely changing conditions.
While intercessions that do not deal with prosperity can result in prosperity from the spreading affect off this spiritual realm, there is also the call to go directly in the eye of the storm and pray for prosperity for yourself and others.
The places of prosperity are indeed described in verse, 3
He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.
This verse is talking about the one person enjoying prosperity that is rooted and directed upon him, This place of prosperity could however be from the spreading of prosperity, even a result of his own prayers and he is within the places of prosperity that may be manifold but are also directly upon him. But this doesn’t exclude the possibility of others sharing in this.
It is also interesting that this Garden of Eden like image is presented in the first psalm and this is showing that ideals such as this are still available.
In 3 John verse 2 it says,”
2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. 3 For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
In this same verse it is talking about prosperity to one individual and also speaking of the brethren.
There is a mention of the prosperity of the soul, and prosperity in all things which would include the material.
But the idea of all things is important in that, someone could have material wealth and if lot’s of things out there are going wrong, it will affect their overall sense of prosperity. Even a harsh conversation is one of those things that can leave someone feeling down. So prosperity is an all encompassing concept in the context of these verses.
Also, the verse is saying that he is praying that he would prosper, so it is correct to go right into the eye of the storm and pray for prosperity for others. Obviously, John had the standing to do this. A good route to the places of prosperity is intercessory prayer for others that they would prosper in the ways mentioned in this verse from John, and that there is a connectivenss to prosperity, health, wealth and prosperity of the soul all of which is to be the subject of prayer and intercessions. It might not be a consecutiveness that you can identify as things don't spreak uniformly. Just exactly how the rains of prosperity will fall is uncertain, just as we don’t know exactly how natural rainfall will manifest in a given storm. But prayers will bring us to places of prosperity, although the preciseness of this place is unknown.
Finally, prosperity is also a place of discernment as is happiness. If for example a work place is not prosperous and not happy for you, you need to examine if also there is evil nearby that is part of the reason for this, and there may be the need for a separation.
The places of prosperity are found in correlation with the standing in the congregation that should be maintained and cultivated to action.