Week 16: Psalm 1:1-2

Psalm 1:1,2: Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seats of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD and on His law he meditates day and night.

1. David opens the Psalms with a blessing.  It can be re-read as "If you don't walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand with the sinners or count yourself among the scoffers, and your joy is in the LORD and meditating on Him, then you'll be blessed."  It seems simple enough.  One can imagine that if one takes delight in Yahweh and spends his time meditating on the Law of the LORD then they won't be found among the wicked, sinners, or scoffers.
1. This reminds me of 1 John 2:15-17.  We are to show the love of Jesus to the world--to the wicked, to the sinners, and to the scoffers--but we are not to count ourselves among their ranks.  We're to shine the light of the gospel to everyone, but warned against becoming ensnared by the world.
2. The counsel of the wicked.  The only counsel we need is the Counsel of God, found in his Word.
3. In the seats of scoffers.  A scoffer is someone who mocks or treats something/someone with contempt.  
2. Having just finished John Piper's Desiring God, it's easy to apply the term "Christian Hedonism" here.  The Lord promises blessings to those that delight in the law of the LORD.  Like the snowball effect, if we delight in God's Law, then we'll desire Him more and therefore be more blessed.  We'll want to read our bibles more.  We'll want to pray more.  We'll want to point all of our actions to God's glory.  Whether this blessing is temporal or eternal is irrelevant.  It could be either or both.
1. Blessed, if I am thinking correctly, can also be translated as "Happy."  In this case, that would make sense, but I'm not certain on this.
2. he meditates day and night.  Can you imagine this lifestyle?  All day and all night pondering over the Word of God.  Couple this with a lifestyle of constant prayer (1 Thes. 5:17) and it's no wonder that one would be happy.