Psalm 001

1:1 How blessed is the one who does not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand in the pathway with sinners, or sit in the assembly of scoffers! 

The Hebrew word for “blessed” is אָשָׁר (asher), meaning happy. If one wants to be happy, then he will not follow the advice of the wicked. The wicked are those who oppose God’s Word. They live as though God does not exist. They do not study the Bible. They do not pray. They do not thank God for the food that they eat or the air that they breathe. They elevate their own human opinions above the Word of God.

It is important to note that Jesus never asked advice of anyone. He simply followed the will of the Father.

Those who are happy do not walk with sinners. They walk a different path. They follow the path of the Holy Spirit.

Those who are happy do not sit in an assembly with scoffers. Scoffers are those who mock the Word of God. They believe that they are right and the Bible is wrong. They mock the Word of God and those who believe it. Whenever a scoffer openly mocks the Bible, he is showing that he is totally depraved and evil. He cannot help it. The unregenerate sin nature causes the scoffer to hate and blaspheme God. 

1:2 Instead he finds pleasure in obeying the Lord’s commands; he meditates on his commands day and night. 

Those who are happy find pleasure and joy in studying the written Word of God. Bible study is not drudgery to them. 

Never does the Bible command itself to be read. It commands meditation. Many people read through the Bible hundreds of times, but they do not understand it. The reason is that they read it instead of meditating upon it. There is a difference. According to Ephesians 4, the Bible is to be studied through the teaching of a gifted pastor-teacher. This study may be by translations, dictionaries, commentaries, sermons, etc. The method of the Holy Spirit is to teach believers through other believers. He teaches the church how to grow inside itself.

1:3 He is like a tree planted by flowing streams; it yields its fruit at the proper time, and its leaves never fall off. He succeeds in everything he attempts. 

Those who are happy are like a tree which God planted near flowing streams. They are fruitful in serving God. They are successful in everything that they do for God.

1:4 Not so with the wicked! Instead they are like wind-driven chaff. 

The harvesters throw both the wheat and chaff into the air with a pitchfork. The wheat falls to the ground to be harvested. The chaff blows away and is discarded. The wicked are blown away like chaff. 

1:5 For this reason the wicked cannot withstand judgment, nor can sinners join the assembly of the godly. 

All of the wicked will stand in front of the Great White Throne Judgment. Every one of them will be pronounced guilty. Every one of them will be thrown into the Lake of Fire.

1:6 Certainly the Lord guards the way of the godly, but the way of the wicked ends in destruction. 

God watches over the godly. No one can touch God’s elect unless God allows them to do so. The wicked will die, be judged, and be sent to the Lake of Fire forever.

In closing, if one does not study and apply Bible doctrine at the deepest level, then they will never be happy in this lifetime.