Bible Verse Breakdown On How To Interact With the Wicked: Psalm 1

Psalm 1 is a bible verse breakdown and practical application showing us how to live our lives among the wicked. In this bible verse breakdown of Psalm 1, we will see the difference between the righteous and the wicked. And it begins like this.

God wants to bless people (Psalm 29:11; John 15:11; 17:13). Blessed means to be happy. He blesses our physical lives, but God’s blessings are primarily for our souls (Job 5:17; Psalm 146:5). Happiness comes from our relationship with God, not emotionally attached to our circumstances. Worldly peace and joy are temporary, but God’s peace and joy are eternal. So, who does God bless?

God blesses those who separate themselves in specific ways. As believers, Psalm 1 will instruct us on how to be separate from the world (2 Corinthians 6:14-18).

Psalm 1:1

Psalm 1:1 BSB; Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.

The blessed do not walk in the counsel of the wicked (sinful). Which means believers are not to seek advice on how to live their lives from the ungodly. Because the wicked (ungodly) do not seek the Lord, their help will bring destruction into your life. They create their own way to success and happiness. If you choose to listen to an ungodly person for advice, then your thinking begins to see things outside of God.

When we see things outside of God, this will lead us to walk on the path of the sinner. Listening to ungodly advice, we will begin to think we do not need God. This makes God’s moral view of life seem unjust, restrictive, and judgmental. The world does not want absolute truth; they want the truth to be relative to them.

When we see truth as relative, then we will sit with the mockers. When we sit with mockers, God is no longer in the picture. Because they despise God and His laws, the mockers’ moral compass will now be our guide in life. When we abandon God’s word, we shall live a life of devastation and sorrow, both now and forever.

But God tells us what to do to avoid this.

Psalm 1:2

Psalm 1:2 BSB; But his delight is in the Law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night.

We avoid falling for the ways of the ungodly when our hearts take pleasure and joy in God’s laws. God’s laws and commands are not a burden to those who love Christ. Reading, thinking about, and obeying the word of God strengthens our love, peace, and joy toward Him.

As we meditate day and night on His word, our faith (trust) deepens in the Lord. The bible draws a picture of what this looks like.

Psalm 1:3

Psalm 1:3 BSB; He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.

The one who lives to please God is a healthy tree. This represents a spiritually healthy believer in the Lord. When a tree is first planted, its roots are not very deep. This makes the tree vulnerable to storms, heat, and drought.

To overcome this, the tree purposefully grows its roots deep into the soil toward water. This gives the tree nourishment and stability it will need during storms and unfavorable conditions. The tree is not only strong, but it also produces fruit in its due season.

How Are We Like a Tree?

Just like people plant trees to mature, God plants us to grow to maturity in Christ. We live deliberately to establish a strong faith that produces godly fruit. How do we do that?

Jeremiah 17:7-8 BSB; 7 But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him. 8 He is like a tree planted by the waters that sends out its roots toward the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes, and its leaves are always green. It does not worry in a year of drought, nor does it cease to produce fruit.

To be a blessed man who trusts in the LORD, we need to read and study His word. We know He is faithful to His word because His word will begin to work in our lives. This will cause our faith and trust to grow in the Lord.

We will become confident that, wherever He places us, He will provide for our needs. Within our reliance on God, we thirst to know Him more intimately. This leads us to feed on His word. We come to understand that obeying His laws is not a burden but the delight of our soul.

As we stand firmly planted in and on Christ, the Holy Spirit will give us the courage to live godly before others. Jesus said it this way in John 15:4-5.

Read our bible study on “Embrace God’s Love – Be Rooted And Grounded In His Love”

After saying how the righteous are blessed, He says, “not so the wicked.” Their path is broad, which leads to external destruction. God explains what the wicked represent and what will happen.

Psalm 1:4-6

Psalm 1:4-6 BSB; 4 Not so the wicked! For they are like chaff driven off by the wind. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. 6 For the LORD guards the path of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

God compares the wicked to chaff. Chaff is a farming term that describes the useless part of the seed. During harvest time, the workers separate the wheat from the chaff. The workers sift through the wheat, and the wind blows the chaff away. Therefore, God does not bless the wicked because they do not delight in His word. They will not be healthy trees because God does not plant them.

God calls the wicked the chaff because, like the chaff, they do not stand on the Word of God. They rely solely on themselves as their compass, and they possess a wicked heart (Jeremiah 17:9). So, He is saying the moral compass of unbelievers is worthless and without substance. God examines a person’s heart, even if they appear to be a “good person” on the outside (1 Samuel 16:7).

Calling yourself good is not going to persuade the Lord to look at you differently (Psalm 53:1-3; Romans 3:10-12; Luke 19:19). Therefore, the wicked will not have everlasting life in heaven. Instead, they will perish.

The Way of the Wicked Will Perish

If the wicked continue to choose their way and stay on their path, they will perish. God is warning that rejection of faith in Jesus Christ has eternal consequences. The consequences are that when the unbeliever dies, they will go to the Great White Throne of judgment. They will have no defense! Jesus will not be their advocate between them and the judgment of God.

When God opens the books, including the book of life, this will reveal the ungodly’s immoral and unethical ways. Their guilt will be permanently held against them, and they are thrown into the lake of fire. Hell is a place of torment for the wicked and is absent of joy, peace, and love.

Everyone’s eternal destiny depends on faith in Jesus as the only way to be right with God. No one comes before God (the Father) except through His Son, Jesus the Messiah. Our lives should reflect our faith through our works. People should be able to see your fruit and know who you belong to (Acts 4:12-13). Our obedience is a reflection of us giving back to God the love and mercy we received by His grace.

Jesus is coming soon. When He appears, whose voice will be louder, God’s or the world’s?

Prayer

I pray He finds your heart thirsting for His voice, making it your focal point.

Colossians 1:9-12 BSB; 9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have full endurance and patience, and joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.