“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.” (Psalm 1:1–2)

Psalm 1 begins with the Hebrew expression Ashrei Ha-Ish, an exclamation meaning, “Blessed is the man!” The verses that follow describe what kind of person is truly blessed. When we read this description, we may feel far from being a blessed person, because we have not lived that way. But that is not so, because we are in Jesus.

Jesus is the only one who has never followed the counsel of the wicked, stood in the way of sinners, or sat in the seat of mockers, and who delighted in the law of the LORD and meditated on it day and night. Therefore, Jesus has the wisdom and power to lead us, who are in Him, into the place of the blessed.

Jesus enables us to meditate on God’s Word every day so that we may come to understand God’s love revealed in that Word. When we come to know that love, we humble our hearts and walk humbly with God. Because this Jesus is with us, we are blessed people.

“And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” (Psalm 1:3)

It is only natural that a tree planted by a stream bears fruit in season and its leaves do not wither. The tree is planted by a stream where it receives a constant supply of water.

But there is a word here that deserves our attention: “planted.” The Hebrew word for “planted” is shatul, which means “planted” or “transplanted.” It means that the seed did not simply fall by chance and grow on its own, but was carefully transplanted by someone’s intention and hand.

Colossians 1:13 says:

“Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.”

Our being in Jesus is not the result of our own strength. It is because God Himself has transplanted us into Jesus. It is like a tree in dry ground being moved to the banks of a stream abundant with water.

In Jesus there is an abundance of the Word, enough to saturate our souls. Even when trials and hardships come, we are able to overcome them because God supplies us with His Word every day.

Psalm 92:12–13 paints the same picture:

“The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.”

This is true prosperity.

“The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.” (Psalm 1:4–5)

If the righteous are compared to a tree planted by a stream, the wicked are compared to chaff blown by the wind. The roots of the hearts of the righteous are connected to the Word of God, but the wicked have no such roots. So when the wind blows, there is no Word to hold them steady, and they have no choice but to be blown about wherever the wind takes them.

When grain is threshed and then winnowed, or tossed into the air, the heavy kernels fall down while the light chaff is carried off by the wind. John the Baptist used this image of the threshing floor to speak of Jesus:

“Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3:12)

In this world right now, the righteous and the wicked live side by side. But just as the wind separates grain from chaff in winnowing, on the day of God’s judgment the righteous and the wicked will be separated forever. At times the wicked appear to prosper and stand firm, but their end is not like that. This is why Asaph, who had envied the prosperity of the wicked, entered the sanctuary of God, understood their end, and said:

“Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors.” (Psalm 73:17–19)

“For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.” (Psalm 1:6)

Each person walks the path they have chosen, but before God there are ultimately only two paths: the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked.

God approves of the way of the righteous. The Hebrew word here, yada, originally means “to know.” That God knows the way of the righteous does not simply mean that He has information about that path. It means He knows our circumstances, our hearts, and even our weaknesses through and through. So the phrase “the LORD knows” carries the meaning that He knows, watches over, and cares for the way of the righteous.

The path the righteous walk is sometimes narrow and hard, difficult to travel. So it is a path on which we must seek and rely on God, and where His presence and help are absolutely necessary. The way of the wicked, on the other hand, is the wide, easy, comfortable road that many people take. Because it is self-centered, those on it do what is right in their own eyes rather than seeking God’s will.

Yet the ends of the two paths are vastly different. The way of the righteous leads to life, and the way of the wicked leads to destruction. So even when the righteous face present hardships, their path holds a future and a hope, while the way of the wicked, even if it offers a fleeting joy, has no hope.