Psalm 1: Two paths before the LORD
The LORD guards those who delight in His instruction, while the way of the wicked perishes.
Where Psalm 1 sits
- In the story
- Act IV, Israel: Exodus–Malachi · The Kingdom, c. 1050–930 BC
- In the Bible
- Old Testament · Wisdom & Poetry · chapter 1 of 150 in Psalms
- In Psalms
- Book I: the way of faith and the praying king, 1–41
- Before
- Psalms opens here
- After
- Psalm 2: Take refuge in the appointed Son
Psalm 1 summary
The one who rejects wicked counsel and delights in the LORD's law bears lasting fruit (1–3). The wicked lack the righteous person's security and cannot stand in judgment (4–6).
Psalm 1 in context
- Speaking
- An unnamed psalmist.
- Written for
- Readers being taught the difference between the righteous and wicked ways.
- Around it
- The opening psalm contrasts two ways of life. Psalm 2 adds the call to take refuge in the LORD's anointed King. Neither promises a life without suffering.
The sections of Psalm 1
Read Psalm 1
BOOK I
Psalms 1–41
The Two Paths
1Blessed 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.
2But his delight is in the Law of the LORD,
and on His law he meditates day and night.
3He 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.
4Not so the wicked!
For they are like chaff driven off by the wind.
5Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6For the LORD guards the path of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
Berean Standard Bible, 6 verses. The BSB is in the public domain.
Around Psalm 1
Near it in Book I: the way of faith and the praying king
- Psalm 2
- Psalm 3
- Psalm 4
- Psalm 5
- Psalm 6
- Psalm 7
- Psalm 8
- Psalm 9
- Psalm 10
- Psalm 11
- Psalm 12
- Psalm 13
Read alongside
Questions on Psalm 1
What distinguishes the two paths before the LORD?
The answers are in TheoMaps Challenges.
Plus What TheoMaps holds for Psalm 1
- How Psalm 1 points to Christ
- What each of its 2 sections says, and how one leads into the next
- Why that chapter belongs beside it
- The answers to its questions, in Challenges
TheoMaps Plus opens every book the way Genesis is open, on the map, with Challenges to help you remember it.