PSALM 1 EXPLAINED | QUICK BIBLE STUDY

0:00Psalm 1. Let's do it. I'm so excited, guys. Welcome back to The Way. I hope you're having a great day. I'm Zach. I'm joined by the wonderful, the awesome, the amazing, Izzy Madivan. Full name. Izzy, Isabel Joy Madivan. That's huge. You can now find my birth certificate on the internet. That's crazy. Guys, open up your Bibles to Psalm 1. I'm really excited because I love the Psalms. I was just saying, Psalms is probably my favorite book of the Bible. And Psalm 1 especially, man. Kicks it off.

0:38kicks off. It's just good. It's good. Hey, we're going to jump in. But before we do so, you guys know our vision here is to reach every young person with the good news of Jesus Christ. And we just can't do that alone. So we need you to like, comment, subscribe, all of that sort of thing. If you're watching this on YouTube, if you've got it on Apple podcasts or on Spotify, That feels kind of crazy. Maybe rate the podcast. That was crazy. Yeah, guys, that just really helps with the algorithm and all that. You already know that, but we want everyone to hear the good news. So make sure you do that for Jesus' sake. Don't do it for us. If you love Jesus, give us a five star rating.

1:36Hey, let's get into it. Do you want to read what you're reading NIV? Mm-hmm. Do you want to read the NIV? We're literally just going to read Psalm 1 straight through, and then we're going to talk about it. Yeah. And, hey, could I just actually say a quick prayer before we get into this? Yes. Let me pray. Lord, I pray that you would speak to us through your word and that you would reveal anything it is that you want us to talk about and you want the viewers and the listeners to particularly take away. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Give us a read-through. Amen.

2:11Yeah, so this is, I'm doing NIV, and I've already noticed there are some words that are slightly different in your translation than mine. But that's kind of like a cool thing, because it means we've got different words to pull apart and learn more from. So, Psalm 1. Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked, or stand in the way that sinners take, or sit in the company of mockers. but whose delight is in the law of the Lord and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever they do prospers.

2:47Not so the wicked. They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction. Shoot, man. Bro, going back straight to verse 1. I loved how yours described the walks not, I think it said in step. Yeah. The blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked. Yeah.

3:23Like yours is so much more practical. Mine says, blessed is the one who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. Like I feel like it's more metaphorical. But I loved yours. Can you read yours again? That first verse? Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers. I mean, something I love about this psalm is, as we're going to see, it really develops this idea that there's like two ways to live, right? Yeah. There's one way in which you do sit in the seat of scoffers and you do spend time with mockers and you do walk in the way of the wicked. But there's another way, which comes in verse 2, where you delight in the Lord and in his way of life and you meditate on that day and night.

4:15which I think is a really cool contrast. I think a question that's going to come out of this, or at least a question that I want to be asking right from the beginning and at the end as well, that we can circle back to is, what way of life are we walking in right now? I think that's something I want to reflect on as we go through this. And my question to you, I think, right from the beginning is, What do you think it looks like in our day and age to stand in, I don't know, I don't have my eyes, stand in the way of sinners, sit in the seat of scoffers? Like what does that actually look like for us? Because I feel like it's kind of cryptic language.

4:52Yeah. Well, I think like this Psalm, as you were saying, it shows the two contrasts of like, basically how to like live in the way of God's way and then how to live in the way of it's not so much God's way. I don't know if it's as black and white as you're either one or the other. I don't know what I think. I don't know. It could be that actually it's like we have a choice to walk in which way. and there's there's ways there's stuff that we can do and there's things that we choose not to do um to walk in the way that is more the godly way because i don't think anyone wakes up and goes i want to be wicked um right right right but we also have to wake up and purposely be like oh i want to be godly though i want to walk in that way um i i like what you've said there about like you're so right that you can kind of live in both. Yeah. And in certain areas of your life, be on one path, and in certain other areas of your life, be on another. Yeah, that's cool. That makes sense. So I think even that question you're asking of like, which way are we walking? I don't think it's necessarily like, in my life, which way am I walking? It could be like, actually in this situation, where am I walking? In this friendship, how am I walking? That's so good.

6:02So I think that also makes it a bit more practical because otherwise we're all going to be like, well, we're all good. So shoot, you're so right. But that does get a bit confusing later on when it says, you know, the fate of wicked and whatnot. But anyway, we'll just, we'll get onto that. I'll let Zach speak on that one. I think, yeah, this first one, I think it's, this word blessed is like, is to be right. It's like, it's walking the straight path. It's like, blessed is content and all that. And it speaks about how the blessed man does not do certain things. Like there's certain things that a blessed man or the man that's living rightly, like...

6:39chooses to not do things so that's when it then gives us the list of like to walk in step with the wicked or have counts from the wicked which is your translation true which i actually think is a really i liked that translation more than mine should we just swap bibles no okay my bad my bad but i think it's actually we all get given advice from so many people and we have to discern or work out is that godly is that true and that could even be our own advice it's like what are we saying to ourself is that godly is that true but actually as blessed as the one who um you know delights in the law is the like what you do correctly is like the the verse too and it's like actually as it's not someone who just takes any counsel and takes that as bible It's like, no, it's actually, we don't step in that way. We can work out what is God's way and what not and what's not. What not, what's not. And what not. What kind of hit me in, in when, when we just read that was the mockers or like scoffers, I think it says in some translations.

7:47I feel like a modern way I've been seeing myself kind of walking in that recently is like judgment of others. And seeing others' actions and kind of thinking of myself as higher than that. Which I think is kind of difficult because it's like the one who walks in the way of the Lord doesn't judge others for naught. Yes. You know what I mean? Sorry, that took me a second to process what you said. But I think it's, I've found it easy since I've started walking with the Lord to start to look at people who aren't and put myself in the seat where I judge them, where actually like.

8:31I, that's not, that's not what the Lord is calling me to do. He's not calling me to judge others. Um, I think that's, that's like, like gossip. I need to remove that. I don't know if that's necessarily my interpretation of like being in the company of mockers, but I love that that's where your mind goes. Um, because that's very much like self-reflective. Do you know what I mean? What were you thinking? I think it's more for me, it's like mockers are people that are mocking God. Mockers are people that are like, like making you feel smaller because it's like they're laughing at it.

9:00where actually we should be confident and we can boast in who God is. Real. And I was reminded actually of the proverb that, my gosh, my dad said to me so many times growing up, which is about like wise walk with the wise and that their companions were fools or fall folly or like become foolish. Yeah. and it's actually who we spend our time with we become like and actually if we're in the company of mockers the company of those that make fun of you for being a christian if that's your soul community and who you're walking with and like you're sitting in their company you're having you know that's your main community and actually that will really impact you and your confidence in your faith and your god is wow that's super interesting There's definitely a lot. Yeah. It says blessed is the one who does not do that. But then in verse two, it also says what the blessed person does do. Yeah. Which is, if I can read my translation of verse two. Go crazy. The ESV says, his delight is in the law of the Lord. And on his law, he meditates day and night. Let me break that down a bit. Let's break that down. What's the law? What's the law?

10:09The law is actually the word Torah in Hebrew, which literally means like the instruction of the Lord. But if you were to go in the context of the time of who would have been originally reading this around the time of like King David, the Torah was literally our first five books of the Bible. So Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. that's actually called the Torah because that was God's original instruction through Moses to his people. So it's kind of interesting for us now reading this because obviously we have a different lens. So I was thinking in trying to kind of like prepare for this podcast, what is the instruction of the Lord now? And I came across 2 Timothy 3.16, which talks about The whole scripture, the whole Bible is God-breathed and useful for teaching and instruction. So I think we could almost read this, like I don't know how sound this is, but this is definitely my opinion, that we could read this, that the blessed person has their delight in the scripture and the way of life of the Lord. And specifically, I think Jesus teaching in the gospels, and that this blessed person meditates on this, like literally chews it over.

11:40and mulls over it and sits in it and reads it day and night, like constantly, like going back to how you were talking about, this applies to every situation. I'm now thinking, actually, this person meditates on the Lord's way of life constantly in every situation. Like it's not like there's moments where they are pursuing the Lord. It's like in every moment, they are seeking the Lord. In every situation, they are constantly thinking, what does the Lord want me to do? And what would he be doing if he was in my shoes? Which I think is kind of sick.

12:18and this word like meditation i also wanted to touch on a bit because i think um in other religions or in society meditation like that's kind of used a lot to like empty your mind and it's like this is how i find peace actually in the christian faith meditation is actually about thinking and pondering and filling your mind with the truth of jesus so it's like when we're practicing meditation it's not that we're sat there emptying our mind is actually we're purposefully thinking about Jesus and his word.

12:49I never thought about that. Wow. I actually, no, because that really connects with me because I had a conversation with my uncle a while ago. He was telling me about like kind of his own spirituality. And he was telling me like, yeah, when you meditate, focus on your breath. Like that's something you should focus on to empty your mind, to basically give you something to focus on that's not kind of the world and the things around you so that you can just kind of be at one with everything.

13:19And I don't know. I thought it was kind of a cool concept, but you're a hundred percent right. Like we're not, we're not just meant to like disassociate from everything. No, that's not how you find true peace or it's you try to find true peace when you're filled with, with Jesus. Cause he is peace. Right. So that's how we meditate. Meditate on these words. Yeah. Not on nothing. I like verse three. Tell me about verse three. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever they do prospers. Sounds lovely, doesn't it? Sounds flippin' lovely. Like a tree planted by streams of water. Dude. Dude. Dude. That's a necessity. Yeah. That's a necessity. When was the last time you saw a tree flourishing in the desert? That's rare. Yeah.

14:15Or they're a bit like gross looking trees. Gross looking. Like cactus, but spiky. You don't know if it's even going to be around the next day. Like sandstorm might just blow it right out. It's got deep roots, that one, to try and find the water. So instead- Instead. planted by streams. Have you ever seen like, like there's, there's satellite pictures of rivers that are literally taken from like space. And it's a patch of green that follows the river and everywhere. Once you go outside of the river, it's just dust. It's nothing. There's no life. But around the river is green. That's lovely, isn't it? Bro. I think, I think, This person who meditates on the law of the Lord, who meditates on Jesus' teaching and puts into practice in every situation they find themselves in, they find that same life even amidst anything that might be coming on around them.

15:06Yeah. Well, I suppose like a stream is like, it's a continuous source of life. It's not going nowhere. So it's like, that's actually what it's saying is like when we're planted, when we're rooted in Jesus or whatever it's saying, that it's like a tree that's next to this continuous source of life. And that's what brings us life because we've got what we need, which is the word. Can we, can we talk about the fact that though, life does not always feel like thriving. Uh huh.

15:36Oh, yeah. Sorry. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. That was crazy. I find it interesting that it says it is planted by streams of water and its leaf does not wither. So it's like this person is not passing away. But notice it yields its fruit, not constantly, not always, but in its season. Yeah. Yeah. That implies that there are seasons in this person's life where they aren't bearing fruit. Yeah. But I'm going to read, and then I'm going to return, but whose leaf does not wither, whatever, like, yeah, whatever deprospers. Leaf is the sign of life, right? And it's like this whole, like, evergreen, like, there's leaves there. But fruit is the thing that comes in seasons, which, and that just, it takes time. And again, if you're using the analogy of, like, a tree...

16:31Again, that doesn't have fruit all year round. That's just not how it works. And it even speaks about that in John 15 and the vine. And there's lots of analogies that surround fruit growing and all that stuff. But I'm also reminded of like Moses. And like in the Exodus, when they're in this like long wilderness season, where it's like that didn't, they seem to be waiting for, it's maybe so unlinked, but in my head it is where I, it is in my head. I don't know where you're going with this, but I'm excited. Basically, it's like fruit for me feels, I'm actually going to come back to that. Yeah.

17:06I'm having a subplot in my head. But fruit for me is like almost like that's life, that's joy, that's whatever, that's God doing stuff and you seeing the evidence of that. And it's almost like in the seasons when that's not there, that feels like the wilderness season. So for Moses, I'm like, he was in this wilderness until he got to the promised land. So in my head, I'm like, is the promised land the fruit? However, I don't know if I actually do think that because I think sometimes fruit isn't what we, it's not comfortability. It's not us getting what we want. Fruit is actually the Lord working in us, thinking about the fruit of the spirit of joy and peace, patience, kindness, all of those ones. And so actually even within the wilderness season, fruit can look a bit different. Yeah.

17:43Um, cause I think I've definitely been in seasons where I'm like, this is hard. I feel like I'm in a desert. I feel like I have no water around me, but I'm clutching onto what I think is there. And I look back and I go, you know what? I did see my heart becoming softer, becoming more loving, becoming patient. So actually, even when I couldn't see the fruit, God was like preparing that in it. but it's not all that massive ramble to say is that sometimes we don't see the fruit. Sometimes it takes a long time to go there. A hundred percent. Especially if it's like, we've just become a Christian and it's like, Oh my gosh, I expect my whole life to be transformed and my heart to be changed. And it's like, I mean, sometimes there's massive transformations, but I know a lot from my experience is actually a lot more of a slow and steady pace. A hundred percent. That like quote that is the, um, like, um, obedience in the same direction, which is like, it's more like, uh, um the steady like i'm taking steps in the right way instead of like life has changed and i've now got all this fruit that was a really unstructured ramble but hopefully you can summarize that that makes sense i think what stands out to me from what you said is growth is not always visible and sometimes even it might feel like you're taking steps backwards

19:03And like, man, oh man, I was chatting with someone recently. I was saying like, why can't I just like mature instantly? Why can't I walk out of sin instantly and be healed from my hurt instantly? But there's so much value in the process. And like you're saying, there's so much value in times when you don't see it because that's when your commitment is exposed. Praise the Lord. That's really true, actually. Even thinking of, our walk last week we went on a walk and I just was I wasn't very happy was I was thinking of this I didn't want to bring it up because it's raw but yeah you're right and it's actually like I'm like I just want this to change I just want to move on and actually it's this even this is a reminder which is like I have to trust that in this time that there will be fruit that grows from it. That is like, that's where it's like, I will be firmly planted next to God and I will, like it's good truths to remind yourself even in those times, I guess, because I think it's, it's easy to say when you're out of it, but like, oh yeah, you're in those seasons. And it's like, when you're in it, you're like, what is this happening to me? I'm proud of you for sticking it out though. Thanks. Unreal. Unreal. Unreal. It can get real difficult.

20:15Yeah. That's why you need some good friends, not mockers, to be beside you. Am I right? Shut up, man. Yeah. Shout out. Hey, the wicked aren't committed like that, though. That's so real. It says the wicked are not so, but are like chaff. They're like chaff. Chaff. Let's talk about chaff. Chaff. Chaff. Do you know what chaff is? Did you? I've now researched it. I didn't by like just reading it. I kept making jokes. I mean, yeah, why would you know what it was? No, I don't think it's usual vocab, is it? Not for us. I wonder if they would have just been like talking about chaff back in the day. They'd be like, oh yeah, chaff, classic. Classic. So what is chaff? Do you want to tell us?

20:53Chaff. Yeah, sure. Chaff is picture you're harvesting wheat. Okay. Almost like, um, almost like how a banana has a skin, like a peel that you would remove and you're not going to eat. Like it's not useful. You throw it away. Like a peanut. Sure. Actually, that's a really good example. Also, like a peanut has a shell, you would remove the shell and throw it away to get at the inner parts which you eat. But you need to crack the shell and sometimes you crack the peanut a little bit To basically break it open and then peel it away. So similarly, okay, with wheat, there's like this kernel that's around the useful wheat that you would take to make flour with. So you can make bread and all these other different pancakes if you're into that, I don't know. I love pancakes. You love pancakes. So say you wanted to make pancakes, you would have to get rid of that outer shell. That's the chaff. But here's what's interesting. Okay.

21:53Chaff is less dense significantly than the useful grain in the wheat. Does that make sense? So if you throw the whole kernel in the air after you've like broken it a little bit to separate them, you throw the whole thing in the air. The one will drop like a bowling ball, the useful stuff. The chaff will fall like a feather slowly and the wind will just carry it away. It'll be gone. So it's so like- Suddenly you're left with only what you want, only the good stuff. So it's so just weak and- It's useless. Useless that the wind literally blows it away. The wind literally blows it away. So, okay, having all of that flipping knowledge, fuck it- I think like drawing that idea of chaff and that understanding back to the comparison that it's drawing. It's like the opposite idea of someone who is planted, who is rooted, who is full of life and is sustained in any circumstance. It's like instead of that...

23:01the wicked person is blown about. They aren't rooted. They're not full of life. They're like, yeah, kind of don't have substance, if that makes sense. Well, I guess that's exactly what it's trying to draw out, where it says not so the wicked. Like it is a direct comparison to this, exactly what you're saying, to this tree that has this source of life, to instead something that is literally just as it's thrown, the wind just blows it away. Like the contrast is...

23:30A lot. And so actually, which one would we rather be? One that's rooted? I think I'd take a tree. Rooted and there's difficult seasons, but we get through. Or do you want to be just like literally the wind blows and you're miles that way? Yeah. No, thanks. The flying sounds... No, keep on. It's crazy because it actually develops this a little bit theologically. Like it gets kind of crazy in verse five. Okay. It kind of just explains... what it's talking about. Mine says, therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous shoot man. That sounds intense, doesn't it? For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. The wicked will not stand in the judgment, intense a little bit intense basically saying that those that are like the sinners or choose to live the ungodly way like they they don't have the glorious future that we're promised as as christians and maybe this is where it gets a bit more like black and white of those that believe in god and live his way and know how um no jesus compared to those that don't and what the future could look like but it does feel a little bit intense doesn't it i guess it is

24:43I think, yeah, I was trying to understand what this word judgment means. And I read a comparison to literally a court of law where someone was saying this word would basically be used for when someone came forward in a trial. And the judge would make a decision whether or not they would judge. Stand and leave the court or go to jail and be punished. And basically, like, I think what it's saying is essentially the wicked who choose to walk away from the Lord in their lives will basically be found guilty in the Lord's court of law.

25:25I don't think it's actually trying to talk about specifically what that looks like. I think we could have a whole separate conversation about what does that judgment look like? What is that punishment? How long does it last? Where does it happen? All of those sorts of things. Great questions. And I feel like good things to look into, but I don't think that's what it's trying to say. No. I think what it's trying to say is that actually there are, there are consequences for the things that we choose to do or not do. Yeah. It's real. I think that's, you're probably bang on. Like that's what this Psalm is about. It's not opening up this big theological stuff. It's actually just showing the contrast of the decisions that we make.

26:06um and then like verse six it's lovely my um translation is a bit different to yours but for the lord watches over the way of the righteous i think that is what's your translation dude mine says the lord knows the way of the righteous which i flip in love i was trying to think i read somewhere someone was saying well the lord knows everything He actually does know what the wicked are doing and he knows what the righteous are doing. So it must be referring to something else. So I thought I'd look up what this word knows is. And I found it's this Hebrew word, which I think is pronounced yada. Absolutely bilingual.

26:47Absolutely bilingual. And I looked up where does this verse come or where does this word come up in other verses? And it turns out, this is kind of funny, it is used in the Old Testament pretty much every time it talks about a husband and a wife getting married and then consecrating their marriage, i.e. having sex. Here's what I found. Here's what I found cool about that. Okay. Tying it back, bring it back to earth. That implies this intimate, loving, involved relationship, which I think is the relationship that the Lord has with people who choose to walk with him.

27:30It's not that he like knows about them necessarily more, but it's that he's intimately involved with them in the same way that a married couple is involved with each other's lives. And that's why this person is sustained. It's because the Lord is intimately involved in the things that they're doing. He's walking beside them. His presence is with them. How beautiful, man. That is beautiful. I want the Lord to know me like that. No, I like that. It's like that deep, intimate knowing. I think that feels almost a bit different to what mine says. He watches over the way of the righteous. Like it's a bit more like involved. Like it is, it's him. He's protecting and like, you know, guiding us through it. And then it says that the way of the wicked leads to destruction, which I think is also like, again, that's the theme that was spoken about in this whole psalm. But I do think sometimes the way...

28:22it feels more tempting or can seem like a more immediate gratification when we do things that we want to do that doesn't necessarily line up with like the godly way of doing it. But it's basically saying in the end, it's actually not worth it. So I think that brings us back to that question from the beginning. It's like, there's two ways here. There's the way of the righteous or the way of like living the godly way. Or there's the way of the wicked or the less godly way or the not godly way. And so it's like, what, what way are we, what way are we doing? Yeah.

28:52the way the way welcome back to the way wait a minute starting the episode again Yeah, and I think I would encourage you guys, for anyone who's watching or listening, if you are curious about that kind of judgment stuff, just go look into it yourself. And there's like so many different perspectives, so many different people you could read from and learn from. And that's not something to shy away from. That's just not something we've chosen necessarily to focus on in this episode. But I would definitely encourage you to look into it yourself.

29:25And, yeah, build a good opinion. Yeah, we'll look into loads of it, even at the theme of the tree and whatever. There's so many, that's throughout scripture everywhere that you can learn and grow stuff from. So meditate on it, chew on it. Bam. Yeah. Yeah, let's just leave you with this one question. I feel like the Lord just wants us to ask, Lord, is there anywhere in my life where I need to realign with your instruction? Yeah. Where I need to realign with your way? Yeah.

29:56So I'd encourage you, pray that, meditate on this a little bit more. And we're going to end the episode there. Thank you so much for joining us. Leave a tree emoji. I want it to feel like a forest. Love that. Forest in the comment section. Yeah. Guys, thanks so much. We'll see you next time. Bye for now.