by Rev. Alex. MacPherson
(continued from page 327)
Psalm One
Verse 2.
This verse next presents the positive side of the description of the blessed man. Without it the preceding verse might apply to one who was respectful to true religion, and moral and circumspect in his life, but delight in God’s Word completes the portrait of a truly gracious person. A person lacking grace may read the Bible from a sense of duty. He may even be interested in some aspect of it such as its history, poetry, character studies or doctrine, but he cannot possibly take delight in it as God’s Word to sinful men. “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Cor. 2, v. 14). On the other hand the gracious person finds the Scriptures so much to his taste that he reads and studies them daily.
How can the natural man have any fondness for the Scriptures? They expose him as a sinner, and condemn and reprove and warn him. Can he relish that? The same Scriptures reveal God’s free favour and invite the reader to receive it. But the natural man in his pride and enmity and love of sin does not like that either. However respectable and outwardly religious such a person may be, he cannot take a hearty delight in a book of this nature. Where there is grace however there is a new heart and a spiritual appreciation of the divinity and graciousness of the Word of God which makes it sweet to his tastes as a quickened Christ-dependent soul. His language becomes: “O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.” (Psalm 119 v. 97). Yet this feeling can only be in measure, and the living soul will blame itself for not loving the Bible enough and will seek grace for a more diligent application to its study. To such a one the passage of time enhances the value and delightfulness of God’s Word and increases his sense of the need of the Holy Spirit so that he may understand and believe it.
Verse 3.
“And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”
The psalmist now goes on to describe the righteous man’s condition in the world using the simile of a tree. In countries like Palestine, trees have an importance which we in this country do not quite grasp. A personal recollection may serve to illustrate this. When I first went out to Rhodesia and needed firewood for the brick-kilns at Ingwenya. I cast my eye at some of the big trees within the mission grounds which if felled and sawn up would largely meet my requirements. The alternative would be to spend much time and labour scouring the surrounding bush veld for enough of the small trees which grew there to feed the hungry furnaces for three days. To my surprise, when I mentioned the matter to the other members of the staff, my plan was frowned upon, and indeed forbidden. It was explained that the trees were serving a better purpose alive than they would if cut down and burnt, and in due course I also came to share this point of view.
In our damp climate trees grow readily, and we do not feel the same need of their shade and protection as do the people of hotter and drier lands. There in a bare, sunbaked landscape a tree gives pleasant shade and relief to man and beast. Trees also prevent soil erosion, and while their very appearance refreshes the senses, their fruit in its season revives the body. A tree is a LIVING thing of great value and use. What a catastrophe the seventh plague was which not only destroyed the Egyptians’ crops, but “brake every tree of the field.” (Exodus 9 v. 25). We see then the reason for resembling a righteous person, a believer, to a tree. He is alive spiritually and fitted by grace to be of great value and use in a sin-ruined world. God is glorified through such; they are a seed that serve Him and declare his righteousness unto others, some of whom shall also be born again and become in their turn instruments of blessing.
Next we learn the source of these people’s spiritual vigour and usefulness. They are like trees “planted by the rivers of water.” They have their situation beside the water channels of the means of grace, God’s Word and ordinances. These, when drawn from by faith and the Spirit’s blessing, make for sappiness and growth. The result is “fruit in season.” Every occasion, every circumstance, every comfort and every trial of life produces its proper fruit. Benign providences produce humility, penitence, gratitude and love while adverse ones bring forth self-abasement, meekness, patience, hope and courage. Every occasion should have its appropriate fruit of inward grace and increased fitness for service. To this end the Saviour instructed his disciples clearly on this vital subject of fruitbearing. “I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” (See John 15 v. 1-8).
Another consequence of believers drawing from Christ’s fulness via the Word and ordinances is that their “leaf shall not wither.” As leaves are the outward sign that a tree is alive, so they may be regarded here as the outward profession of a saved sinner that he is spiritually alive and has a claim to be counted part of the Church of God. How necessary then that his profession continue green and unmarred! Lastly, here is also an assurance that whatever the believer attempts in love and obedience to his God and Saviour shall prosper. What an encouragement to those who seek to train the young in right ways! And for those who pray for things that accord with God’s revealed will! And for those who support the cause of Christ with their means and efforts in whatever ways lie open to them! “Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”
The divine definition of the blessed man contained in these first three verses says nothing about wealth, honour, power, popularity, worldly pleasures, or even good health being necessary to a state of blessedness. As the word “blessed” indicates, his favoured condition is from God and tends to draw him towards God, and to make him find his satisfaction in God’s grace here and in the hope of glory hereafter. His blessedness which began with free justification for Christ’s sake will be complete when he passes from the judgment seat to inherit the kingdom of God.
The psalmist now proceeds to contrast the state of the wicked with the foregoing.
Verse 4.
“The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.”
In man’s eyes the ungodly are not the worst of sinners. Indeed in our day the majority of British people are neglectful of God, neither fearing nor worshipping Him, while continuing to be fairly moral and perhaps also retaining a connection with some church. Yet in their moral character they do not resemble God for they love neither righteousness nor holiness nor grace nor Christ and would in fact shrink from having the term “godly” applied to them. Well, here in emphatic language the ungodly are said to share none of the blessedness of the godly. If the righteous are like living trees, the ungodly are like chaff, a dead, unserviceable, light and worthless substance, so light that the wind scatters it, so worthless that it is left to be scattered.
How different this view from that which natural men take of themselves! Here they are counted, and count themselves, worthy of a name and a place, but when man’s views cease to matter and God’s opinion is all that matters, the ungodly will be seen as chaff. It has often been remarked that while the chaff is united to the wheat, it enjoys some privileges, but not when the threshing time comes. It is also true that in this world ungodly sinners enjoy many blessings along with believers. God is kind to the unthankful and to the evil; his sun and rain do good to both alike. But all that will end when men die and go to judgment. Of Christ the Judge it is written: “Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3 v. 12).
Verse 5.
“Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.”
Being worthless and vile in God’s sight, laden with guilt and full of iniquity, the ungodly shall not stand in the day when God will mark iniquity. They will be found unrighteous, and that will be fatal. No place shall be found for them in God’s holy heaven among the white-robed multitude of the redeemed. Unjust and unholy, they must go to their own place.
Verse 6.
“For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.”
The Psalm finishes with an explanation of the different treatment meted out to the righteous and the wicked. The Lord “knoweth” the former, that is, He approves of them and their way. To them it may seem that their lives are very faulty and unworthy, but God who observes them perfectly looks with approval on their penitence and faith and love and hope. Their perseverance in the path of obedience, their attempts to save Him, their sighs and self-accusations, and their humble prayers please Him well. (Isaiah 66 v. 2). He knows his own workmanship and how it will end, namely, that they “shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” (Matt. 13 v. 43). But “the way of the ungodly shall perish.” To God it is wicked, evil and dishonouring to Himself. Those who pursue it shall be cast “into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” (Matt. 13 v. 42).
Which way are you on?