EXPLAINING THE BOOKS- PSALM 1:3

Psalms

Psalm 1 3 Meaning

Psalm 1 3 Meaning: Well, we’ve seen the activities engaged in by the blessed man and the one who is opposed to God. We’re now going to get a look at the life of these two representative individuals. And we’re given imagery from the domain of agriculture. Psalm 1:3. What’s the life of a blessed man to be compared to?

Psalm 1 3 Meaning: Tree

The blessed man’s life is like a tree. Picture a tree. A firm, unmovable tree. A tree planted right next to a stream. Somebody planted it there. That tree’s getting nourishment both from the soil and from the water. It’s constantly growing – though you wouldn’t be able to tell if you were standing there and watching the tree. The growth is slow, but it is steady – and it’s a healthy growth.

Psalm 1 3 Meaning: Fruit

It’s a fruit tree, furthermore, and so it puts out its fruit at the appropriate times. Fruit trees don’t have fruit all the time. But the fruit comes out at the proper times. And it happens regularly – every year for most trees.

Psalm 1 3 Meaning: Leaves

And what’s more: even the tree’s leaves don’t wilt or droop or wither. This is a healthy tree.
Now, transfer this all over to the blessed man. He’s steadily growing spiritually and in every way. The growth he experiences might not even be evident to him day by day. But he and others can look back over his life and see progress, see growth.
Part of the growth in a blessed person’s life is the fruit that he bears. Good things, godly things, are happening in his life, in his family, in his own soul. He’s productive. He’s not fruitless or barren when it comes especially to spiritual realities.

Psalm 1 3 Meaning: Prosperity

And then leaving the simile about the tree, the last statement of Psalm 1:3 is that whatever the blessed man does he causes to prosper.
Now, this is no promise that the blessed man won’t ever fail. Failure is often part of the growth we’ve just been talking about. So, I think this is hyperbole. Based on the fact that the blessed man is like a growing healthy tree – things are good in his life: fruit’s being produced, growth is occurring – boy, it seems like everything he does he causes to prosper!
So, what a wonderful picture we get of the blessed man. His spiritual life and even other aspects of his life are healthy and growing. This is a bright picture.
Back to our Psalm 1 Commentary.

Comments

W says:

December 4, 2018 at 12:23 pm

I’ve just started attending church and reading the bible. I don’t know where to start but psalms was speaking to me. Thank you for this post.

Reply
1. Paul says:
  
  December 4, 2018 at 1:56 pm
  
  That’s really encouraging, Wendy. Keep reading the Bible and praying. Make sure you’re going to a church that preaches God’s word and believes and lives it.
  
  Reply
Adegoke says:

February 1, 2020 at 12:25 am

I have been ruminating on this for a while now and comparing it with Joshua 1:8 for similarities. Then my search found your simple but yet insightful explanations. Thank you for what you do

Reply
Denise braswell Johnson says:

February 25, 2020 at 5:43 am

Very very enlighying. It open up the women day’s theme: “HER LEAF SHALL NOT WITHAL.” So grateful for this author(s), rich in wisdom, my best desire!