“Characteristics of the Successful Believer” – Psalm 1
Psalm 1 begins the longest book in the Bible by contrasting two different lifestyles. What are the characteristics of a successful believer?
DIRECTED BY THE WORD – 1:1:
If we want to be a successful believer, if we want to be blessed and not just happy, the psalmist writes that we will not do three things:
1. We’ll not walk in the counsel of the wicked;
2. We’ll not stand in the way of sinners;
3. Nor will we sit in the seat of the scornful.
The point of the verse is this: watch who you hang around. Do not hang around people who are going to have a stronger (negative) influence over you than you have over them (positive). Notice in the words of the psalmist here that there is a progression – you walk with people, then you stand with them (talking), and then you are influenced to sit with them (in fellowship). We ought not to seek friends and companions among those who are moving in an opposite direction than we are.
In contrast with that lifestyle, the successful believer will…
DELIGHT WITH THE WORD – 1:2:
The word translated “law” here – torah – is the word the Jews used for the first five books of the OT: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Thus, the word “law” here is broader than “thou shalts” and “thou shalt nots.” The word torah means “instruction.” Clearly Gen.-Deut. is much more than a lot of laws. In fact, there aren’t many laws in Genesis. It is mostly history. So this “instruction” in which the successful believer delights is both the laws and the history in which the laws were given.
The successful believer will delight in the instruction of the Lord and he will meditate on that instruction constantly. To “meditate” means to reflect on and then apply. The successful believer understands that in order to be in the presence of God in heaven, he must be holy. In order to be holy, he must do what God says to do.
BLESS OTHERS – 1:3:
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The successful believer blesses others through his fruit because his roots are in the instructions of God. As such, the successful believer will also…
AVOID IMBALANCED RELATIONSHIPS – 1:4-6:
These three verses contrast the man who engages in those behaviors from verse 1 with the man who engages in that behavior in verse 2, who then blesses others in verse 3.
The wicked “are not so….”
The wicked are like chaff, driven away by the wind. Chaff is dry; it is fruitless; it serves no purpose. Even if you wanted to burn chaff for heat, it would go up in flames so fast you would hardly get any benefit from it. You’ve practically wasted a match if you try to burn chaff for heat or fuel. It is truly pointless.
So also is the man who will not meditate in the law of God and find joy in fulfilling God’s expectations. His life is pointless and meaningless. If one lives to serve self, his world his small and his goals in life are narrow.
Because his life is centered on self, his eternal salvation is going to depend largely on himself. The wicked will not stand with any confidence in the judgment nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. They will not, they cannot stand among the righteous in the day of judgment – because their sins have never been washed away by the blood of Christ.
The psalm begins with the word “blessed” and ends with the word “perish.” The difference is man’s response to the instruction of the Lord! There are two things that ultimately give meaning to life – faith in God and obedience to His commands.
We can be successful Christians in 2015 if we will follow these time-proven principles.
–Paul Holland
