5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

James 1:5

Wisdom is a constant topic through the scriptures. The Lord considers wisdom to be an important facet of man's life and being the source of all wisdom is ready and willing to provide to any who feel that they lack.

The greatest concentration of wisdom is found within that foremost of the wisdom books, the book of Proverbs. We shall surely spend time visiting the proverbs, but on this occasion, we shall visit some of the wisdom found in the book of Psalms. The psalms are Hebrew poetry that were sung as songs. The majority of the psalms, but not all, were written by King David. David, although a flawed man, had a powerful relationship with the Lord and gave us both prophecy and wisdom in the psalms that he wrote. Much of what we know about God, his attributes and his perspective towards his creation comes from the anointed writings of David.

Let's look at the first psalm written by David, conveniently labeled as number one, that the scriptures present us with. It's difficult to be certain that this is the first one he wrote, but is presented to us first by the scriptures, so that gives it an importance and urgency, which we shall heed by reviewing it carefully. We'll cover the last psalm that David wrote, number 150, another time.

Psalm number one is one of the shorter ones, although not the shortest. The shortest psalm is number 117 and the longest is number 119. Interestingly, psalm 118 is the middle chapter of the entire bible.

Psalm one is six verses long and logically divides into two halves, each of three verses. The first half speaks to us of good, blessings and life.

1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

Psalm 1:1

Here, the psalmist accounts the character and condition of a godly man. While it is often best to be known for what you do stand for, sometimes it is vitally important to known for those matters upon which you have no tolerance. The Lord declares that those who are steadfast against these things shall be blessed.

2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

Psalm 1:2

Having started with the principled stands of the godly man, the psalmist turns to the things that do delight him. The law of the Lord, or just scripture in general, are his delight. He meditates, or contemplates and thinks about it, day and night. When the things of God are pleasant to you, it becomes natural to think on them regularly. They guide much of the godly man's thoughts.

3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Psalm 1:3

The result of rejecting ungodly things combined with regular and diligent thoughtful consideration of the word of God brings about a powerful positive influence in the godly man's life. Here the positive benefits are likened to a tree planted next to a river and plentifully nourished by the waters thereof.

The second logical division of psalm one speaks to us of evil, curses and death.

4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

Psalm 1:4

Now we have the contrast of the ungodly. First they are not like the godly, but are here described as chaff. Chaff is a lightweight end product of harvesting, being the unwanted part of the grain that is typically blown away by the wind. Here the ungodly are the unwanted part of the Lord's harvest of souls and are easily blown away by the winds of false doctrine.

4 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

Ephesians 4:14

Those who are not firm in their stand upon the scripture will be blown about, i.e. take periodically changing views of the word of God. With the immutability of the scriptures, any person with changing teachings is by definition wrong, because the scriptures do not change.

5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

Psalm 1:5

The ungodly shall have no part in the judging and overseeing of the world in the post Great Tribulation time. The godly shall reign and rule with Jesus Christ, but the ungodly will not do so. They will be restrained and wait for the Great White Throne Judgment.

6 For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Psalm 1:6

The way of the godly is known to the Lord because he has designed it. The way of the ungodly is on the paths of perishing because they have chosen not to walk on the path of righteousness.

This psalm clearly lays out the path to being godly and describes clear promises for those who seek that path. The second half of the psalm also clearly lays out the negative results of not following that path. With such clear teaching, it seems that the wise response would be to follow the path of righteousness.