Read & explore together
The Two Paths
Psalm 1 presents two contrasting ways of life using poetic images. It shows the blessed person turning from wicked influence, delighting in Yahweh’s law, and ending in a very different place from the wicked.
Understanding the passage
Read these words in context
This passage is a psalm, so it teaches through poetry, contrast, and comparison rather than story. It moves from the blessed person’s choices in Psalms 1:1-2, to the picture of a fruitful tree in Psalms 1:3, then to the wicked as chaff and the final contrast between two ways in Psalms 1:4-6.
Psalms 1:1–6Main takeaway
Psalm 1 teaches that delighting in Yahweh’s law belongs to the way of the righteous, while the way of the wicked does not endure.
Explore the poem and its images
Open a card to explore the full explanation and its Bible references.
01The blessed person refuses wicked companyThe psalm begins with blessing on the person who does not walk, stand, or sit with the wicked, sinners, and scoffers.
Explanation
The psalm begins with blessing on the person who does not walk, stand, or sit with the wicked, sinners, and scoffers. In this poetry, those actions trace a pattern of sharing in their way. The verse contrasts the blessed person with people marked by wickedness and scoffing.
02Delight and meditationInstead of taking counsel from the wicked, this person delights in Yahweh’s law. The psalm also says he meditates on it day and night.
Explanation
Instead of taking counsel from the wicked, this person delights in Yahweh’s law. The psalm also says he meditates on it day and night. The focus is not only outward behaviour but steady attention to what Yahweh has said, with delight rather than mere duty.
03Like a well-watered treeThe person shaped by Yahweh’s law is compared to a tree planted by streams of water. The picture is of life that is supplied and fruitful.
Explanation
The person shaped by Yahweh’s law is compared to a tree planted by streams of water. The picture is of life that is supplied and fruitful. The tree bears fruit in its season, its leaf does not wither, and the psalm says whatever he does shall prosper.
04Chaff, judgment, and two waysThe wicked are not like that tree. They are like chaff driven away by the wind. Therefore they shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
Explanation
The wicked are not like that tree. They are like chaff driven away by the wind. Therefore they shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. The psalm ends with two ways: Yahweh knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall perish.
Questions to explore
Pause, look back at the verses and talk together.
01How does the psalm contrast the voices a person can follow?
Compare the counsel of the wicked with delighting in Yahweh’s law and meditating on it day and night.
02What parts of the tree picture explain the life of the righteous person?
Notice the streams of water, fruit in season, leaves that do not wither, and the statement about prospering.
03What different endings do the righteous and the wicked receive?
Look at the judgment, the congregation of the righteous, Yahweh knowing one way, and the other way perishing.
Read the Bible passage
World English Bible ClassicScripture quotation · Public domain
Psalms 1:1–6
1Blessed is the man who doesn’t walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand on the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers;
2but his delight is in Yahweh’s law. On his law he meditates day and night.
3He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water, that produces its fruit in its season, whose leaf also does not wither. Whatever he does shall prosper.
4The wicked are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
5Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6For Yahweh knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall perish.