I suspect that we often understand Bible verses like children looking at clouds. They imagine them in familiar shapes. But we should not do this with Gods Word. If a passage seems too familiar chances are very good we have stopped meditating on it as we should. God tells us that His ways are higher than our ways. I think we should always read our Bibles praying, "Lord, what am I missing?" instead of thinking "I know all this."
In reading the Psalms it is important to separate the timeless from the dated. The Bible, for the most part, was not written directly to us. But it is written for us. Ancient history often does translate to present instruction and comfort. But it is helpful to understand the original context.
PSALM 1 - Practical and Prophetic
Notice the progression. Walk, stand, sit. Sitting in this culture often implied teaching. The sitting scorner has not only arrived at a bad place. he is instructing others in the same way.
There is a specific prophetical application here as well, as well as a general one. The second Psalm and Acts -- gives us a prophetical application on certain scornful sitters - the Sanhedrin meaning the ones sitting together. Acts 4:25-30 tells us that Psalm 2 was fulfilled in their vain opposition against the LORD and His Anointed. ISBE tells us that The Sanhedrin was abolished after the destruction of Jerusalem (70 AD) They did not stand in the judgment, Psalm 1.5.
2. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.
Reading between the lines we can infer the real reason why the blessed person stays on the right path. He is guided and guarded by the law of the LORD. Now for us today this does not mean the Old Testament but the entirety of Gods Word enlightened to us by the Holy Spirit.
An often overlooked truth for Christians is that the Bible, through our careful reading and dwelling on it, is the very means by which God imparts His grace to us. This is why Paul always tags his epistles with Grace to you. When others were deserting Christ Peter said "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."
In reading the Psalms it is important to separate the timeless from the dated. The Bible, for the most part, was not written directly to us. But it is written for us. Ancient history often does translate to present instruction and comfort. But it is helpful to understand the original context.
PSALM 1 - Practical and Prophetic
- Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
Notice the progression. Walk, stand, sit. Sitting in this culture often implied teaching. The sitting scorner has not only arrived at a bad place. he is instructing others in the same way.
There is a specific prophetical application here as well, as well as a general one. The second Psalm and Acts -- gives us a prophetical application on certain scornful sitters - the Sanhedrin meaning the ones sitting together. Acts 4:25-30 tells us that Psalm 2 was fulfilled in their vain opposition against the LORD and His Anointed. ISBE tells us that The Sanhedrin was abolished after the destruction of Jerusalem (70 AD) They did not stand in the judgment, Psalm 1.5.
2. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.
Reading between the lines we can infer the real reason why the blessed person stays on the right path. He is guided and guarded by the law of the LORD. Now for us today this does not mean the Old Testament but the entirety of Gods Word enlightened to us by the Holy Spirit.
An often overlooked truth for Christians is that the Bible, through our careful reading and dwelling on it, is the very means by which God imparts His grace to us. This is why Paul always tags his epistles with Grace to you. When others were deserting Christ Peter said "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."
Last edited: