Psalm Ch. 1

Psalms 1 – The Two Ways

Something to remember about the Psalms: They are truths as they should be. While in this study you may run across a student who says “Wait a sec, I know a guy who’s bad as sin and he’s doing alright! - He’s not going down to destruction like this says. He’s pretty well off!”

You may need to help the student see the “now and not yet” of the Psalms. Goodness will be rewarded and wicked will be punished while we’re here on earth. Sometimes the good will be persecuted and the wicked will prosper. Ultimately though, when the end comes, the righteous will be with God while the

wicked will be judged and sent to torment. Students may need you to help them see the truth in an eternal perspective.

Psalm 1 is split into three categories: 

1) The Good and Bad

2) The Righteous and the Wicked. 

3) The Rebellious and the Loyal.

This is a deeply personal Psalm: it’s speaking about the actions, heart attitude, and spirit of the individual. With this Psalm we’ll help student inspect their own lives to see which path they are

currently taking.

What are the words that describe the righteous person?

• Blessed (or Happy)
• Delighted
• One who meditates
• A tree planted by streams of water
• NOTICE: He’s planted. He didn’t just happen to grow there. God took him and planted Him there. God showing His grace to us in a beautiful way!
• Whatever he does prospers
• He is watched over by God

What does this man do (or not do)? What are the actions that describe him)?

• He doesn’t follow the advice of the wicked
• He doesn’t take the path of sinners
• He doesn’t join a group of mockers
• He delights in God’s instruction
• He meditates on God’s word day and night

What are the words that describe the wicked man?

• He’s like chaff
• Remember chaff is the dry husk that would blow away when thrown into the wind. Farmers would throw their crop into the wind. The good would fall back to the ground while the bad (the chaff) would blow away. The righteous man, by contrast, is a tree that isn’t going anywhere. The wicked are easily blown away.
• He won’t survive the judgment
• He won’t be in the assembly of righteous
• His way will ultimately lead to destruction, ruin, death

Life Group Leaders - 

Sometime this week, text, call, or facebook your students and ask them how they are doing. Have they read their Bible daily? Have they spent five minutes reading a chapter and thinking on what it says during the day? Have they looked at who they listen to for advice and observed if their advice was Godly or rebellious?

Help students to “work out their salvation in fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12). It will have eternal impact!