But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
Psalm 1:2 gives the positive life of the blessed man after verse 1 described his separation from evil. He does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful (v.1), because his soul has a better counsel, a better way, and a better seat. He delights in the law of the LORD. His holiness is not an empty refusal of evil, but a living affection for divine truth. He turns from the ungodly because he loves the LORD. He rejects the counsel of sinners because he has received the counsel of God. He refuses the seat of the scornful because he sits under the instruction of Scripture.
“But.” This word marks a sharp contrast. The blessed man is not like the ungodly, sinners, and scornful men of verse 1. His thoughts, affections, habits, and pleasures are different. He is not separated from the world by outward conduct alone, but by inward delight. Many men can avoid certain outward sins from fear, reputation, custom, age, temperament, or advantage, while their hearts remain unchanged. The blessed man is different. He has a new object of delight. He does not live upon the world’s counsel, for his heart is fed by the law of the LORD.
“His delight.” Delight is pleasure, desire, affection, satisfaction, and joy. The blessed man does not treat God’s word as a burden, a cold duty, or an occasional religious form. He loves it. He finds sweetness, wisdom, safety, reproof, comfort, and direction in it. David wrote, “I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word” (Psalm 119:16). Again, “O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day” (Psalm 119:97). The heart of the godly man is revealed by what he enjoys. The ungodly delight in vanity, pleasure, gain, praise, and sin, but the blessed man delights in what God has spoken.
This delight cannot be produced by nature. The carnal mind is enmity against God and is not subject to the law of God (Romans 8:7). Natural men may admire the Bible as literature, history, or religious heritage, but they do not love its authority over the heart and life. True delight in God’s word is the fruit of grace. When the LORD gives life to the soul, the man begins to love what he once neglected and to hate what he once followed. Thus, Jeremiah could say, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart” (Jeremiah 15:16).
“Is in the law.” The law here is the instruction, doctrine, commandments, testimonies, and revealed will of God. It is not the opinions of men, traditions of fathers, counsel of the ungodly, or wisdom of this world. The blessed man delights in what God has declared. The word “law” should not be reduced to commandments only, though it includes them. It is the revealed rule and instruction of Jehovah for faith and life. The law of the LORD converts the soul, makes wise the simple, rejoices the heart, and enlightens the eyes (Psalm 19:7-8).
The blessed man delights in the law because he delights in the Lawgiver. He does not separate Scripture from God. The word is precious because it is His word. The commandments are good because they proceed from Him Who is good. The judgments are right because the Judge of all the earth does right (Genesis 18:25). The statutes are trustworthy because the LORD cannot lie (Titus 1:2). Therefore, delight in the law is delight in the LORD Himself speaking, ruling, warning, promising, and guiding.
“Of the LORD.” This is Jehovah, the self-existent and living God, the God Who is, Who was, and Who shall be forever. The law belongs to Him. Scripture is not man’s discovery of religious thoughts, but God’s revelation of truth. It carries His authority. To receive the word is to hear God. To reject the word is to reject God. The blessed man trembles at the word because he fears the LORD Who gave it (Isaiah 66:2).
This phrase also separates divine truth from all worldly counsel. The ungodly have counsel (v.1), but the LORD has law. Their counsel changes with fashion, lust, fear, pride, and circumstance. The law of the LORD stands forever. The wisdom of men becomes foolishness, but the word of our God shall stand forever (Isaiah 40:8; 1 Corinthians 3:19). Therefore the blessed man has chosen the only sure foundation for his thoughts and steps.
“And in his law.” The repetition draws the reader back again to the same object. His delight is in the law of the LORD, and his meditation is in His law. What he loves, he thinks upon. What he treasures, he returns to. What feeds his soul, he keeps before his mind. The ungodly man walks in ungodly counsel because he receives it into his thoughts. The blessed man meditates in God’s law because he has received it into his heart.
“Doth he meditate.” Meditation is the inward musing, considering, pondering, and applying of God’s word. It is more than reading, hearing, or quoting. The blessed man turns the word over in his mind, lays it up in his heart, compares it with his life, and carries it into his choices. Joshua was commanded, “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein” (Joshua 1:8). Meditation keeps truth from passing away lightly after a brief reading. It presses the word into the conscience and affections.
Meditation also explains his strength against the threefold decline of verse 1. He does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly because his mind is filled with the counsel of God. He does not stand in the way of sinners because Scripture directs his steps. He does not sit in the seat of the scornful because he is humbled beneath the authority of the LORD. A man cannot be long governed by two counsels. If the word of God fills the heart, the counsel of the ungodly loses its dominion.
“Day and night.” This describes constancy and holy habit. The blessed man does not give God a brief corner of his life while surrendering the rest to vanity. The word of God is his daily companion, morning and evening, in prosperity and trouble, at labor and rest, in public and private. This does not require uninterrupted reading every hour, but it does describe a heart governed continually by Scripture. His thoughts return to God’s law because his delight is there.
The phrase also rebukes the scattered and shallow minds of men. Many meditate day and night upon business, money, injuries, pleasures, fears, plans, lusts, or the opinions of others. Their minds prove their treasure. The blessed man’s mind returns to the law of the LORD. He measures counsel, company, duties, speech, desires, and fears by the word of God. Thus, Scripture becomes not an ornament of religion, but the rule of his life.
Psalm 1:2 therefore reveals the secret of the blessed man’s separation and fruitfulness. His life is not governed by the world because his heart is governed by the word. He is not kept from sinners by pride or self-righteousness, but by delight in God’s law. He does not just turn away from evil; he feeds upon truth. He does not only refuse the scornful seat; he takes his place as a learner before Jehovah. His happiness is found where his meditation rests, in the law of the LORD day and night.
This verse searches every professor of religion. What do you delight in? What fills your mind? What counsel shapes your steps? A man may claim love for God while neglecting His word, but his delight betrays his heart. The blessed man loves the law of the LORD, thinks upon it continually, and orders his life by it. Such a man shall not be barren. The next verse declares his stability and fruitfulness: “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water” (v.3). The root of that fruitful life is found here: delight in the law of the LORD and meditation therein day and night.
But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
Psalm 1:2 gives the positive life of the blessed man after verse 1 described his separation from evil. He does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful (v.1), because his soul has a better counsel, a better way, and a better seat. He delights in the law of the LORD. His holiness is not an empty refusal of evil, but a living affection for divine truth. He turns from the ungodly because he loves the LORD. He rejects the counsel of sinners because he has received the counsel of God. He refuses the seat of the scornful because he sits under the instruction of Scripture.
“But.” This word marks a sharp contrast. The blessed man is not like the ungodly, sinners, and scornful men of verse 1. His thoughts, affections, habits, and pleasures are different. He is not separated from the world by outward conduct alone, but by inward delight. Many men can avoid certain outward sins from fear, reputation, custom, age, temperament, or advantage, while their hearts remain unchanged. The blessed man is different. He has a new object of delight. He does not live upon the world’s counsel, for his heart is fed by the law of the LORD.
“His delight.” Delight is pleasure, desire, affection, satisfaction, and joy. The blessed man does not treat God’s word as a burden, a cold duty, or an occasional religious form. He loves it. He finds sweetness, wisdom, safety, reproof, comfort, and direction in it. David wrote, “I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word” (Psalm 119:16). Again, “O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day” (Psalm 119:97). The heart of the godly man is revealed by what he enjoys. The ungodly delight in vanity, pleasure, gain, praise, and sin, but the blessed man delights in what God has spoken.
This delight cannot be produced by nature. The carnal mind is enmity against God and is not subject to the law of God (Romans 8:7). Natural men may admire the Bible as literature, history, or religious heritage, but they do not love its authority over the heart and life. True delight in God’s word is the fruit of grace. When the LORD gives life to the soul, the man begins to love what he once neglected and to hate what he once followed. Thus, Jeremiah could say, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart” (Jeremiah 15:16).
“Is in the law.” The law here is the instruction, doctrine, commandments, testimonies, and revealed will of God. It is not the opinions of men, traditions of fathers, counsel of the ungodly, or wisdom of this world. The blessed man delights in what God has declared. The word “law” should not be reduced to commandments only, though it includes them. It is the revealed rule and instruction of Jehovah for faith and life. The law of the LORD converts the soul, makes wise the simple, rejoices the heart, and enlightens the eyes (Psalm 19:7-8).
The blessed man delights in the law because he delights in the Lawgiver. He does not separate Scripture from God. The word is precious because it is His word. The commandments are good because they proceed from Him Who is good. The judgments are right because the Judge of all the earth does right (Genesis 18:25). The statutes are trustworthy because the LORD cannot lie (Titus 1:2). Therefore, delight in the law is delight in the LORD Himself speaking, ruling, warning, promising, and guiding.
“Of the LORD.” This is Jehovah, the self-existent and living God, the God Who is, Who was, and Who shall be forever. The law belongs to Him. Scripture is not man’s discovery of religious thoughts, but God’s revelation of truth. It carries His authority. To receive the word is to hear God. To reject the word is to reject God. The blessed man trembles at the word because he fears the LORD Who gave it (Isaiah 66:2).
This phrase also separates divine truth from all worldly counsel. The ungodly have counsel (v.1), but the LORD has law. Their counsel changes with fashion, lust, fear, pride, and circumstance. The law of the LORD stands forever. The wisdom of men becomes foolishness, but the word of our God shall stand forever (Isaiah 40:8; 1 Corinthians 3:19). Therefore the blessed man has chosen the only sure foundation for his thoughts and steps.
“And in his law.” The repetition draws the reader back again to the same object. His delight is in the law of the LORD, and his meditation is in His law. What he loves, he thinks upon. What he treasures, he returns to. What feeds his soul, he keeps before his mind. The ungodly man walks in ungodly counsel because he receives it into his thoughts. The blessed man meditates in God’s law because he has received it into his heart.
“Doth he meditate.” Meditation is the inward musing, considering, pondering, and applying of God’s word. It is more than reading, hearing, or quoting. The blessed man turns the word over in his mind, lays it up in his heart, compares it with his life, and carries it into his choices. Joshua was commanded, “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein” (Joshua 1:8). Meditation keeps truth from passing away lightly after a brief reading. It presses the word into the conscience and affections.
Meditation also explains his strength against the threefold decline of verse 1. He does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly because his mind is filled with the counsel of God. He does not stand in the way of sinners because Scripture directs his steps. He does not sit in the seat of the scornful because he is humbled beneath the authority of the LORD. A man cannot be long governed by two counsels. If the word of God fills the heart, the counsel of the ungodly loses its dominion.
“Day and night.” This describes constancy and holy habit. The blessed man does not give God a brief corner of his life while surrendering the rest to vanity. The word of God is his daily companion, morning and evening, in prosperity and trouble, at labor and rest, in public and private. This does not require uninterrupted reading every hour, but it does describe a heart governed continually by Scripture. His thoughts return to God’s law because his delight is there.
The phrase also rebukes the scattered and shallow minds of men. Many meditate day and night upon business, money, injuries, pleasures, fears, plans, lusts, or the opinions of others. Their minds prove their treasure. The blessed man’s mind returns to the law of the LORD. He measures counsel, company, duties, speech, desires, and fears by the word of God. Thus, Scripture becomes not an ornament of religion, but the rule of his life.
Psalm 1:2 therefore reveals the secret of the blessed man’s separation and fruitfulness. His life is not governed by the world because his heart is governed by the word. He is not kept from sinners by pride or self-righteousness, but by delight in God’s law. He does not just turn away from evil; he feeds upon truth. He does not only refuse the scornful seat; he takes his place as a learner before Jehovah. His happiness is found where his meditation rests, in the law of the LORD day and night.
This verse searches every professor of religion. What do you delight in? What fills your mind? What counsel shapes your steps? A man may claim love for God while neglecting His word, but his delight betrays his heart. The blessed man loves the law of the LORD, thinks upon it continually, and orders his life by it. Such a man shall not be barren. The next verse declares his stability and fruitfulness: “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water” (v.3). The root of that fruitful life is found here: delight in the law of the LORD and meditation therein day and night.