Psalms 1:3

_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._ Tree planted by ... waters - alluded to in Jeremiah 17:8, the prophet thereby sealing the inspiration of the Psalmist. Not accidentally growing there, but "planted" by the heavenly Husbandman (Psalms 80:8; Matthew 15:13) in His electing love (Isaiah 60:21; Isaiah 61:3). RIVERS - palgee; literally, 'divisions:' the Eastern mode of watering trees in a

The Psalmist here illustrates, and, at the same time, confirms by a metaphor the statement made in the preceding verse; for he shows in what respect those who fear God are to be accounted happy, namely, not because they enjoy an evanescent and empty gladness, but because they are in a desirable condition. There is in the words an implied contrast between the vigor of a tree planted in a situation well watered, and the decayed appearance of one which, although it may flourish beautifully for a time, yet soon withers on account of the barrenness of the soil in which it is placed. With respect to the ungodly, as we shall afterwards see, (Psalms 37:35) they are sometimes like “the cedars of Lebanon.” They have such an overflowing abundance of wealth and honors, that nothing seems wanting to their present happiness. But however high they may be raised, and however far and wide they may spread...

1-3 To meditate in God's word, is to discourse with ourselves concerning the great things contained in it, with close application of mind and fixedness of thought. We must have constant regard to the word of God, as the rule of our actions, and the spring of our comforts; and have it in our thoughts night and day. For this purpose no time is amiss....

Verse Psalms 1:3. _LIKE A TREE PLANTED_] Not like one growing wild, however strong or luxuriant it may appear; but one that has been carefully _cultivated_; and for the proper growth of which all the advantages of soil and situation have been chosen. If a child be brought up in the discipline and admonition of the Lord, we have both reason and revelation to encourage us to expect a godly and useful life. Where religious education is neglected, alas! what fruits of righteousness can be expected? An _uncultivated soul_ is like an _uncultivated field_, all overgrown with briers, thorns, and thistles. _BY THE RIVERS OF WATER_] פלגי מים _palgey mayim_, the streams or divisions of the waters. Alluding to the custom of _irrigation_ in the eastern countries, where streams are conducted from a canal or river to different parts of the ground, and t

AND HE SHALL BE LIKE A TREE - A description of the happiness or prosperity of the man who thus avoids the way of sinners, and who delights in the law of God, now follows. This is presented in the form of a very beautiful image - a tree planted where its roots would have abundance of water. PLANTED BY THE RIVERS OF WATER - It is not a tree that springs up spontaneously, but one that is set out in a favorable place, and that is cultivated with care. The word “rivers” does not here quite express the sense of the original. The Hebrew word פלג _peleg_, from פלג _pâlag_, to cleave, to split, to divide), properly means divisions; and then, channels, canals, trenches, branching-cuts, brooks. The allusion is to the Oriental method of irrigating their lands by making artificial rivulets to convey the water from a larger stream, or from a lake. I

EXPOSITION IT is remarkable that neither the first nor the second psalm has any title. Titles are so much the rule in the first and second books of the Psalter, that, when they are absent, their absence requires to be accounted for. As thirty-eight out of the forty-one psalms in this section are distinctly assigned to David, we must suppose that the compiler did not view this psalm as his. Perhaps he did not know the author. Perhaps, if he was himself the author, he shrank from giving himself the prominence which could not but have attached to him if his name had, in a certain sense, headed the collection. Reticence would have specially become Solomon, if he was the author. Commentators have generally recognized that this psalm is introductory and prefatory. Jerome says that many called it "the Preface of the Holy Ghost." Some of the Fathers did not even regard it as a psalm at all, but...

AND HE SHALL BE LIKE A TREE PLANTED BY THE RIVERS OF WATER,.... Or, "for then shall he be", c. as Alshech renders the words and the Hebrew "vau" is often used for "then" q. As Psalms 1:1 describe the man who is blessed, this points at his blessedness, and shows and proves him to be an happy man; for he is comparable to a "tree": not to a dry tree, or a tree without fruit, or whose fruit is withered, but to a fruitful tree, a green and flourishing one; green olive tree, or a palm tree, or a cedar in Lebanon; to which David compares himself and the righteous, Psalms 52:8; and here such an one is compared to a tree "planted"; not to one that grows of itself, a wild tree, a tree of the wood; but to one that is removed from its native place and soil, and planted elsewhere; and so designs such who are broken off of the wi

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS I. THE GENESIS SECTION: BOOK ONE:Psalm 1-41 Psalm 1-8 Psalms 1 The Godly and the Ungodly _ 1. The godly, his character and his fruit (Psalms 1:1)_ 2. The ungodly in comparison with the godly (Psalms 1:4) The first eight Psalms are the Psalms in embryo, just as the opening Chapter s of the book of Genesis are the Bible in a nutshell. Throughout the Psalms we can trace the subjects of these eight Psalms, the godly and the ungodly; but especially the great theme of the Psalms, Christ, the Perfect Man, the King rejected, the suffering of the righteous during the time of His rejection, the King enthroned and all things put under His feet. These are the leading themes

BOOK I. PSS. I- XLI. I. The Jewish Saint. This and Psalms 2 (see, however, on Psalms 33) are the only Pss. in Book I. which have no title or superscription. In Acts 13:33, there is very ancient authority for reading in the first Ps., though the Ps. quoted stands second in the Psalter, as we have it. Origen had seen Psalms 1 joined with Psalms 2 in a Heb. copy, and the same arrangement is still found in some Heb. MSS. Probably then Psalms 1 was prefixed as an introduction to the rest of the Psalter after its completion. But it is not one with Psalms 2, nor even resembles it. It expresses the general spirit of the Psalter admirably. For that very reason it does not reach a high level. It has nothing of the spiritual tone which is so striking in 4, 73, and in other Pss. Rather it represents the current orthodoxy of its time, which must have been a very late one. It is legalistic, and accen...

BE. become, or prove. Figure of speech _Simile._ App-6. Like. tree. The first of two comparisons. See Psalms 1:4. PLANTED: i.e. in. garden. Not. "tree of the field". RIVERS. divisions irrigating. garden. Hebrew. _palgey-mayim._ See note on Proverbs 21:1. PROSPER. Compare Genesis 39:3; Genesis 39:23....