1.

Read vs. 1-2. When one “frets” because of evil men, or “is envious of those who do wrong”, what will most likely happen to him? For a moment how do the grass or green plants (i.e., vegetation) fare? Yet, why do they wither and die away so soon? What wisdom can we learn in planning on the new year to come?

** Most likely he will: 1) abandon the life of faith; 2) stop doing what is good; 3) go into the world and do like the evil men, trying to compete with them, only to end up with nothing but eternal sense of condemnation.

** Two things are noticeable: 1) They thrive very quickly; and 2) they look real green (meaning full of life and vigor). 

** They do not have roots in the Lord. The righteous develop their roots to the above (i.e., the kingdom of God). But the wicked develop their roots in this world which will soon perish and fade away. 

** We need to make an investment in what is eternal rather than what is temporary and transient. So in making a new year’s plan, we must first consider where to invest our life. Then we can work on the details of our action plan.  

2.

Read v. 3 and compare it with vs. 1-2. How are the paths of life described in each of the passages contrasted? How are the following exhortations related to one another: 1) Trust in the Lord; 2) Do good; 3) Dwell in the land; and 4) Enjoy safe pasture? 

** Vs. 1-2 gives out the picture of the path of the life of a man who is constantly worried, anxious about everything, never being satisfied with anything, making oneself constantly busy, trying to grab what is limited like money, power, or human reputation, etc.  

V. 3 gives out the path of a good sheep who listens to the voice of the Lord his shepherd, as David described it in Psalm 23. 

** They are progressive in the order of the results becoming manifested in our life, that is, 1) trusting in the Lord coming out first, and then 2) as we put trust in the Lord, the Lord makes our inner person good, so from the relationship with the Lord who is good, we can do what is good;  and then 3) we have deep peace rolling inside of  us, so that instead of becoming busybodies, we become stable and continue to remain in the Lord; and lastly 4) like the sheep lying down in green pasture, we can enjoy life in the Lord fully. 

3.

Memorize v. 4. What does “delight yourself in the Lord” mean? Why does the Psalmist exhort us to do this? 

** Delight means: 1) a high degree of gratification; 2) something that gives great pleasure; and 3) the power of affording pleasure.  

Therefore “delight yourself in the Lord” means “make yourself fully satisfied, or treat yourself with a high degree of gratification, or give yourself something that gives great pleasure, or clothe yourself with the power to afford pleasure, or simply entertain yourself., by yourself being in the Lord” (fully and as deeply as you are supposed to be). 

** He does this because he wants us to help us fulfill all the desires of our heart. 

Notice here the expression “desires of ‘heart’”, not merely your ‘body’. In Hebrew thought heart is the seat of our inmost being, that is, the soul, which came from God. And our soul desires a high degree of gratification, which comes only from the fellowship with the Lord.

And the Psalmist knows that true happiness comes from the Lord. 

4. 

Read vs. 5-26. What does “commit your way to the Lord” mean (7,8)? When one commits one’s way to the Lord what will the Lord do for him (6; 9-26)?   

** It means: 1) to be “still before the Lord” meaning we must be willing to listen to what the Lord has to say in doing or not doing in our day to life, for our life consists of a series of what we do or do not do, and in doing or not doing, we must follow the way the Lord wants us to do or not do; 2) to “wait patiently for him” indicating that we must be long “patient” securing the answer from the Lord, for on so many occasions his answer is silence which means either ‘no’ or ‘wait further’; and 3) “refrain from anger and turn from wrath”, suggesting that we need to learn to deal with our enemies “through” the Lord. 

The third point is particularly important because if we try to live right, always enemies will arise – enemies inside and enemies outside. This is a fact of life. This is given. And we must remember that if we know how to deal with our enemies, we will find our life full of excitement, for in the first place without our enemies our life will only be boring, and in the second place, all of the troubles we run into in life, is nothing but God’s blessings in disguise. 

This coming year, then, we expect lots of enemies arising. But we must better be prepared by knowing how to deal with them. 

** The Lord will help us to bear good fruit. 

v. 6 – fruit described in abstract words. The Lord will bear fruit in two categories: righteousness and justice. The righteousness refers to a right relationship with the Lord and with our neighbors, suggesting to us that as we maintain a right relationship with the Lord the Lord blesses us to be kind and gentle to many, enable us to serve the flock of God with His word and prayer, and to know how to bless even our enemies. Justice refers to the Lord punishing those who need to be punished, so that it is not we who should play a judge, but the Lord who always punishes those who need to be punished, and rewards those who need to be rewarded, all in accordance with his infinite wisdom, love, and power.

Vs. 9-26 – fruit which is specific in kind. 

9-11a:  Inherit the [promised] land (kingdom of God)

11b: peace

12-15: protection from enemies attacks

16-17: better quality of life even if you do not have as much money as the wicked has

18: longevity

19-20: satisfaction even in time of disaster and famine

21-22: abundant material life such as establishing a good credit rating, plus the ability to live the life that gives (materials)

23-24: a life of integrity, without doing what is disgraceful

25-26: their children are also blessed (in giving)

5. 

Read vs. 27-33 and compare the command “Turn from evil and do good” with such words as “mouth”, “tongue”, “heart”, and “feet”. What does this comparison suggest to us about the way of a blessed life in the Lord?   

** It suggests to us: 

1) that we must first take care of what is inside of us, for the way the Lord God blesses us is to work from inside out; 

2) that we must fill our heart with God’s word, by doing daily bread, writing deep Bible testimonies, trying to teach God’s word to others, or meditating on God’s word deeply;

3) that we must be careful about the way we use our tongues, for  the tongue has the power of life and death (Proverbs 18:21); and 

4) that as we control our heart, we can control our tongue and mouth (meaning what we say or not say). 

As we do this, the Lord will bless our life. 

This practically means that in the days to come we must resolve to fill our heats with God’s word more fully than ever. 

6.

Read vs. 34-36.  This admonition sounds redundant with the one in v. 7. Yet what does this repetition suggest to us about this admonition? 

** A lot of admonitions are repeated in this passage, but particularly the need for us to be patient (in waiting for the Lord to act) seems of special importance, for in the eyes of the Psalmist, impatience is one of the most serious problems that cause men to forfeit God’s true blessings, and fail. Example: Abraham becoming impatient in waiting for the Lord’s promise for the son Isaac. 

This is very important because nowadays a lot of teen age students are impatient in waiting for their marriage partners. We are living in an Internet age. So people seem getting increasingly impatient. They want everything quick, like Esau. But we need to be more like Jacob who waited for his love Rachel for even 7 long years. 

7.

Read vs. 37-40. Who are the blameless, the upright, or the man of peace (39,40)? What does “cut off” in the expression “the future of the wicked will be cut off” mean? The word “future” is repeated twice – the future of the wicked and the future of the righteous. What does this observation tell us about the ultimate destiny of every human being? What about the way to build a true life-security? 

** They are the righteous, that is, those who believe in the Lord and take refuge in the Lord.

** It means to be separated from the relationship with the Lord, not temporarily but permanently. Read Psalm 1:1-6. 

** There are only two destinies – the life in the eternal presence of God, or the life that is shut off conclusively from the fellowship with the eternal presence of God. There are no other alternatives. One can choose only one of the two.

** The way to build our life security which is truly secure is to delight in the Lord. 

The end.