Friends have a powerful influence on us. Good friends help reduce our stress and process our pain. Together, we rejoice and mourn. They increase our happiness, encourage our good choices and our self-control. Of course, the wrong friends can have the opposite effect. They tear us down, tempt us to sin, or even abandon us in our time of need.

Psalm 1 warns against keeping the wrong types of friends. God blesses those who do not “walk in the step with the wicked, or stand in the way that sinners take, or sit in the company of mockers” (v. 1). This is not material blessing, but the joy that comes only from a consistent relationship with God. The walk, stand, sit progression used here helps us understand what it looks like to become increasingly involved with immoral people. The unwise subject moves from being casually connected to the wicked to communing with those who have chosen a hardened lifestyle of sin.

The Psalmist then paints the opposite picture. The blessed person delights in the law of the Lord (v. 2). He desires it, pursues it, and meditates on it continually. He fills his mind and his heart with God’s Word. This is his habit, and the application of it is his joy. Such meditation produces a deeply-rooted and fruitful life, described as “a tree planted by streams of water,” which maintains its fruitfulness and vitality in all sorts of seasons (v. 3).

There is a contrast between the abundant life of the righteous and the worthless and temporary existence of the wicked. One is a tree that thrives and endures, the other is blown away by the wind (v. 4). The Lord knows and cares for the righteous. In response, we demonstrate our love for Him by meditating on His law and being careful about the company we keep.

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