Latest / Reformed Thinking / Two Ways, Two Destinies: The Blessed Man and the Wicked (Psalm 1) | Matthew Henry

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Two Ways, Two Destinies: The Blessed Man and the Wicked (Psalm 1) | Matthew Henry · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome back. You are listening to Reformed
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thinking. Today we're going to be opening
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the book on a detailed analysis of Matthew Henry's complete and
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unabridged commentary. And we're focusing our attention
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on a very specific, very key portion.
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That's right, we're looking at Psalm One.
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This is the crucial opening statement of the entire Psalter,
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and, well, Henry really treats it as such.
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OK, so let's unpack this for a minute.
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The goal here is for you, the listener, to get a really
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thorough and targeted understanding of Henry's whole
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theological framework for this one Psalm.
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Just 6 verses. Yes, 6 verses, but he sees it as
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the necessary preface to everything that follows, laying
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out the entire scope of the spiritual life.
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That is the goal, yes, and Henry's placement of this
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material right at the start of the Psalter is immediately
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significant to him. It's not an accident.
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No, not at all. He sees Psalm 1 functioning
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really as a Psalm of instruction about the nature of existence
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itself. You know, good and evil, life
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and death. Exactly.
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It stands. And Henry writes this to set
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before us life and death, the blessing and the curse.
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It's a road map. It's a road map to blessedness
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and at the same time a warning against ruin.
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So it sets the entire standard for devotion.
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And from what I've read, Henry isn't subtle at all about the
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consequences. He pulls A distinction from this
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text that just governs everything else.
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He does, and that's maybe the most striking element, something
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he drills into again and again. It's this absolute, clear
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division of all mankind into two and only two opposing parties.
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No middle ground. No middle ground.
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It's Saints and sinners, righteous and unrighteous, the
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children of God and the children of the wicked one.
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Wow. That puts an immense weight on
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this classification. It moves it way beyond just, you
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know, a simple moral category. It does.
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It sounds like Henry's arguing this division isn't just
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something happening now, but it's ancient.
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Oh, it is ancient. He traces its roots all the way
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back, all the way back to the very first promise in Genesis,
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to the struggle between the seed of the woman and the seed of the
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serpent. So.
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From the very beginning. From the beginning, Henry argues
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that this foundational enmity, this ancient strife, is the
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defining reality of human existence on Earth.
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It predates all societal structures, all kingdoms, and it
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continues right through all the ages.
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So if we're looking at this from Henry's perspective, writing in
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the late 17th, early 18th century, a time that was
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obsessed with the hierarchy and status, right, he's telling his
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readers that all of those social and economic distinctions,
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they're just temporary footnotes compared to this one.
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That's it exactly. He is so clear that this
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division is lasting. It survives every other societal
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line we could possibly draw. High versus low, rich versus
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poor, powerful versus weak. None of it matters in the end.
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He states that none of those other classifications matter
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when you're considering eternity.
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This single distinction, righteous or unrighteous, is the
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sole absolute factor that determines every man's
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everlasting state. It is the division that truly
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divides. And if that division is the one
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thing determining our state, it really explains why Henry sees
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this Psalm as the prerequisite for any kind of acceptable
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devotion. He's linking life, conduct and
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worship altogether. He makes that link explicit.
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He argues the Psalm is rightly placed first because of the
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absolute necessity of righteous living before you can engage in
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acceptable worship. OK, can you unpack that a bit?
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Well, he says, and I'm quoting here, that it is absolutely
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necessary to the acceptance of our devotions that we'd be
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righteous before God. He sets a high barrier.
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It sounds like a complex point, especially for people who are
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used to ideas of grace and immediate access.
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When he says that those who don't walk in good ways are not
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fit to put up good prayers, is he arguing for righteousness as
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some kind of precondition for grace?
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Not at all, not if we read him in his proper Reformed context.
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He's talking about the dispositional state, the
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ungodly. You see, they lack the spiritual
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footing that's necessary to approach a holy God with a heart
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prepared by grace. The prayer of the upright is
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what God hears and delights in. Their way is known by God.
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The issue isn't earning favor through prayer, but that the
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state of the person praying has to align with God's will.
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So to pray properly, you have to already be oriented toward the
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Word. Yes, which is the positive
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standard of the righteous man we're about to discuss.
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It's an orientation issue, not an earning issue.
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OK, let's unpack that first verse, then, which immediately
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defines this orientation. What's interesting is that Henry
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designs the godly man by what he rejects, before he defines him
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by what he practices. He starts with the negative.
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It's. A.
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Separating the separation from evildoers.
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This is absolutely crucial for him, and he says it must come
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first. His reasoning is that departing
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from evil is that in which wisdom begins.
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You can't build on a bad foundation.
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You can't. You cannot build a godly life.
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You can't establish positive habits of adherence to the word
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until you have systematically removed and rejected the
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contaminating influences of the world.
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It's like a necessary cleansing before any reconstruction can
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even start. And when Henry looks at these
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evildoers, he he's a kind of systematic downhill slide.
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He doesn't see Finn's just a static condition.
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It's a process of moral decay. Yes, he uses a classical Latin
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principle to frame it. Nemol repente victorpisimos.
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Which means. No one reaches the height of
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vice at once, so he uses this to structure the three types of
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people in the first verse, the ungodly, the Sinner, and the
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scornful, as a sequence, a progression of moral decay.
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The righteous man has to identify this slide in others
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and avoid even the first step. Okay, let's analyze that slide.
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Step 1, the ungodly. This sounds like people who are
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just kind of neglecting their spiritual life, not necessarily
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being openly vicious. Precisely.
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Henry defines the ungodly as those who cast off the fear of
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God and neglect their duties. They're not necessarily out
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committing horrible crimes, but they've abandoned their anchor.
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They're adrift, they're adrift. The original Hebrew word itself,
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Henry notes, signifies those who are unsettled aim at no certain
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end and walk by no certain rule. They're guided by whim or what's
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expedient, not by a fixed divine principle.
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But the slide doesn't stop there.
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With just neglect, Henry says that omission makes way for
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Commission. So Step 2, which is much more
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serious, is the move to being sinners.
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What's the difference between them and the merely ungodly?
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The shift is from negligence to determination.
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The center has broken out into open rebellion.
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They are past just neglecting duty, Henry says.
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They are determined for the practice of sin and set it up as
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their trade. Their trade, yes.
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Sin has become their chosen profession, their habitual
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practice. They have, as he puts it, set
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themselves in a way that is not good.
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Their spiritual inertia has become active malice.
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And then the final, most chilling stage, the one where
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the heart seems just hardened beyond any return, the scornful.
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How does Henry describe this terminal spiritual disease?
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This is the ultimate stage. It's moved from negligence to
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practice and now finally to defense and mockery of sin.
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The scornful are those who openly defy all that is sacred,
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scoff at religion, and make a jest of sin.
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So they've taken a proactive stance against goodness.
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A proactive stance, Henry says. They set their mouths against
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the heavens. It implies this aggressive,
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brazen, unrepentant posture. He even connects the state to
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sitting in the seat of drunkards, suggesting that when
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you get comfortable in wickedness, it breeds a kind of
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derision for anyone trying to live righteously.
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That really paints a picture of a world full of dangers.
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The godly person is surrounded by these 3 levels of evil and
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Henry doesn't just say avoid them, he gives a very detailed 3
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fold pattern of avoidance that mirrors the wicked man's
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descent. He does, and he's aware that,
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you know, total physical isolation is impossible for most
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people. So the avoidance is progressive.
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It moves from the intellectual realm outward to prevent that
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internal contagion. It's about protecting the heart
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first. Protecting the heart first.
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So the first level of distance is intellectual and moral.
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He walks not in the counsel of the ungodly.
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This is about choosing your sources of wisdom.
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Precisely. The core principle here is you
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do not consult them, you do not consent to their advice.
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Henry warns that even if the ungodly are witty and subtle and
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learned in worldly things, they shall never be the men of his
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council. So you refuse to take your moral
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measurements from them. You refuse, especially because
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the ungodly are often forward to give their advice against
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religion. So this first level protects the
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conscience, It protects the whole intellectual framework of
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your life. Then the second step moves from
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counsel or principals to company and practices.
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He stands not in the way of sinners.
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This suggests a need for more physical and relational
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distance. This is the critical step of
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avoiding association and imitation.
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The godly man must actively avoid doing what sinners do.
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He won't casually come into their way, you know, frequenting
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the places where sin is normal. And he certainly won't continue
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in it like a habitual Sinner does.
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He uses a pretty strong analogy for this, doesn't he?
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He does. He says you must keep as far
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from sinners as from a person infected with the plague for
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fear of the contagion. It's that serious.
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If you want to be kept from spiritual harm, you have to keep
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out of harm's way. And the final, deepest level of
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distance is reserved for the most hardened class, the
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scornful. He sits not in the seat of the
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scornful. This implies not just avoiding
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them, but refusing to rest or settle down with them.
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It's a refusal to acquiesce. You won't find comfort in their
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environment. Sitting, for Henry, implies
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resting secure, taking one's ease, and associating with
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people who are settled in their wickedness and well pleased with
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their seared consciences. So they're not just sitting on
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the run. No, they're sitting, and they're
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mocking those who strive for piety.
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Happy is the man, Henry says, who never sits in that seat, who
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never takes comfort in the company of those who derive
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spiritual truth. The posture is 1 of settled
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opposition to God, and the righteous must never be seen
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there. This whole structure of
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rejection, walking, standing, sitting, it creates a kind of
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vacuum. The life has been cleansed of
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toxic company and counsel, and that leads us right into the
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necessary replacement, the positive definition of the godly
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man in verse 2. Exactly.
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So what fills the space that's left after the counsel of the
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ungodly is rejected? What fills that space is
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adherence. The godly man submits entirely
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to the guidance of the Word of God as the active life directing
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replacement for that company of the wicked he just rejected.
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It's a direct substitution. A direct substitution.
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Henry sees this as the only way to retain any kind of purity.
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You reject the deceiver's path, and the Word of God immediately
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takes the reins to keep the good man from the path of the
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deceiver, just as Psalm 17 says. So it sounds like the word
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itself becomes the fellowship that replaces the need for the
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fellowship of sinners. Absolutely.
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Henry notes that the believer finds his spiritual enjoyment
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and his improvement in fellowship with the Word of God,
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and so fellowship with God himself.
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The Word becomes the constant guide and companion.
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He gives us a kind of measuring stick, doesn't he?
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He does for us, the listeners. We can gauge our spiritual state
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by asking, what is the law of God to us?
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What account do we make of it? What place has it in us?
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Our internal disposition toward the law is the proof of our
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acceptance. And the first evidence of this
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positive adherence is that internal disposition.
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Delight, Henry says. The Goodman's delight is in the
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law, which is a peculiar statement.
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The law so often implies restriction or duty.
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Henry analyzes that word delight very carefully.
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It's true the law is a yoke. It is a restraint.
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Yet the transformed heart delights in it because, as he
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says, the heart consents to it after the inner man.
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He's quoting Romans there. He's quoting Romans 7.
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He affirms that this delight comes from the law being
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recognized as holy, just, and good, this deep internal
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pleasure in the divine standard that's the unmistakable hallmark
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of a heart transformed by grace. The law is no longer an enemy,
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it's a friend and a guide. And Henry offers a kind of
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universal rule here for the believer.
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He suggested if you are pleased that there is a God, you must
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necessarily be pleased that there is a Bible.
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That's right, because the Bible is the perfect revelation of
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God's will and the only pathway to true happiness found in Him.
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So genuine piety demands a deep affection for the revealed will
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of God. If the soul is satisfied with
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God's existence and sovereignty, it will be satisfied with the
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rule He's provided for life. But Henry doesn't let delight
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just stay as a passive emotion. The 2nd and maybe more defining
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measure of adherence is the habitual practice meditation day
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and night. This activity is the active
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proof of the delight. As he notes.
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What we love, we love to think of.
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And the section demands a lot of our repention because Henry,
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writing within the Puritan tradition, is highly technical
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about what meditation actually is.
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It's. Not just vague musing.
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No, not at all. It's not passive reading.
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Henry defines it as to discourse with ourselves concerning the
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great things contained in it. It requires A clothed
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application of mind, a fixedness of thought.
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OK, can we breakdown that Puritan methodology for someone
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who's trying to practically apply this?
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What does Henry suggest the process involves beyond just
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reading the words on the page? Well, the process has three main
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components. You could call them rumination,
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comprehension, and application. The goal isn't just intellectual
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mastery, it's about being suitably affected with those
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truths. So it has to penetrate the soul.
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Exactly. Henry stresses that meditation
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must result in the experience of the savor and power of them in
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our hearts. We're supposed to take the
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truths revealed, say God's holiness or Christ's grace, and
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turn them over and over, asking, what does this mean for me?
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What response should this truth provoke in my soul right now?
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And what about the constant nature of this practice day and
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night? I mean, does Henry really expect
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the Christian laborer or the merchant to just stop work
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constantly for formal prayer? No, and Henry explicitly pushes
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back against limiting this to just scheduled times, like only
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morning or evening devotions. He insists this has to be a
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constant, habitual regard to the Word of God.
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So the phrase day and night means something more.
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It means this meditation has to be interwoven with the
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practicalities of daily business and the repose of every night.
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So it's about making the word the permanent background noise
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of 1's life, something that transforms all your activity.
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That's it. It should establish a spiritual
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residence in the soul. He quotes Proverbs.
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When thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.
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The Puritan ideal here is that the knowledge of God should
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permeate your calling, your trade, your downtime.
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When the world is still, or when you're lying awake, your
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thoughts should naturally gravitate toward divine truths.
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It means your heart is still with thee.
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This constant application is the true evidence that the law is
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not just something we read, but something that possesses and
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directs us. And when a person has
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successfully implemented this character, you know, rejecting
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the counsel of the ungodly and saturating their life in the law
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through delight in this perpetual meditation, they get
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the assurance of happiness. Henry starts Section 4 by
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highlighting the general outcome.
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In general, he is blessed. Right.
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And Henry argues this blessedness is both
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comprehensive and it's present. He notes that blessednesses are
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to him blessings of all kinds of the Upper and Nether Springs,
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meaning both spiritual favor and also temporal Providence.
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And he makes a crucial distinction here.
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He says goodness is not only the way to happiness, it is
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happiness. Yes, even if you didn't factor
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in the eternal outcome, the man who lives in this orientation of
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duty and delight is a happy man now.
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To bring this idea of blessedness down to earth, the
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psalmist uses the metaphor of the tree and Henry provides A
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detailed 5 point theological breakdown of this image to show
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the real tangible effects of the divine blessing.
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He does. The first point defines the
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source of the life itself. Planting the godly man is like a
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tree planted by the grace of God.
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So he immediately emphasizes the doctrine of sovereign grace.
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Immediately by nature, he says, these souls were nothing more
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than wild olives. No good tree grows of itself.
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So the very foundation of the godly man's existence, his moral
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life, his spiritual health, is the planting of the Lord.
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All glory must be ascribed to God for this initiation.
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This planting isn't random, it's situated carefully for
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sustenance, which is .2 placement and nourishment.
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The righteous man is placed by the means of grace, which Henry
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interprets as the rivers of water.
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And these rivers are the established means by which God
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nourishes his people's Scripture.
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The sacraments, prayer, the gathering of the Saints, these
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are the means that make glad the city of our God, as another song
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says. So the tree is planted where it
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can be fed. Yes, and Henry explains that
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from these means the Goodman gets constant supplies of
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strength and spiritual vigor, often through what he calls
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secret, undiscerned ways. The tree doesn't know how the
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water gets to its roots, only that it's sustained.
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Likewise, the Saint receives grace through these channels
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without fully comprehending the divine mechanics. .3 moves from
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sustenance to production fruitfulness.
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The expected outcome is that his practices shall be fruit
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abounding to a good account. This is the fulfillment of that
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divine command given to the very first blessed people.
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Be fruitful. The resulting fruit, meaning
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good works, holiness, and conduct charity towards others,
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is the recompense in the honor of pious labor.
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Henry requires this fruit to be evident both in the temper of
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their minds, so internal virtue, and the tenor of their lives,
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their external action. And the fruit has to be produced
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in due season. What specific theological weight
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does Henry give to the timing of this fruit?
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The timing is critical because it speaks to the wisdom and the
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Providence of the believer's actions.
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Fruit produced in due season means it's produced when it is
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most beautiful and most useful. So it's about seizing the right
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moment. It is this calls the believer to
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improve every opportunity of doing good at the proper time,
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avoiding rashness but also avoiding delay.
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It's about acting virtuously, not just when it's convenient,
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but when providential circumstances make the good deed
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most effective. Then .4 addresses endurance and
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visible reputation preservation. His leaf also shall not wither.
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This seems to speak directly to the longevity of the believers
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external profession. And Henry draws very sharp
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distinction here that targets hypocrisy.
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He notes that those who bring forth only to the leaves of
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profession so outward show and talk without any good fruit of
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holiness, will inevitably see their leaf wither when trial or
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hardship comes. They get exposed.
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They're exposed. But for the truly godly man, the
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internal adherence to the word keeps the external profession
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green. It sustains both his comfort,
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his personal assurance, and his credit, his reputation before
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men. Henry guarantees that the
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believers laurels. Thus one shall never wither.
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And the final point, the practical summation of the
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blessing, is prosperity. Whatever he does, it shall
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prosper. Now, in Henry's context, this
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needs careful definition. Is he promising earthly riches?
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He's quick to clarify that while temporal blessing isn't
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excluded, the primary prosperity is spiritual.
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He specifically includes soul prosperity as the highest form
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of success. So it's about spiritual growth.
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It is whatever the Goodman does in conformity to the law, guided
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by the Word and seeking God's will.
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It shall prosper, maybe not always to his worldly
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expectations, but certainly to his mind or above his hope in
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terms of spiritual development, sanctification, and eternal
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reward. It's a promise that his labor in
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the Lord will never be fruitless in the economy of grace.
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That completes a really comprehensive picture of the
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righteous man, but then the text immediately pivots in verse 4 to
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a stark contrast, describing the ungodly man who is the absolute
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reverse of the righteous. And Henry underscores the
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severity of this reversal. He highlights that textual
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repetition. They are not.
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So they do the precise opposite of everything that leads to
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blessedness. They choose the counsel of the
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wicked. They produce only grapes of
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Sodom, and they cumber the ground because they've rejected
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delight in the law. I noticed in this section Henry
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refers to some ancient scriptural translations like the
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Septuagint and the Chaldee. Why does he feel the need to
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bring in those specific textual sources?
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Well, Henry, like a lot of scholars of his era, he
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consulted these ancient versions to confirm the intensity and
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scope of the original language. When he mentions the Septuagint,
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the ancient Greek translation, he uses it to reinforce that
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emphatic repetition. Not so the ungodly they are not
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so. So it shows he wants the reader
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to get how absolute this contrast is.
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Exactly not partial. And similarly, when he
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references the Chaldi Targum, the Aramaic interpretive
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translations that serves to confirm the understanding of the
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final judgement and separation, it lends historical weight to
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his interpretation of their doom.
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Let's focus on the main image used for the ungodly in verse 4.
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Their defining characteristic is their resemblance to chaff.
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What are the specific aspects Henry pulls out of that
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metaphor? First, Henry focuses on their
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worth and substance. Check is the lightest kind of
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agricultural waste. It's destined to be thrown away.
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It's not capable of being put to any use by the owner.
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Henry argues that the ungodly, no matter their worldly rank or
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what value people put on them, are of no worth at all.
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In God's account, they are spiritual dross. 2nd, the
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comparison speaks to their instability, their lack of a
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spiritual root which is a complete contrast to that
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planted tree. They have no steadfastness.
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Exactly. Their minds are light and vain.
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They have no substance in them, no solidity, because they lack
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that inner anchor of God's Word. They're easily driven to and fro
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by every wind of doctrine, every temptation, every shifting
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social pressure. They lack the rooted, planted
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stability that's necessary to endure either life's trials or
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God's judgement. And finally, the image of chaff
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defines their end. Their end is expulsion.
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They're destined to be swept away.
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Just as the wind drives away agricultural waste.
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The ungodly will be driven away by the whirlwind and fire of
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divine wrath, Henry stresses. They are utterly unable to stand
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before this judgement or to escape it.
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Those who through their own sin and folly, chose to live a life
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of light vain profession will be exposed as such before the
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divine fire. That terrifying image of being
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scattered leads right into the dual aspect of the ungodly's
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final doom. In verse 5, Henry defines 2
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inescapable consequences. The first is a public legal
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consequence. They shall not stand in the
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judgment. This is their conviction as
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traitors. Henry reminds his readers that a
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judgment is coming where every person's true character, often
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hidden on Earth, will be perfectly discovered.
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The ungodly must appear to receive according to the things
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done in the body. But they shall not stand.
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They shall not stand in this court because the evidence
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against them, their life of negligence, their practice of
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sin will be overwhelming, their pleas will be overruled as
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frivolous, and they will be left to hang down the head with shame
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and confusion. The second consequence is
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perpetual exclusion, which Henry defines as they shall not stand
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in the Congregation of the Righteous.
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This refers to the eternal Society of the Blessed, the
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General Assembly of the Church of the First Born in Heaven.
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Henry quotes the standard rule. None unclean nor unsanctified
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shall enter the New Jerusalem. This exclusion is absolute.
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The wicked will be thrust out, and they will witness the
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righteous entering the Kingdom, leading to their everlasting
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vexation. And Henry notes the stark
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contrast in this exclusion. This separation is total, and it
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finally exposes all those who managed to successfully pretend
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to be pious on earth. Hypocrites can thrust themselves
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into the congregation now, but Christ cannot be imposed upon.
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This future separation is critical to Henry's theology of
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assurance and reward. The day of judgement is called
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the great day of discovery of distinction and final division.
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Henry connects it to the separation of the sheep and the
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goats, referencing Malachi. Then you shall return and
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discern between the righteous and the wicked, which here it is
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sometimes hard to do. The hidden nature of the heart
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will finally be laid bare. And the division that started
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back in Genesis will be eternally confirmed.
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Now we get to verse 6, which gives us the theological
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grounding, the reason rendered of this different state.
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Henry makes it clear that the whole system of blessedness and
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destruction centers entirely on God's disposition toward their
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respective paths. Yes, it connects divine
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sovereignty right to human destiny.
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For the righteous, the reason for their happiness and their
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guaranteed prosperity is that the Lord knows their way, and
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this knowledge is far more complex than God's general
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omniscience, which observes everything.
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So how does Henry distinguish this special covenantal
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knowledge from God's general awareness?
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This knowing is active, it's protective, and it's gracious.
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In the Hebrew sense, to know often means to choose, to
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approve or to support. Henry argues that this is the
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knowledge of one who chose them into the path, inclined them to
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choose it, guides them in it, and actively orders all their
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steps. So it's an affectionate,
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supportive knowledge. It is a covenantal knowledge and
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it provides constant spiritual support because God knows their
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secret devotions, He knows their hearts, He knows their genuine
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character, even when they are blackened and blemish by the
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reproaches of men. And this act of knowledge is
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their assurance, right? It guarantees the outcome.
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It is the guarantee. Henry assures the listener that
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because the the Lord knows their way, He approves of it and
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supports it. He will ultimately make them and
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their way manifest before the world to their immortal joy and
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honor. The knowledge of God is their
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protection and their future justification.
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Conversely, the reason for the destruction of the wicked is
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that they bear the full responsibility for their own
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fate. The wicked perish because the
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very way in which they have chosen and resolved to walk
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leads directly to destruction. Sin is its own terrible reward.
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Henry emphasizes that the path itself is ruinous.
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It's not just that God punishes the end of the wicked path, but
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that the way they have chosen leads by its very nature and
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tendency toward ruin, and must necessarily end in it.
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So the wicked aren't forced into destruction.
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No, they freely choose the road that guarantees it.
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The final overarching contrast, then, is drawn between God's
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disposition toward these two distinct paths, approval versus
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anger. Henry summary is stark.
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The Lord approves and is well pleased with the way of the
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righteous, and therefore, under the direct influence of His
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gracious support, their way shall prosper and end well.
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It cannot fail. But for the wicked.
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But the Lord is angry at the way of the wicked.
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He finds all they do offensive to him, and therefore their way
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shall perish, and they in it. So if we step back and review
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Henry's entire reading of this crucial preface to the Psalter,
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what is the single overarching conclusion he intends to leave
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with the reader? I think Henry's conclusion is
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that whether it is well or I'll with us and is likely to be so
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to all eternity, depends entirely on whether we are
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accepted of God. The blessedness of the righteous
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is a gift realized through grace and proven by obedience.
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The perishing of the wicked is the just and necessary
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consequence of choosing a path that rejects God's rule.
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So the main take away from Henry's extensive deep dive into
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Psalm 1 is crystal clear. The primary way to blessedness
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is first, separation from evil and counsel, company and
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conduct, and 2nd, saturation in God's revealed Word through
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delight and ongoing meditation. Which results in real
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fruitfulness and ultimate acceptance in His presence.
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It provides A comprehensive theological framework for the
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entire religious life. All contained in just these 6
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verses. It sets the perfect disposition
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for approaching all the psalms of devotion and praise that
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follow. And this structure, it demands a
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response from us. Our final thought, based on
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Henry's analysis, returns to the practical necessity of
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introspection. Yes, Henry notes that we must
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possess a holy dread of the wicked man's portion, and seek
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constantly to approve ourselves to God in everything, and
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treating His favor with our whole hearts.
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That sense of necessity is paramount.
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Matthew Henry makes a specific note that every man's judgement
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seeds from the Lord. Given everything we've talked
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about the necessity of separation, the depth of
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meditation required in the promise of a known way, the most
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practical action that comes from Psalm 1 is not just avoiding the
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evil outside. It's asking how is the nature
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and the quality of my daily meditation prove that my chosen
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way is the one the Lord knows and approves.
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A question for you to Mull over as you return to your own path
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and consider the true nature of your adherence.
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Until next time, keep thinking.