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Psalm 1:2
but his delight is in the LORD’s law. On his law he meditates day and night.
1Blessed is the man who doesn’t walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand on the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers;
2but his delight is in the LORD’s law. On his law he meditates day and night.
3He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water, that produces its fruit in its season, whose leaf also does not wither. Whatever he does shall prosper.
4The wicked are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
Notice
Delight in YHWH’s law joins pleasure with sustained attention, raising the question of what deserves room in your thoughts day and night.
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Where else Scripture says this
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Joshua 1:8This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written …Both name meditation on God’s law “day and night”; Joshua also states its aim of putting what is written into practice.
Psalm 119:92Unless your law had been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.Both speak of delight in God’s law; Psalm 119 describes that delight as essential to enduring affliction.
Psalm 119:11I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.Both describe inward attention to God’s words: meditation in Psalm 1 and keeping his word in the heart in Psalm 119.
Romans 7:22For I delight in God’s law after the inward person,Delight in God’s law is explicit in both passages, with Romans locating that delight in the inward person.
Psalm 119:97–99How I love your law! It is my meditation all day.Both join affection for God’s law with meditation that extends through the day.
Psalm 119:15–16I will meditate on your precepts, and consider your ways.Both make God’s instruction the subject of meditation; Psalm 119 also speaks of considering his ways.
Jeremiah 15:16Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words were to me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart, for I am called by your name, LORD, God of Armies.Both describe joy in what God has spoken: delight in the LORD’s law and rejoicing over words received from him.
1 John 5:3For this is loving God, that we keep his commandments. His commandments are not grievous.Both describe a glad regard for God’s commands: the psalm names delight, while John says his commandments are not grievous.
1 Timothy 4:15Be diligent in these things. Give yourself wholly to them, that your progress may be revealed to all.Both describe sustained attention; the psalm specifies God’s law, while Timothy urges diligence concerning “these things.”
Job 23:12I haven’t gone back from the commandment of his lips. I have treasured up the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.Both express how much God’s instruction is valued: the psalm names delight, and Job treasures God’s words more than food.
Ezra 7:10For Ezra had set his heart to seek the LORD’s law, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.The LORD’s law is the focus in both: the psalm describes delight and meditation, while Ezra sets his heart to seek and obey it.
Luke 2:37and she had been a widow for about eighty-four years), who didn’t depart from the temple, worshiping with fastings and petitions night and day.Both describe devotion spanning day and night, though Luke speaks of worship with fasting and petitions rather than meditation on the law.
Where this verse fits
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One step
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Encouragement
The blessed life described here includes pleasure in what God says. His law is worth returning to across the hours of an ordinary day.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 1:2. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).