The Emotions of Psalms, Part 1 – Psalm 1: Right Feeling
Psalm 1 May 31, 2026
Introduction
New Series introduction
3 points today – The Affections, The Attack, The Antidote
The Affections
Orthopathy
o Right feeling = the process of feeling (verb) the right way about something
Note that there are
no “wrong” feelings (noun)/emotions/affections in and of themselves
because our emotions are simply a response to some stimulus
The question is whether I am responding properly to the
stimulus as I am feeling/emoting (verbs) my
feelings/emotions/affections (nouns)
o Am I informing my initial emotional response with true
understanding and perspective of that stimulus such that
my ongoing emotional response is shaped into a godly
handling of the stimulus
o How did we get to a place culturally where we have such a difficult time
practicing orthopathy
Modernity = age of reason/enlightenment and a move toward
scientific measurement, comprehension, and absolute scientific truth
where mankind is the master of all things as we come to understand
more fully
Post-modernity = there is no absolute truth, meta-narrative, or
objective value; everything is relative and individual men are already
the master of their own perspective and their own truth even as it
changes within them.
Where there is no absolute truth or objective value, there is
nothing to anchor our thoughts and emotions. With no objective
focus of affection, emotions are now subjective and privatized,
and therefore relative. There is nothing to guide them, there is
nothing shape them, there is nothing to help them settle on
what is actually righteous, or virtuous. Our feelings/affections
(noun) become mere emotional opinions which reflect our
subjective whims.
o The problem is that there is no way to actually and
accurately determine when our emotion/feeling/affection
is right, healthy, virtuous, and praiseworthy unless there is
an actual objective measuring stick of the right way to
ultimately feel about a thing.
Thankfully, the word of God gives us a standard – it gives us a measuring stick
and an example of how to rightly process our emotions and ultimately how to
have the proper affections/emotions/feelings toward any given stimulus.
o Sadly, we often fail to properly teach and preach this in our churches, either
overemphasizing knowledge/intellect without wisdom or overemphasizing
experience/feelings without wisdom. Neither of these things properly help
train our heart to delight in the Lord and therefore both think and feel rightly
through the lens of truth toward whatever situation we are facing
o Richard Beck “It’s not news to anyone that seminaries have, for many
generations, trained pastors to be scholars rather than ministers. Of
course, many schools have been, for many years, pushing hard against
this history. But as anyone who has ever been to seminary knows, the
experience is very academic and very scholarly. Classes in biblical
languages, textual studies, exegesis, church history, and theology. And in
the rarefied scholarly air of academia emotions tend to get marginalized.
Intellect, knowledge and critical ability tend to take center stage. You want
and need to be smart. Along with this pursuit of smartness is a common
seminary tendency to point at and make fun of churches that function as
case studies where emotions have led a faith community astray. Emotions
make us vulnerable to bad theology, pentecostal excess, charismatic
leaders, and entertainment culture. We mock how worship services have
become like rock concerts. … And so, emotions get marginalized. Because
of seminary education and a legitimate worry that emotions can lead us
astray. But even worse, emotions are perceived as manipulative. … The
world has no qualms about appealing to our emotions. … Emotion is the
most powerful force in the world. We can’t leave our greatest weapon on
the shelf. We can’t fight with one arm tied behind our back. The world is
using emotions. We aren’t. And the world is winning. We cannot afford to
avoid emotions. But the issue isn’t about emotion, but about right emotion.
Yes, there are plenty of examples of wrong and misplaced emotions. But
that’s not an excuse to avoid emotion. We avoid emotion at our peril.
Because something in the world will appeal to our emotions if churches
won’t. The call here is, rather, for orthopathy, the directing of emotions
toward their proper goal and the shaping of virtue. In fact, when we see
Christians behaving badly I’d argue this is due less to bad beliefs than bad
emotions, fears and loves being misdirected. When Christians go wrong
this is less about a suite of bad ideas than about paranoid fears and
inordinate loves. These distorted and twisted emotions need proper
direction and formation.”
Experimental Theology: On Orthopathy: Part 5, A Battle for the Heart
The Attack
Progression of Temptation
James 1:14-15 “14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by
his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin
when it is fully grown brings forth death.”
o Triggering Event (situation/circumstance/direct temptation > Lie (may be
subtle/implied, may be overt) > Processing through Desire/Heart (how I
initially react to the lie mentally and emotionally: orthodoxy and orthopathy)
> Action (orthopraxy)
“Heart” (Heb. lēḇāḇ) – the center of a man, from which their emotions,
intellect/thoughts, and will all proceed. In Hebrew understanding, one
‘thinks’ with their heart – the Greeks would call this the “mind”
o Notice that to the Hebrew mind, the heart contains both
one’s intellect and one’s emotions
Therefore, both are processing at the same time
and both must be properly balanced (orthodoxy and
orthopathy) to produce right action
One does not come before the other,
otherwise we are at risk of improper balance
o Suppression vs saturation of
emotion/intellect
Sliding scale: more saturation of
intellect = more suppression of
emotion; more saturation of
emotion = more suppression of
intellect
We want balance
Psalm 1
o 1 Blessed is the man
o who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
o nor stands in the way of sinners,
o nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
o 2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
o and on his law he meditates day and night.
o 3 He is like a tree
o planted by streams of water
o that yields its fruit in its season,
o and its leaf does not wither.
o In all that he does, he prospers.
o 4 The wicked are not so,
o but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
o 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
o nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
o 6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
o but the way of the wicked will perish.
Progression of sin
o Walks – is not influenced by, pressed by the standards of, or receiving
advice from
o Stands – does not associate with and remain around or in the direction of
o Sits – does not makes his place of rest/settling, to abide in a thing
This is often a slow progression that we do not realize has taken
place until it is too late
We face 3 Enemies (wicked, sinners, scoffers can emerge from any of the 3)
o The World System
1 John 2:15-17 “15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If
anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all
that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the
eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17
And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever
does the will of God abides forever.
o Our Prideful Desires (flesh)
Galatians 5:16-17 “16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not
gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are
against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh,
for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the
things you want to do.”
o The Adversary
1 Peter 5:8-9 “8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the
devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9
Resist him, firm in your faith…”
Constantly uses the other 2 as his means to temptation – and
will also lie directly to us
These three enemies will always seek to attack our heart with lies that enflame
our affections (noun) and tempt us to feel (verb) wrongly (suppress or saturate)
The Antidote
V2 “but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.”
o Law or instruction or Word
Recall importance of delight in our worship
o Meditate = chewing on, pondering deeply, and studying so as to learn and
apply both an intellectual and emotional exercise
If merely study, remains intellectual and fall into seminary trap
Meditation is a key practice to allow all of our heart – intellect,
emotion, and will – to be informed and transformed by truth
o When this happens there is Blessing (v1)
Reminder of Beatitudes and the Blessing that the Lord wants to
bestow upon us as we trust in Him
o V3 = 4 points of blessing:
Planted – the Lord does the planting and makes you firm and strong
Fruitful – will produce good fruit inwardly and outwardly
Unwithered – though times are tough, strength from the Lord will
remain
Prosperous – God will be glorified through your life
Conclusion
Pray through Psalm as pragmatic example of how to work on processing our
emotions rightly and aligning them with truth.
Amen. Amen.