BOOK I
(Psalms 1–41)
The Way to Happiness
1God blesses those people
who refuse evil advice
and won't follow sinners
or join in sneering at God.
2Instead, they find happiness
in the Teaching of the Lord,
and they think about it
day and night.
3 They are like trees
growing beside a stream,
trees that produce
fruit in season
and always have leaves.
Those people succeed
in everything they do.
4That isn't true of those
who are evil—
they are like straw
blown by the wind.
5Sinners won't have an excuse
on the day of judgment,
and they won't have a place
with the people of God.
6The Lord protects everyone
who follows him,
but the wicked follow a road
that leads to ruin.