Day 7 Psalm 1:1 and Psalm 1 (Cont.)

Day 7 Psalm 1:1 and Psalm 1 (Cont.)

Can you believe what all we've accomplished with Psalm 1:1 up to this point? It's been a great deal. I have pages of journaling. There are actually pages upon pages, as a matter of fact. How about you? 
Also, I don't know about you, but I can't believe how much time we've already spend studying this one verse. It's rather mind-boggling.
Our study of Psalm 1:1 has been all self-made to this point. We've looked for the depth of the verse and what it means to us and our lives, through prayer, reading the verse and praying on it, through looking up cross-references, and context. Now, we will look at what others say about it in our Commentary Study. 

WHY DO COMMENTARY STUDY AND WHY DO IT NOW AND NOT EARLIER?
First of all, if someone else has studied this, why didn't we look at what they said first? We went through all of our own study and could have just gone straight to the experts, right?
Well, it's true. We could have.
BUT...
It isn't advisable to just trust man and what man says. Man is a sinner and gets things wrong, for starters. We should never, ever trust a human and what they say, even the great pastors and Bible teachers out there. Rather, we should always check the best source to see what it has to say: The Bible. We should check the Bible against itself first. 
Also, what one person might get out of a verse is something completely different than what God wanted you to get out of a verse. Therefore, it's important for you to study what the Bible says for yourself. 
Then, it's good to see what others have to say. This can add to your understanding. Just make sure what they say lines up with the Bible and everything you've learned. If it doesn't, dismiss it. 

HOW DO YOU CONDUCT A COMMENTARY STUDY?  
Study the verse for yourself first through reading it, through prayer, through cross-references, through context. Then, start a commentary study. 
I always, without fail, look at least three resources at the very least. I recommend five, though. If you can do more, though, great. that's even better. So, for the purpose of our study, we will make it five. After all, we want more of an understanding.
So, where do you find the resources? 
Here is where: 
A Bible Study Tools Commentaries

I recommend using all of these: 
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible 
Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible Complete
The Treasury of David
John Gill's Exposition of the Bible
B Biblehub.com
 Use these:
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Calvin's Commentaries
Clark's Commentary
Darby's Bible Synopsis
Keil and Delitzsch OT Commentary  
Pulpit Commentary
Wesley's Notes on the Bible
C BibleGateway.com
Look up the verse you are studying. Put it in the search box, hit enter. 
When it goes to the screen where it shows you your verse, click on the icon to the right that says, SHOW RESOURCES. 
A box to the right will appear with multiple commentaries and other resources. 
I recommend using at a minimal: Matthew Henry's Commentary. But, you can also use, NIV Application Commentary, Reformation Study Bible, and/or others.   
For the purposes of our study, the five we will use at the minimal are:
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible 
Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible Complete
The Treasury of David
John Gill's Exposition of the Bible  
Keil and Delitzsch OT Commentary   
Use additional resources listed above, or on the sites I linked. I will also bring in these resources and more.  

8 COMMENTARY STUDY
Each Commentary study we do will consist of two parts: 
8a Your personal study
8b My additional study

8a Your personal study 
Go ahead. Study at least the five commentaries we've determined previously.  
Make sure to do LOTS of prayer journaling. With each text, I recommend at least half a page of prayer journaling, preferably an entire page. That's just of notes as you read the commentary. 
Then, prayer journal your response to each of the following for each commentary:
What jumped out at you and why?
What questions do you have?
What issues or problems might you have? 
What did you learn?
What did God say to you?
What did God say to you?
What do you want to apply to your life?
How did this commentary add to your understanding of the verse we're studying? 
Write a summary. 
Write a prayer to God in conclusion.