Psalm 1, which is concerning the law in man's appreciation, is for the personal benefit of the saints, such as being blessed in prosperity (vv. 1-3). We need to compare this to Christ's attainments concerning the accomplishment of the economy of God in Psalm 2. Psalm 1 is for the personal benefit of the saints, and Psalm 2 is for the accomplishment of the economy of God. The concept in Psalm 1 is very low compared with the revelation in Psalm 2.
In Psalm 1 the law was appreciated and uplifted by godly men according to their human, ethical concept (vv. 2-3). Psalm 1 and a number of other psalms show the human, ethical concept of these godly men in uplifting the law. Psalm 1:2-3 says, "His delight is in the law of Jehovah, / And in His law he meditates by day and by night. / And he will be like a tree / Transplanted beside streams of water, / Which yields its fruit in its season, / And whose foliage does not wither; / And everything he does prospers." The human concept in Psalm 1 is one of appreciating and uplifting the law.
One concept in Psalm 1:2-3 is that of a tree absorbing the nearby water, and the other concept in Psalm 36:8 is that of drinking of the river of God's pleasures in God's house. The concept of drinking is the highest. All of the one hundred fifty psalms, composed in five books, were arranged in a good sequence. They go progressively up and up, step by step, to the highest level of revelation. Also, the end of each book is higher than its beginning. Book 1 contains forty-one psalms. Psalm 36 is much higher than Psalm 1. In Psalm 36 the psalmist says, "Now I can enjoy the abundance of Your house, Your temple, and I can drink in Your temple the river of Your pleasures" (v. 8). The psalmist here does not talk about the law. He has come up from the first floor to the thirty-sixth floor. When we compare Psalm 1 with Psalm 36, we can see the difference.