Psalms
James H. Waltner
Psalm 1
Blessed—the Way of the Righteous
PREVIEW
The first psalm reflects Hebrew wisdom literature from its opening word Happy, “Blessed” (NIV, RSV) and by the message contrasting the character and fate of the wicked and the righteous. The psalm’s focus on the law (torah, tôrâ) sounds a strong teaching note. The world is organized in such a way that conduct matters. Placed as introduction, the psalm presents the Psalter as a study and prayer book, essential for the ordering of life to God’s purposes.
Psalm 1 commends joyous and continuous engagement with the law of the LORD. Shunning the counsel and influence of the wicked, the person who allows the instruction of the LORD (Yahweh) to nurture life will prosper like the fruit-bearing tree. Striking contrasts abound from the first word, happy (blessed), to the last emphatic word, perish! The psalm uses two powerful similes: a tree that has its roots in the water and therefore bears fruit abundantly as intended, and chaff, the light, flaky refuse that in threshing the grain is blown away as useless!
Book I of Psalms (1–41) may have been assembled under influence of the wisdom writers since both Psalms 1 and 41 are “blessed”psalms, introduced by a beatitude. Likely not part of the original collection, Psalm 1 was placed to open the Psalter following the exile and the work of Ezra, when the law (torah) became a unifying force for the Hebrew people [Composition].
OUTLINE
Portrait of the Righteous, 1:1-3
Portrait of the Wicked, 1:4-6
EXPLANATORY NOTES
Portrait of the Righteous 1:1-3
An emphatic Happy (’ašrê) describes the righteous person. The meaning is “O the lessedness, the joy, the good fortune!” The shift by translators from “man” (v. 1 Heb, RSV, NIV) to those (NRSV) represents the attempt to employ phraseology for human beings that is not gender specific. The psalm warns against the evil counsel of the wicked. Note the progression “walks,” “stands,” “sits” (v. 1 RSV).
Here too, a translation such as NRSV has moved to convey how the verbs are used metaphorically since “walk” and “way” in Hebrew often imply a lifestyle and how to live. Sinners can increasingly lead a person down the wrong path so that the wrong people become one’s company and counsel.
In contrast, the blessed one’s delight is in the law of the LORD (v. 2). For the Hebrews, the torah (translated into English inadequately as “law“) meant teaching, guidance. The torah was the instruction revealing the covenant story of God’s dealing with his people. Torah referred to the Ten Commandments as a summary of God’s basic instruction for community living. Eventually Torah (capitalized) was/is used to speak of the first five books of the OT. In later times, it came to mean all of Jewish learning and sacred literature [Torah].
We commonly think of law in the sense of “Thou shalt not . . . ” as oppressive and restrictive, as ought and as burden. But the Hebrews looked on torah as a guide to life, as that God-given structure and order that was freeing. The psalm invites people to meditate (h¯ag¯ah), which implies murmuring and mumbling. Isaiah uses the word for the growling sound a lion makes over its prey (Isa 31:4). Psalm 1 tells of reciting words of the torah throughout the day and during waking moments of the night. Other torah Psalms are 19 and 119, though in Psalm 1 torah likely also refers to the teaching of all of the psalms that follow. If so, then the first psalm offers a specific orientation to the reader for the entire Psalter.
High regard for the law implies not only singing its virtues, but also obeying. The Torah at the center “reminds us that the primal mode of faithfulness and knowing God is obedience. . . . Life has a moral coherence on which we can rely” (Brueggemann, 1982:56). What kind of success in life is implied by the word prosper (v. 3; Josh 1:8)?
Belief in the link between obedience to God and worldly, material prosperity was widespread (Pss 37:25; 128:3; 144:12-14). To prosper may also mean that as the tree fulfills the purpose for which it was created, so the nature and value of an obedient life are to be found in the fulfillment of the divine will.
Portrait of the Wicked 1:4-6
“Not so the wicked!” (NIV) catches the emphatic Hebrew in contrast to verse 1. The way of the wicked is a dead-end street. When called to account either by due legal process in society or spiritually by God here and now, the wicked have no valid defense (v. 5). For those who opt out of the covenant way, how often their way of life becomes destructive. The wicked—often viewed as those who accuse the innocent, afflict the lowly, and undermine the trust of the faithful (Pss 3:7; 10:2; 11:2)—represent the incongruence between the will of God and
the will of human beings (Mays, 1994b:43) [Wicked].
The final verse summarizes the two ways. The LORD watches over, “knows,” or “approves, has regard to” the righteous (NASB).
“To know” in Hebrew implies a relationship, not just perceiving.
Constant meditation on torah nurtures life for fruit-bearing, but the way of the wicked will perish.
THE TEXT IN THE BIBLICAL CONTEXT AND LIFE OF THE CHURCH
Two Ways
The language of Psalm 1 is reminiscent of the opening chapter of Joshua (1:7-8), and brings to mind the story of finding the “book of the law” (Deuteronomy) in the temple (2 Kings 22:8-23:3). Note also Psalms 32; 41; 112; and 128 as beginning with the emphatic Hebrew word ’ašrê, “happy.” Later Jesus echoes this language: “Blessed . . . are those who hear the word of God and obey it!” (Luke 11:28). In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus uses the Beatitudes to teach about true righteousness (Matt 5:3-12). In this sermon Jesus also refers to the Law (Torah) and the Prophets, and his coming “not to abolish but to fulfill” (5:17). In concluding his sermon, Jesus refers to the two ways: “the road is easy that leads to destruction” (7:13), and “the road is hard that leads to life” (7:14). The Sermon on the Mount ends with powerful images of the “wise man who built his house on rock” and the “foolish man who built his house on sand” (7:24-27). One stood; the other perished.
In the life of the early church, followers of Jesus came to be called people of “the Way” (Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4). Through the centuries believers have thus identified themselves. In Thieleman J. van Braght’s great collection of martyr stories, many imprisoned for their faith took courage in Psalm 1, frequently quoting verses in their letters to encourage family and friends: “Abide with God, and mingle not with the wicked.” “Give yourself up to the Lord, and always join yourself to those who fear the Lord.” “Weary not in the ways of the Lord; have your delight therein day and night” (549, 468, 1053).
Pesquisa: Pr.Charles Maciel Vieira
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