Psalm 1

August 6, 2015

The wicked ones (Ps 1:4-1:6)

“The wicked are not so.

They are like chaff

That the wind drives away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment.

There are not sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

Yahweh watches over the way of the righteous.

However, the way of the wicked will perish.”

The opposite of the happy righteous person is the wicked person. They have chosen the other way, the bad way, not the path of Yahweh and the law. They are like the useless chaff that falls away from the grain. The wind will drive them away. The wicked cannot stand in judgment before Yahweh. Does this mean the last judgment or is this a near term earthly judgment? There will be no sinners in the congregation of the righteous. Yahweh watches over and protects the righteous, but the wicked will perish. There is a self-righteousness about the blessed ones so that they do not allow sinners among them. Yahweh’s protection keeps them from perishing like the wicked ones. The choice of the 2 ways is clear with this parallelism between the righteous and the wicked. The blessed, the righteous, the strong trees, the lovers of the law are with Yahweh. The sinful wicked, on the other hand will be blown away in the threshing floor. They will not be able to stand so that they will perish. The moral choice is yours, righteous or wicked.

August 6, 2015

The happy people (Ps 1:1-1:3)

“Happy are those

Who do not follow the advice of the wicked.

They do not take the path that sinners tread.

They do not sit in the seat of scoffers.

Their delight is in the law of Yahweh.

On his law they meditate day and night.

They are like trees

That are planted by streams of water.

They yield their fruit in its season.

Their leaves do not wither.

In all that they do,

They prosper.”

Psalm 1 is considered a preface to the collection of psalms or praises. There is no attribution to this psalm. It may have been the biblical editor’s choice. This psalm emphasizes the two ways, much like the later 1st century CE Christian Didache. This is, in fact, a wisdom psalm. The happy or blessed ones are the people who do not follow wicked advice. They receive blessings. They are the prosperous or the righteous people. They do not walk down the way of sinners or scoffers. Their delight and happiness is in the law of Yahweh. They are like the strong trees planted by streams of water as they always yield their fruit in the correct season. Their leaves never wither. Everything that they do is prosperous because they are sustained by the water. They meditate day and night on the Torah that was given by Yahweh, the God of Israel, via Moses. They are much like Christian contemplatives or Buddhist monks. The happy blessed one is the one who follows the law. This psalm sets the tone for all the psalms to follow.