Psalm 1

Psalm 1 – Two Paths

How happy is the man who does not follow the advice of the wicked or take the path of sinners or join a group of mockers! Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night. He is like a tree planted beside streams of water that bears its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. The wicked are not like this; instead, they are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not survive the judgment, and sinners will not be in the community of the righteous. For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to ruin. Psalm 1:1-6

Today I am taking a little break from a major study and will instead begin to look at one of the Psalms. When I considered where to begin, I thought it best to start at the very beginning – in the words of The Sound of Music – “a very good place to start”. Before I get into Psalm 1, a little background.

The title of the book of Psalms in Hebrew is actually Tehillim. Tehillim is the plural form of tehila, which means words of or glory of praise. The word Psalm actually comes from the Septuagint, the pre-Christian Greek translation of the Old Testament. Psalm is taken from the Hebrew word mizmorim which means melody of praise and refers to the instrumentation of the tehila. There are 150 Psalms divided into several categories. An example is Psalm 111-118 are called the Hallel, or praise Psalms, and are recited during Passover. There are many authors of the Psalms with David being the best known.

Psalm 1 is often attributed to David, but, in reality the author is unknown. The theme of the book is a contrast between the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked. It is simple and straightforward, and at the same time deep and difficult. “The book of Psalms begins with a guide to life itself. Avoid the influence of evildoers and those who ridicule good, and adopt the study and knowledge of Torah as your main goal. Then God will reward you with a life of joy and good fortune.” (From the ArtScroll Series Schottenstein edition of the Psalms – preface to Psalm 1). The following translation of Psalm 1 – actually more of a transliteration – is from the ArtScroll series.

Praiseworthy is the man who did not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of the sinful, nor sit in the session of scorners. (vs 1)

I find this breakdown interesting. We have three people that we are not to follow – the counsel of the wicked, the path of the sinful and the session of the scorners. The thing that interests me is that there are three categories. While all are sinful, there are differences the Psalmist wanted to point out. And here they are: 1) We are not to walk in the counsel of the wicked. Who are the wicked? They are those who promote lawlessness and have a total disregard of Torah (God’s word). They willfully go about sinning and will lead others down the path gleefully. They know exactly what they are doing and promote it, thus are condemned to their own path of godlessness. 2) The path of the sinful are those who are walking down the path without the “intent” to actually sin. We would say, “they didn’t know better”, yet here we find, they are in the same boat as the wicked. While they may not “mean” to sin, they do. And because they do sin, they are still disregarding Torah. Basically, their frivolous attitude towards God has led to their sinfulness and so they too are condemned. 3) Then there are the session (or group) of scorners. These are people who mock those who walk with God. I think this is the group that is the most dangerous to us. As believers, we don’t usually go about willfully sinning, and we try to stay away from following those who sin, but when the group of mockers comes out we remain silent and our silence can be taken as agreement. 1 Peter 2 says, “Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and temporary residents to abstain from fleshly desires that war against you. Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that in a case where they speak against you as those who do what is evil, they will, by observing your good works, glorify God on the day of visitation.” (vs 11-12) In other words, we need to stand firm in our faith and on God’s word.

Rather, in the Torah of Hashem is his desire and in His Torah he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree deeply rooted alongside brooks of water that yields its fruit in its season and whose leaf never withers and everything that he does will succeed. (vs 2-3)

The word Hashem means The Name. Instead of using the name of God, Hashem is used instead. The Jews take very seriously Exodus 20:7, “Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God, because the Lord will not leave anyone unpunished who misuses His name.” So, a righteous person will meditate day and night, they will submerse themselves in the Word of God. Psalm 119 is 176 verses extolling the statues and laws of God. Verses 1-3 says, “How happy are those whose way is blameless, who live according to the Lord’s instruction! Happy are those who keep His decrees and seek Him with all their heart. They do nothing wrong; they follow His ways.” And then verse 9 says, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping Your word.” It is by keeping God’s word that we remain pure and holy. I love the analogy the Psalmist gives – if we meditate day and night on the Word of God we are like a tree deeply rooted alongside brooks of water. He is the living water. If we are deeply rooted in Him, we will produce His fruit. Jesus said it this way in John 15:5-8, “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me. If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be My disciples.” As disciples of Christ, we must remain in Him. He is the living water and the source for our growth. Without Him, we can do nothing.

Not so the wicked; rather they are like the chaff that is driven away by the wind. Therefore, the wicked will not be vindicated in judgment, nor the sinful in the assembly of the righteous.

The wicked, on the other hand, do not have substance. The Psalmist says they are like the chaff. If you’ve never seen chaff before, it has the outward appearance of being whole but it is hollow without substance and is easily swept away. So, it looks good, but every wind of the world will pick it up and blow it someplace. I don’t know about you, but I’ve met people like this, (and, to be honest, there are times when I’ve been this way.) They are all talk, but, when the it’s time to do something they are no where to be found. After His triumphant entry, Jesus teaches in the temple. At one point, He denounces the religious leaders of the day. He speaks eight woes to them, calling the hypocrites. Here are three of them: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You pay a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, yet you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. These things should have been done without neglecting the others. Blind guides! You strain out a gnat, yet gulp down a camel! “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence! Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so the outside of it may also become clean. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every impurity. In the same way, on the outside you seem righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness,” Matthew 23:23-28. This is what Psalm 1 is talking about. The outside looks holy and righteous but they are just whitewashed tombs, full of death. The outside of the cup is clean, but the inside is full of coffee stains and tea leaves. In other words, If the inside is dirty, all of it is. When the judgment comes, God sees all of us – the outside, the inside and everything in-between.

And finally the ending. For Hashem attends to the way of the righteous while the way of the wicked will be doomed.

There are two paths we can follow. We can go the way of the righteous, or the way of the wicked. We can follow society down the path of destruction or follow God’s word and gain life. We can walk with God, who will never leave us nor forsake us, or follow the world and lack God’s loving care. We can be deeply rooted in the streams of living water or be like the seed that has been tossed in the rocks where birds can eat it, and the roots will dry up and die. There are two paths – which one will you choose?