Psalm series
The Psalms are a favourite of many Bible readers, for they express the feelings we have when worshipping or facing trouble. The writers’ trust in God is encouraging, for if God would rescue them, then we can trust Him to rescue us.
The first two psalms introduce the predominant subjects throughout the Psalms: (1) the contrast between those who follow God’s ways and those who do not and (2) the kingdom of God and His king. Psalm 1 speaks of the righteous and the wicked.
Psalms is a book of poetry. The most notable features of Old Testament poetry are figures of speech and parallelism. Parallelism means the ideas of two adjacent lines correspond to each other, often with grammatical similarity. Parallels can be synonymous, contrasting, explanations, or comparisons between nature and spiritual, social or moral matters. Psalm 1 does all of these.
The first half of Psalm 1 describes a righteous person, in verse 1 telling in three synonymous parallels what he does not do, in verse 2 telling in two parallels what he does, then in verse 3 making a comparison with the natural world and giving the results.
In verse 1, the righteous person does not live like the wicked. He does not walk in the way of the ungodly, that is, does not follow ungodly advice from those who ignore or reject God’s ways when it comes to lifestyle, morals or ethics. He might take advice about medicine, window replacement or cooking, but not about things that are contrary to God’s ways, such as lying, revenge, gossip, sexual promiscuity, etc. Nor does the righteous person stand in the sinner’s way, that is, does not spend any time doing or contemplate doing sinful activities. If someone does these things, he would end up sitting in the assembly of those who ridicule God’s ways and give advice like the wicked at the beginning of the verse. The pathway of the wicked leads downward, and God’s person avoids this path.
The righteous person does not live like the wicked nor follow ungodly advice from those who ignore or reject God’s ways
What does the righteous person do? Verse 2 says he delights in God’s law. Although the first five books of the Bible are called “law”, many times the term “law” is used for the whole Old Testament. So, he delights in the Word of God. The parallel line explains what that means: he meditates in God’s Word day and night. The idea of meditating is to mutter or talk quietly to oneself — in this context, about what God’s Word says. For most people, that means that they have memorised parts of it. Then they think about it “day and night”. This expression is a merism, which is a figure of speech that names two opposites and means everything between them. So, someone who delights in God’s Word thinks about it all the time. Of course, a person must pay attention to his work and to the people around him, but the idea is that God’s Word is often on his mind and when confronted with decisions, plans, and troubles, Scripture quickly comes to mind.
The last verse of the section compares the righteous to a tree by an irrigation canal. Just as a tree in such a place has constant nourishment, so the godly is constantly nourished spiritually by God’s Word. A fruit tree gives fruit in season. Likewise, the follower of God bears fruit. Fruit according to this verse means that what the person attempts to do, he or she accomplishes.
The section of verses 4-5 describing the ungodly is shorter and indicates the wicked will be removed quickly. Verse 4 says the ungodly are not like God’s followers, and the parallel line explains why, using a picture from nature: they are like husks of grain that blow away in a breeze. In two synonymous parallels, verse 5 says those who reject God’s ways may appear like they belong to the group of the righteous or they may appear to be blessed by God because of their power, popularity or wealth, but because they don’t follow God, they will be separated from God, His people, and His blessings.
In verse 6, the psalm points out why these two paths lead to such different results. Therefore, the psalmist draws contrasting parallels. On the one hand, the Lord is involved with and supports the way of righteousness. On the other, he causes the way of the wicked to be ruined and lead to their destruction.
Psalm 1 introduces the book. Later, the book will refer to difficulties that God’s followers have, but as an introduction, the psalmist does not enter into those issues. He gives a general overview of following God or not and what will eventually happen, regardless of intervening prosperity of the wicked and troubles of the righteous. Choose your path.
David Brooks is a senior professor of Hebrew & Old Testament at Criswell College, Dallas, where he lives with his wife and four children. Having been raised with an emphasis on international missions, he often accepts international teaching assignments while also teaching adjunctively at Dallas Theological Seminary.
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