The Psalm of Psalms
Psalm 1: 1-6

A PRESBYTERIAN PSALTER - by Pastor Max A Forsythe

A Translation of the Text:   01 Blessed is the man, who: does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly or stand in the company of sinners or sit in the session of mockers. 02 Rather, his delight is in the law of the LORD., and in His law he meditates day and night.   03 He is like a tree: being planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season, and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does shall prosper. 04 The ungodly are not [like this at all]!   The [ungodly] are like chaff: which the wind blows away. 05 They will not stand in the judgment, nor [sit] in the assembly of the righteous. 06 For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Translation Notes: 01 The strophal organization of The Jerusalem Bible has been followed. There is a poetic imagery of the Hebrew contrast between "walk - stand - sit" as indications of where a person's heart is focused. 02 Instead the man of God studies the law of God and is found in that law through meditation. 03 The being-planted here is implied by the Hebrew, and taken by The Jerusalem Bible as transplanted. 04 The contrast between the elect and ungodly is substantiated in the text and emphasized in The Jerusalem Bible. 05 The opposite contrast of the opening metaphor is implied and shown in the third strophe wording. 06 The sovereignty of God is stressed in His knowing His own and leaving the wicked to their own end.

Meditation on the Psalm:

There is some evidence from Jewish tradition and Luke's record in Acts 13:33 that either psalms one and two were one psalm, or psalm two was counted as the first and this psalm was then the Psalm of Psalms or the Preface Psalm to the entire psalter. Whichever is the truth of the matter, we may see here today a summary of the teachings of the entire Psalter. And what is that summary? It is simply this, straight from the hearts of the psalmists: to teach the elect the way of blessedness and to warn of the sure destruction of of the ungodly.

This psalm consists of two parts. The first part in verses one to three describes the way of the blessed. The second part in verses four to six contrasts the state and character of the ungodly.

We begin with the first phrase of verse one. "Blessed is the man". This appears simple to us and perhaps we would gloss over this phrase without meditating upon its meaning. Yet, this phrase contains a wealth of wisdom, especially when we look behind the English text to the meaning of the Hebrew. Since the first word is written in the plural form, we must appreciate the plurality of the blessings that may come to us from our Father in heaven.

We also see in this first phrase an emphatic construction in the object of the blessings. The "man" here is perceived as "that man"! This would indicate that the "man or woman" is no ordinary person but rather "that person" who lives for the accomplishment of the end for which God created them. Knowing these elements we may appreciate the difficulty of rendering the whole thought into our common tongue. How can we communicate these thoughts in English? "Blessednesses" do not fall from our tongues easily. Then we have the problem of relating "that man" to "blessednesses"! Thus, we are left with a simple construction to state a complex truth. "Blessed is that man".

Now, we must finish our thought here, by looking at what is not done as well as what is done by the one blessed. As we look at the remainder of verse one we should not view these three phrases as a simple list of what we must not do in order to achieve the blessings of God. What the Psalmist is here illustrating is the progression in sinful attitude which must be avoided at all costs. We may see the progression in the verbs contained in the last three phrases of verse one. There is in these verbs: walking, standing and sitting a definite progression in wickedness. There is also an increasing boldness in the marking of evil in the progress from counsel to company and finally to session.

The word counsel here indicates certain established ideas. The Psalmist here is describing those people who will not humble themselves and walk within the Law of God. Instead the ungodly invent their own doctrines, and their own philosophy to live by. As one of those people upon whom the blessednesses of God has fallen, we must not walk in the prevailing philosophy of our age. If we regularly put on the methods of modern philosophy eventually as the psalmist indicates here we will stand in the "company of sinners.."

This word stand here indicates in the figurative language of Scripture that one has become firm and fixed in those ideas which have been studied carefully and accepted as advisable for our lifestyle. If we walk in the counsel of the wicked we will eventually stand with the ungodly! If this be our progress the final goal is inevitable! In time we shall advocate the precepts of mockers. The word "seat" here indicates that one teaches or instructs what one has accepted and believed. This idea is related to the ancient practice of teachers sitting in the synagogue. Or in more modern times we talk of financing a chair for instruction. That is paying the salary for a professor in college. Pity the poor soul who has progressed to the point of advocating those ideas and things that are not holy. Now the word mocker here in an older version is translated as scornful. This indicates their heartfelt attitude towards God. It also indicates the secular content of their teaching. If only by the grace of God, we may avoid the first step of this downward walk - then we shall be blessed indeed!

By the grace of God we may find ourselves described in verse two. Here there is complete contrast with the wickedness of inventing philosophy, accepting it and teaching it in place of the wisdom of our God and Father. There in verse two, what is the delight of the man who is blessed? His delight is in the law of the Lord. How do you view the Law of God? Is it a burden for you to study and comprehend? Do you resist the teachings of God's Word.

Or are you teachable, do you find blessings in learning the Law of God, do you desire to grow in grace and in truth. This is the positive attitude with which we must be concerned as we strive to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and His love. It is not enough to not walk in the way of the ungodly. It is not enough to live a life based upon avoiding the worst of life's evils. No, we must move forward in sanctification, we must love the Word and Laws of our Creator and our God. To do that we must meditate upon the meaning and understanding of Holy Scripture daily. Do you study the Word of God? If not, the blessings here described by the psalmist may not belong to you!

Those who are blessed are compared by the psalmist with the prosperity of a tree carefully planted or even transplanted, tended and protected. This is in the sense of Matthew 15:13 "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots." Thus, this tree is not a wild tree in the same sense that the man in the first verse is not every man. We see here that the tree is carefully watered in a method common to the middle east. There small rivulets of water were made to flow between the trees as water was pumped from a nearby stream, well or river. Certainly, there is a garden in view here, and the Lord is the gardener who carefully tends to those whom He has planted. We see further that His desired fruit is harvested and under God's divine care the tree lasts beyond the normal season.

There is also here a promise of prosperity. We are not to understand this as a carnal worldly prosperity. Martin Luther warns us that the spiritual prosperity here is hated and persecuted through the wiles of the devil and his agents in our world. The words here also may be understood in another sense. "Whatever is produced comes to maturity." This we could understand easily is the fulfillment of the promises of God for the good of His chosen ones. This sense should lead us to appreciate the sovereignty of God completely because we are taught by the scriptures that what God puts His hand to most assuredly must come to pass.

The blessednesses of our God are not temporary but eternal. And if we will delight in His word and law, if we will meditate upon the implications and meanings of His Word, we will be like the tree described by our psalmist.

However we come now to the watershed of the psalm. Up to here we have been concerned with the blessednesses provided to God's man. Now we must turn to the fate of the wicked. We see in verse four that whatever good thing is said of the righteous, it is not true in the case of the wicked. The wicked here in the words of an older translation are the ungodly, those whose lives show no indication of being planted and watered by God's almighty hand.

Their fate is like the chaff which has no use. When I was little I would go with my father to the local elevator. Whenever he prepared to plant wheat or oats he would take the grain in to be cleaned. The grain would be funneled through a series of screens which were buffeted by powerful fans. After several trips through, the grain would be cleansed of all impurities and be prepared for food or to plant. The leftovers, or the chaff was burnt, because it was of no use. Indeed the seeds from assorted weeds which were winnowed could have caused serious damage to the crop if they had been planted.

Thus are the wicked, of no eternal use. They will not be able to stand in the judgment. These are the ones who will be addressed by our Lord on the last day. "Depart from me I never knew you! " They are treated in the same way that they treated our God. They are ignored. But the way of the righteous are known or watched over. In this last verse the Hebrew is better translated with these words: "The Lord is watching over".

This is similar to the idea of having being saved as we must understand our salvation from the Greek. We see here that God never changes. There is and has been but one plan of salvation for all eternity. The Lord is watching over those whom He is calling into His kingdom now and forevermore. But, the way of the wicked is different. As different as night and day.

Which way are you walking today? Do you delight in His word or do you still love the world. I once read in a book by Gordon Clark that the great watershed in the Christian faith involves our attitude towards the Word of God. And how we perceive that word determines our end. If we do not delight in, if we do not recognize, if we do not submit ourselves to the Word of God in thought and word and deed, then we are walking in the counsel of wickedness and therein is the way of death! If you are not so minded as to delight in the law of God we pray that the Lord may cleanse your heart and mend your way so that you may escape the doom of the wicked. We invite you to enjoy the blessednesses of meditating and studying His word. Amen.

	Resources Used:
Kidner, Derek.	Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries: Psalms.
Lewis, C.S.	Reflections on the Psalms.
MacLaren, Alexander.	The Expositor's Bible: The Psalms.
Spurgeon, C.H.	The Treasury of David.
Psm 001a	28 August 89 & 10 January 98

Translation Resources:

Interlinear NIV Hebrew-English Old Testament
New Geneva Study Bible (NKJV)
The Jerusalem Bible Very useful for poetic structure
New American Standard Bible Best translation for verse meaning
New International Version Best translation for paragraph meaning

Spurgeon, C.H. A Treasury of David. The essential theological anchor
Bratcher, Robert G. & Reyburn, William D. A Translator's Handbook on the Book of Psalms.
Barthelemy, Dominique et al. Preliminary & Interim Report on the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project.
Dahood, Mitchell. The Anchor Bible: Psalms 1-50. Very limited use.

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