Read Pray Love: Psalm 1 (Week 2)

As you read through, meditate, and think about the Scripture this week, here are a few things to keep in mind about the Psalms.

Genre: Psalm (Song). Poetry.

Like the proverbs, the psalms also fall in the category of Hebrew Poetry, and so it will have many features that are very similar to those of the proverbs, especially Parallelism.

Unlike English poetry, which relies heavily on rhyme and meter as a key poetic device, the Hebrew psalms use some different conventions (although some literary devices seem to cross all cultures). The main things to look for are different kinds of parallelism and imagery (similes, metaphors, personification, etc.)

As you encounter the different images being used in the psalm, it is important to ask what kind of effect the image is supposed to produce (i.e. feeling of joy, comfort, disgust, or anger, etc.)

Once all the poetry is analyzed, it is also important to remember to take a step back and try to feel the overall emotional impact of a psalm (since it is a song).

Main Idea: Psalm 1

Psalm 1 falls in a somewhat special category of “Wisdom Psalm” because it reflects the general tone, theme, and message of the wisdom literature: God generally blesses the righteous and curses the wicked.

This idea sets the tone of the rest of the book of Psalms (as the first in the series) in the same way that the opening verses of the book of Proverbs sets the tone for the rest of the book. Both Psalms and Proverbs share the general idea that God blesses the righteous and curses the wicked – that is God’s general regular way of doing things, in a way kind of the natural order of the world which he created. Therefore, we should seek to live lives that are righteous rather than wicked.

Historical and Literary Insights:

Psalm 1 is packed with lots of powerful line by line parallelism (meaning, the following line completes and advances the idea of the previous one in some way). All of this helps to create some strong progressions in ideas as well as some very sharp contrasts (between righteous and wicked).

There is a lot of agricultural farm imagery that needs to be interpreted in order to benefit from the emotional effect of some parts of this psalm (since we don’t live in a farming/shepherding culture.)

Interpretation Notes:
NIV Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.

• There are two different words usually translated “blessed” by the NIV. The one in this verse carries the meaning of “happy and fortunate.” It is usually used in the sense of someone receiving divine favor.
• Notice the strong progression of sin getting worse and worse – walk along, stand, then finally sit. To walk in the counsel/advice of the wicked is to allow evil advice to influence one’s lifestyle. To stand in the pathway of sinners is to closely associate with them, and finally to sit in the seat of mockers is to pretty much join the assembly and completely identify with them.
• The term translated “mocker” means someone who is arrogant to the point of being scornful and insolent. (see Proverbs 21:24), especially in one’s attitude toward living a godly life.
• The person who does not fall into this pattern of life and rejects the wickedness is blessed (fortunate)

2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.

• There is a Hebrew phrase that is used for very sharp and strong contrasts (translated “but”). To capture the emotional strength of the contrast, you might have to firmly hit your hand on the table when you say the word “but.”
• The blessed person instead takes joy and delights in God’s commands.
• The second half of verse completes the first half (parallelism). What does it mean to delight in God’s law? It means we have it on our minds all throughout the day and night.

3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

• Here is where you get to have some fun thinking about the effect of the imagery used. I think the image evokes the feelings of someone secure and firmly rooted in God’s commands. The streams of water evoke the feeling of being nourished and provided for. The images of fruit and leaves bring forth the feeling of growth, usefulness (producing fruit), and life being sustained.
• Typically, the righteous prosper in what they do. The word translated prosper has less to do with money, and more to do with success and effectiveness in things that they do.

4 Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.

• Again, strong emotional contrast (same as verse 2) shows up, hence the exclamation point.
• In contrast to tree producing fruit, the wicked are likened to chaff, which is the inedible worthless waste product left behind when harvesting wheat. Usually it is either thrown away or burnt. As a metaphor, it refers to something that is basically worthless. The “wind blowing away” is also a nice contrast to the firmly rooted tree earlier; it should evoke a feeling of insecurity and instability.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

• The phrase “stand in the judgment” has the idea of “endure or survive the legal decision.” In other words, the wicked/guilty will not be able to endure God’s judgment nor will they be able to stand or join the assembly of the righteous/not guilty.

6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

NET 6 Certainly the LORD guards the way of the godly, but the way of the wicked ends in destruction.

• This last line either serves as the reason/explanation for all of the previous verses (translated “for”) or it serves as a powerful emotional final summary statement of whole psalm. Or both.
• The literal words are “the LORD knows the pathway of the righteous.” It means to watch over and protect the way of the righteous.

Application:

Remember to ask each member of your group, “What came to mind as you were reading and thinking about the passages throughout this week?”

Possible topics for discussion: Which lines struck you most powerfully? What images were most powerful in communicating God’s truth through this psalm?