Psalm 1, Two Roads

The book of Psalms opens with this short six verse poem:

Psalm 1: 1-2, Delight in the law of the Lord!

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked

or stand in the way that sinners take

or sit in the company of mockers,

but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,

    and who meditates on his law day and night.

This poem has been deliberately placed here at the front of the psalms as an introduction, as a guide. The one who delights in the "law" of the Lord and meditates on God's words is "blessed" (happy.) Implied in this introduction is a principal for life: "Keep reading here, in these songs, if you wish to prosper." (The Bible Project has a single video on this one psalm.)

Note that in the time of the psalmists, the "law of the Lord" was the Torah, the five book of Moses. One was to think carefully about the law in Deuteronomy and delight in it!

This psalm has the classic rhyming of Hebrew poetry, parallelism, the repetition of thoughts.  Instead of the English tradition of repeating the sound of the last syllable, the Hebrew writers repeat and modify a phrase or concept.  We will see this technique throughout the psalms.  In the first verse, we see a repeated theme, each phrase building on the last.  One should not walk with the wicked ... nor stand with them either ... and especially not sit down and join them.  The parallelism is used to build the theme, each repetition of the idea stronger than the last.

The meaning of "company" is elaborated in a series of steps, each changing slightly from the previous. Our anti-model walks alongside sinners then stops and stands with them, finally joining them and sitting amongst them, breathing in their counsel and advice, mocking God. At some point our community begins to shape our allegiances and our moral choices.

Psalm 1: 3, Healthy tree

That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,

    which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither—

    whatever they do prospers.

Instead of mocking God, one should delight in God's "law".  In a dry hot desert land, we all wish to be healthy, growing by a fresh cool river stream, fruitful and prospering.  In contrast, the person who turns from God and ignores Him/Her dries up, turning to dust, blowing away.  This simile very closely echoes Jeremiah 17:5-8.  There the imagery of cool waters in contrast to dry, dusty desert is expanded.

Psalm 1: 4, Not so, the wicked!

Not so the wicked!

    They are like chaff

    that the wind blows away.

Throughout Psalms and Proverb, there will be a deliberately binary set of choices given the reader.  They can seek YHWH, virtue, wisdom... or they can turn away.

The imagery here is deliberately simplistic.  The good follow God's "law" (principles) and delight in them.  The wicked scoff at God's principles.  There is no in between.  This is typical of Old Testament wisdom literature.  One is offered a brief "bead" of wisdom -- "You can do this ... or you can do that." Two simple choices.  "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood," write Frost.  At some point our choices are simplistic; there are really only two, with splintery secondary choices that reflect the primary one.  In this song, we are told to meditate on God's principles or to join a group of scoffers.  No intermediate choice is offered.

Psalm 1: 5-6, Two roads

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

    nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,

    but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

The theme "The wicked do this... and the righteous do that..." in the first three verses forms a bookend pair with the last verse, in which the concepts are reflected, "The Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but..."

Robert Alter translates "watches over" in verse 6 as "embraces". It implies some intimacy; it is the same Hebrew word (says Alter) that is often translated "to know", as in "Adam knew Eve and she became pregnant...." (Genesis 4:1).

Caroline Cobb has an album on the psalms. (You can find Caroline Cobb on Spotify here.) Her rendition of Psalm 1 is Like a Tree. I especially enjoy that composition.

At one level the words of this psalm are comforting; on another level they seem simplistic.  I know good friends and family who have sought to follow God's principles and have certainly struggled through pain and suffering; they did not appear "prosperous" to me.  I also have friends who are not Christians but who seem to delight in good and in caring for others.  Do they have a (productive) place in this simple psalm?

Ultimately I want to be on God's side, growing by a cool stream, fed by His/Her guidance and love. Like those of Hebrews 11:16, I look for a better country. And so I will study the psalms....