The book of Psalms is one of the most beloved portions of the scriptures, no doubt because these works resonate so deeply with the human condition. For thousands of years, countless people have been enriched by the Psalms, whether in times of joy and praise or sorrow and despair. Most Christians have not put much thought into the how the book of Psalms is organized. They more-or-less think that the Psalms are simply a random collection of songs, prayers, and poems. In reality, the book of Psalms is carefully structured, with each Psalm making its own contribution to the larger whole. It is no accident that the first Psalm has been granted pride-of-place in the Psalter; it is foundational for all that follows, laying out the great themes which dominate the remainder of the book.
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. (2) But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates 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. (4) Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. (5) Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. (6) For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
Psalm 1 begins with the word “blessed.” Blessing is a rich Biblical concept; it refers to the divine favor which is showered upon those who honor the one true God. Whenever the concept of blessing is mentioned in the Bible, it’s valuable to recall the first use of the term blessing. This of course comes from Genesis 1 where God pronounces the original blessing over his human creatures: “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” God created humans in his image so that they might exercise his reign over the created order, thus allowing the world to flourish as God desires. The flourishing of all creation comes about when when human beings worship the creator and live in obedience to his commands. When humanity fulfills this key role, the world is a place of joy, abundance and peace. But when human beings turn away from God – the source of all life and goodness – blessing is replaced by curse; the world deteriorates into place of misery, poverty, enmity, and death.
The Bible tells us the sad tale of how humans did indeed turn away from the wisdom of the creator and disastrously sought to govern the world according to their own misguided notions of right and wrong. Thankfully, God did not give up on his creation; he responded to human wickedness by implementing his plan to restore blessing to the world. God’s rescue began inauspiciously, through the call of a single man named Abraham (Abram). God promised Abraham that through him and his family blessing would again come upon the whole earth. The children of Abraham – the nation of Israel – were given the role marked out for humanity at the beginning. In order to fulfill this role, God gave the children of Israel the gift of the Torah. The Torah is God’s holy law, revealing to Israel the conduct which God requires if they are to receive his blessing.
The backbone of Torah is love for God: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:5) Vital too is love for our neighbor (which is essentially a manifestation of our love for God): “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Of course, the Torah has many other decrees and stipulations, not least the Ten Commandments themselves. The key is to understand that all of these commands are simply more detailed ways by which humans are called to express their love for God and neighbor. Along with Torah came God’s promise to richly bless the people of Israel if they remained obedient: “See I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land your are entering to possess.” (Deut. 30:15-16)
These passages form the foundation of the Jewish worldview. Just like the first humans in the garden, Israel was called to the worship and obedience of the one true God. To the righteous – those who lived in obedience to the Torah – God would bestow life and blessing. Curses and death would ultimately await the wicked. This brings us right back to Psalm 1. This Psalm was undoubtedly placed at the head of the Psalter because in just six verses, it beautifully summarizes this fundamental Jewish belief. The Psalm confirms that God’s blessing shall come upon the righteous: those who refuse the counsel of the wicked; those who turn away from sin; those who do not mock God and his people. The mind of the righteous man is fixed upon obedience to the Torah; he will flourish like a lovely tree nourished by a nearby stream of water.
True, many other Psalms complain that for a time the wicked thrive while God’s faithful people suffer. But the first Psalm affirms that this state of injustice will not last forever. God is the righteous judge who is determined to set all things right. It is therefore thoroughly appropriate that the Psalm should conclude by expounding the nature of God’s final judgment. “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 will perish.” To the ancient Israelites, “to stand at the judgment” meant to be vindicated; to be acknowledged as righteous and therefore worthy of God’s eternal blessing. To say that the wicked “will not stand” means that they will face God’s condemnation; they will not be counted among God’s people and will therefore face eternal perdition.
This entire discussion is vital for grasping, not just the Psalms or the Old Testament, but the entire Bible. As we shall see in future blogs, every single writer of the scriptures is fully committed to the belief that there will be a final judgment whereby the God of all the earth would vindicate the righteous and condemn the wicked. Over and over, the Bible affirms that all human beings will be judged according to their conduct. Many Christian pastors are fond of saying that Christianity is not about “performance.” However, this claim is simply not true. Unfortunately, those who adhere to this claim are forced to throw out or ignore vast swathes of the Bible. We shall soon explore many of those key passages, but today we’ll limit ourselves to one brief yet highly revealing incident from the life of Jesus.
The famous story of the Good Samaritan is found in Luke chapter 10. But what I’d like to focus on is the lead-up to the story itself. An expert in the law stood up to test Jesus by asking “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Remember that for Jesus and his contemporaries, the Old Testament was their Bible. Scriptures such as Psalm 1 were very clear: at the final judgment, eternal life and blessing would come to the righteous – that is, those who acted in obedience to the Torah. We should therefore be completely unsurprised to see how this scene unfolds. Jesus first asks, “What is written in the Torah? How do you read it?” The expert in the law then quotes the two crucial commands we’ve noted above: love the Lord you God and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus’ reply is straightforward: “You have answered correctly. Do this and you shall live.”
So to summarize, an expert in the law asks Jesus how he can attain eternal life. Jesus responds by simply re-stating what we’ve learned from the Torah and Psalm 1: the righteous – those who live in obedience to God’s commands – will receive eternal life. This simple answer runs counter to what many Christians have been led to believe; they’ve been taught that Christianity is not about performance or behavior or conduct. Yet Jesus has clearly proclaimed just that. If we don’t grasp the Lord’s answer, there is a very strong chance we’ve badly misunderstood what Jesus thought of himself and his task.
