#126 Psalm 1:1–6 Hermeneutics

Introduction

In this paper I will consider Psalm 1:1–6. We will explore the historical context, cultural context, and the literary context. Before moving on to understanding the significance of the passage and its application today. Psalm one contains six verses and we will consider each verse. Psalm one explores the theme of righteousness as opposed to wickedness and how that relates to your relationship to God. In a larger sense the Psalm also serves as an introduction to the book of Psalms as a whole. By providing the issues and themes that reverberate throughout the book and the rest of scripture we will gain a fuller understanding of Psalm one.

Historical Context

Psalm one exists in the context of the ancient near east and especially Israel. It is not clear who wrote Psalm one or when. It is quite likely that the Psalms were written by many different authors over a long span of time before 500 BC. Then compiled together in an order that may not be by author or date of creation. There are clues in some of the Psalms with headers referencing King David and that “only 17 psalms lack a superscription,” events from the life of King David, or others referencing the temple which was built after King David. Regardless of when the Psalms were written they have had a massive effect on how Christianity has formed over the past two thousand years. From Psalm twenty two which is echoed by Jesus on the cross, Psalm one which informs our understanding of sin and righteousness, Psalm twenty three which is commonly used as a prayer, and the many others which have informed how Christianity has made worship music.

Cultural Context

While the exact context of Psalm one is not clearly known the culture of ancient Israel is decently well understood. The Psalm makes reference to sitting, standing, walking, meditation, the law, and the Lord. Each of these ideas may be understood in its cultural context. In the context of teaching, unlike nowadays where teachers stand and students sit in the past it was the opposite. We might understand standing in the context of learning, while sitting might be understood as teaching such as in Deuteronomy 6:7 or “A bodily posture associated with resting, eating or instruction.” Furthermore, the primary mode of transportation in the ancient near east was walking. When Psalm one references walking in verse one, we see a reference to going to a place they are directed. While meditation is based on the repetition of scripture as opposed to the presently popular meditation of clearing your mind that comes from India. The law of course would be the ten commandments and the further laws from Leviticus. And finally the Lord is God, the one true God found throughout the Bible.

Literary Context

Psalm one is one of the most important Psalms in the whole book. From a literary perspective it serves as an introduction along with Psalm two to the whole of the book of Psalms. Psalm one contrasts the righteous and the wicked showcasing that the book of Psalms is about the righteous, their relationship with God, and the issues between the righteous and the wicked. One way of describing the literary format of Psalm one is that “The poem consists of four stanzas that are carefully constructed upon a basic contrast between the wicked and the righteous. This contrast is exploited by means of a chiastic structure.”

Verse one shows tricolon which is reflected in verse three. In verse one (NASB) the blessed man does not “walk in the counsel of the wicked,” second “stand in the path of sinners,” thirdly “Nor sit in the seat of scoffers.” So this first tricolon contains walk, stand, and sit. Each word indicates a level of commitment to wicked ways. Where walking is heading towards wickedness. Standing is surrounding yourself with sinners. And sitting is to take part in scoffing and or other sinful acts. This tricolon is contrasted with another tricolon that is a metaphor of a blessed man in the form of a tree in verse three. We don’t know what type of tree is being referenced here, but we are given three characteristics that symbolize a blessed man. That is “a tree firmly planted by streams of water,” secondly “​​yields its fruit in its season,” and thirdly “leaf does not wither.” each of these characteristics are opposed to the first tricolon. The first characteristic of walking contrasts with that of a firmly planted tree. A person who walks in the counsel of the wicked go with the flow, whereas the firmly planted tree does not go with the flow of the river but is nourished by it. Secondly the standing contrasts with yielding a fruit. As the standing is in this case a form of absorbing or taking but the tree is giving and producing fruit. Thirdly is sitting this is contrasted with a leaf that does not wither. Those who sit in the seat of scoffers waste away while those like the tree are thriving.

There are many other comparisons in Psalm one that could be made as well. For example the metaphor of the tree contrasts with the chaff in verse four. While verse five also contests with verse one. Where the sitting and standing is a choice of with the wicked and sinners or without. Verse six also shows a contrast between the fate of the righteous and the wicked. Furthermore, verse 1-3 contrasts with verses 4-6. In verses 1-3 it starts with what the blessed are not like and ends with what the blessed are like. Meanwhile verses 4-6 says what the wicked are not like in the beginning and ends with what the fate of the wicked will be.

Meaning of The Passage

The meaning of Psalm one is found in its purpose, context, and its interpretation. As Kaiser writes, “No portion of Scripture selected for exegesis and interpretation stands alone, but each is part of a unified purpose and the ongoing progress of the history of redemption.” This means that we must realize the context of the scripture in order to properly interpret it. Furthermore once the purpose of the passage is identified we must understand how it fits within the larger process of redemption. Based on the context of Psalm one as previously considered, we know that Psalm one served as the opening of the book of Psalms and underlies the central theme of the book that is righteousness and wickedness. Psalm one lays the groundwork along with other passages for a contrast of those who follow God’s law and those who do not.

One of the central themes of Psalm one is the idea of meditation. As it says in Psalm 1:2, “in His law he meditates day and night.” The idea of meditation here is central to the contrast of the other verses. The wicked are tossed about by the wind but the righteous are planted by their connection to the Law. The question that arises is what is that meditation that the Psalmist describes. The clue in the passage is that he is focused “in His law” which indicates that his mind is not empty but rather filled with the Law. Blanchard describes a method of doing this as “You meditate on God’s Word when you focus on a specific verse of Scripture in order to more fully understand all that it says. Select a key verse in a passage you have just read. Ask the Holy Spirit for His revelation as you meditate.” Blanchard further lays out nine steps that you can follow in order to fully meditate on the scripture at hand. These methods range from changing the emphasis from each word, to personalizing the verse to you. According The Theological Dictionary of The Old Testament meditate can have a variety of meanings in this context. The Hebrew word for meditate here might mean to reflect, to speak, to whisper, or to make noises. Based on the context it would make sense to understand meditation here as something like reflection Such as in Psalm 143:5, “I meditate on (haghithi) all that thou hast done; I muse (ʾasocheach) on what thy hands have wrought.” These two words can be used together to provide more context to this idea of meditation. That meditation is a sort of reflection and attempt to deepen your understanding of Scripture.

Another issue at hand in Psalm one is around the tree and chaff. The straightforward understanding of this passage might be that a tree is rooted while chaff is not. The contrasting qualities of a tree and chaff in this context give many hints to the purpose of this passage. Psalm 1:3 which says “He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.” Showcases for us a positive example of a tree. Lowe and Lowe say, “Trees do not grow alone; they grow as they connect to and interact with a greater ecology that provides part of the nourishment and nutrients needed to sustain life and produce growth.” This increases our understanding of this passage. If trees do not grow alone the inference is that neither do Christians grow alone. Lowe and Lowe also suggest a parallelism to other examples of trees in the Old Testament. In Jeremiah 17:7-8, and Ezekiel 31:4-5. The example of Jeremiah 17:7-8 shows us that a tree planted by streams of water will extend its roots. This can be taken as an expanding foundation. Continuing it says, “And will not fear when the heat comes” Jerimiah 17:8. And it will not be anxious during a drought. These imply that a tree planted by streams of water is impervious to external conditions. In the same way believers when firmly planted in their faith will be impervious to external conditions. In Ezekiel 31:4-5 we see that a tree that grows large is a blessing to the surrounding ecologie. Such that other plants thrive in its shadow, and many birds find their homes in its branches. Ezekiel continues though in verse 10 onwards to describe the a tree that has grow to big and will be destroyed by the wicked. This creates a boundary to the tree if you will. Such that a tree ought to remember its source of growth. Again as christians it is not our own strength that makes us strong but that which feeds us which is the Holy Spirit and for the tree the river.

On the other hand the wicked are described as chaff. The Wicked are in Psalm 1:4 “The wicked are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.” This is in contrast of course to Psalm 1:3 with the firmly planted tree. The chaff is described by one commentary, “a helpless victim of the wind. The contrast between the two images is heightened by the lack of balance in terms of poetic length. Whereas the tree simile is indulged for four full cola, the chaff is dispensed with in just one colon. This abbreviated length implies both that the wicked lack the internal fortitude to endure difficulties and also that the time for the wicked to be judged is nigh.” With this in mind we see that chaff is like a person who thinks they can exist in a vacuum. That they do not need others to survive. They are not watered by the Holy Spirit, they are not connected to the vineyard i.e. the broader community, and they bounce around without a foundation.

Duvall and Hays suggest, as I have also suggested, that “the Psalms provide us with inspired models of how to meditate about God—that is, how to think reflectively about God and what he has done for us.” The meaning of Psalm one and the rest of Psalms is derived from our meditation of them. Put another way, while there is a central meaning to the Psalms there may also be a meaning in context to your relationship to God. When reading Psalm one the central message of course is about the nature of the righteous and the wicked. But the meaning within the context of your relationship with God might be to indicate to you that you ought to be meditating in the Word more, or an affirmation of your current relationship with God, or maybe a realization that you have more in common with the chaff than the firmly planted tree. It might further be suggested that “Meditation is presented in Scripture as an act of worship.” Therefore when we follow the admonition of Psalm one we are in fact worshiping God. This means that the very act of reading Psalm one and considering its meaning is in fact a form of worship. A fact that cannot help but reassure the reader of Psalm one; especially a reader who has more in common with the chaff.

Finally the genre of Psalm one can be firmly established as Hebrew Wisdom literature. Which is a type of writing that seeks to communicate some important knowledge on a variety of levels through a variety of means. Such that, “Hebrew Wisdom is not simply one genre but a composite with many subgenres. Among these are the proverb, saying, riddle, allegory (which we considered in the preceding section), admonition, dialogue, and onomastica (i.e., lists of names or nouns).” Psalm one can be seen as Hebrew Wisdom literature that takes the form of an allegory with a sprinkling of admonition or dialogue. This affects our understanding of Psalm one as the audience then becomes integral to the central message of the Psalm. As when the psalmist writes it is as if he is speaking to us attempting to communicate a right way of being.

Bibliography

Blanchard, Ken, and Phil Hodges. Lead Like Jesus Revisited: Lessons from the Greatest Leadership Role Model of All Time. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2016.

deClaissé-Walford, Nancy, Rolf A. Jacobson, and Beth LaNeel Tanner. The Book of Psalms. Edited by E. J. Young, R. K. Harrison, and Robert L. Hubbard Jr. The New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2014.

Duvall, J. Scott, and J. Daniel Hays. Grasping God’s Word: A Hands-On Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible. 4th ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2020.

Jacobson, Rolf A., and Beth Tanner. “Book One of the Psalter: Psalms 1–41.” In The Book of Psalms, edited by E. J. Young, R. K. Harrison, and Robert L. Hubbard Jr., 58–62. The New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2014.

Kaiser, Walter C., Jr. “‘As the Deer Pants for Streams of Water’: The Devotional Use of the Bible.” In Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics: The Search for Meaning, edited by Walter C. Kaiser Jr. and Moisés Silva, 218. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2007.

Lowe, Stephen D., and Mary E. Lowe. Ecologies of Faith in a Digital Age: Spiritual Growth through Online Education. Downer’s Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2018.

Manser, Martin H. Dictionary of Bible Themes: The Accessible and Comprehensive Tool for Topical Studies. London: Martin Manser, 2009.

Negoitǎ, A., and Helmer Ringgren. “הָגָה.” In Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, edited by G. Johannes Botterweck. Translated by John T. Willis and Geoffrey W. Bromiley, 322. Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1978.