Psalms of Christ. Daniel H. Fletcher

effect where line B often carries forward the thought of line A, and intensifies or amplifies it. As James Kugel notes, line B “goes beyond” line A.68 Instead of a simplistic A = B approach, Hebrew parallelism conveys “A is so, and what’s more, B is so.”69 Such “echoing” has the effect of line B not simply repeating line A, but heightening it. Or, as Tremper Longman notes, “The B colon intensifies, specifies, or sharpens the thought of the first colon.”70

With this in mind, 1:1 describes the one who is blessed as avoiding evil in all its facets. What is more, there are two intensifications at work in these three lines. First, the progression of walking—standing—sitting suggest increasing increments of association: “To walk with someone is to be associated with them, but not as deeply as to stand with them or sit with them.”71 This motion-oriented progression may be meant to communicate the idea that sin is a temptation that one first tries out (i.e., walk), later becomes accustomed to (i.e., stand), and finally becomes a habit or lifestyle (i.e., sit).72 Second, the terms for evil become more specific and more forceful through the progression (wicked, sinners, scoffers); i.e., a scoffer is a specific kind of wicked person.73 Given our classification of Ps 1 as a wisdom psalm, it is no coincidence that scoffers are in a category of their own as those who lack wisdom (Prov 9:7–12; 13:1; 14:6). The overall effect of this A is so, what’s more B is so parallelism in Ps 1:1 is to distance the blessed one from evil so that he avoids it at every stage and scenario.

Verse 2 makes clear how the blessed one avoids evil: he delights in the “law” (torah) of the LORD (1:2). The Hebrew word torah can mean law, as in the legal requirements of the Law of Moses (Exod 24:12; Deut 4:8), but “instruction” is the better translation, despite most English translations’ preference for “law.” Reducing torah to a set of laws does not take into account the instructional and spiritual nature of God’s commandments and ordinances. For the biblical writers, God’s commands are called torah because they instruct rather than simply legislate.74 As far as the psalmist is concerned, they are neither a burden to be borne nor an obligation to be met because the blessed one “delights” (v. 2) in living by them.75 S. Edward Tesh and Walter Zorn note that torah is a “gift from the Creator,” providing instruction on how to best live life.76 In its literary sense, torah is the five books of the Pentateuch (Genesis—Deuteronomy), as both the history of ancient Israel (i.e., the narrative material of the Pentateuch) and the laws that God gave them.77 Therefore, the larger function of God’s torah is to “instruct,” not simply command. As deClaissé-Walford summarizes, “The Torah is the ancient Israelites’ memory of God’s total involvement in their life.”78 Torah gives Israel its identify as the covenant people of Yahweh.

It seems best, then, in the original context of Ps 1:2 to understand “law” as referring to God’s written instruction in the Pentateuch, but I will demonstrate later when commenting on Ps 119 that this by no means exhausts the application of the Hebrew term torah. Besides, it is one thing to interpret a psalm in the original context of its author as a stand-alone psalm; it is another to read it in the larger context of the final (i.e., later) editorial shape of Psalter. That the book of Psalms begins with a torah psalm suggests that it serves as a lens through which to read the entire Psalter as a book of God’s instruction. The eventual placement of Ps 1 at the beginning of the Psalter invites readers to read the whole book of Psalms as instruction—instruction in prayer, in praise, in God’s way with us and our way under God.79 In other words, God’s instruction is not limited to the Pentateuch; it also includes Psalms.

Nevertheless, for the psalmist and his original audience, verse 2 most likely refers to the practice of “torah piety” as the “diligent adherence to the instructions found in the stories, the laws, and the prophetic words of the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament.”80 In Ps 1, torah piety is “Scripture piety”—torah in its written form as Scripture that one can read and absorb in order to gain wisdom for living.81 The consuming passion of the blessed one is his devotion to God’s written instruction, which preserves him from the ensnaring traps of sin. While the blessed one “meditates” (ESV) on God’s instruction day and night, this does not mean silent contemplation as the word often conveys in contemporary usage. For the ancients, reading was not done in silence, but aloud.82 Verse 2 illustrates one who demonstrates devotion to the daily reading of Scripture. Taken together, verses 1–2 describe the blessed one as he who finds delight not in sin, but in reading and reflecting on God’s torah. As God exhorted Joshua, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it” (Josh 1:8).

Next, the poet expresses the state of the blessed one with the metaphor of a fruitful tree in verse 3. This image occurs elsewhere in the OT: “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when the heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit” (Jer 17:7–8). Given the semiarid climate of Palestine, this metaphor is especially vivid for the residents of that region. But this is not a case of a tree that happens to grow next to a water source, as if it sprang up in such a convenient location. Instead, the tree has been planted by streams of water, indicating intentionality and conscious decision.83 Therefore, the association of streams of water in verse 3 and God’s torah in verse 2 is obvious. “The stream is God’s instruction.”84 As Gerald Wilson observes, “Those who delight in Yahweh’s torah are ‘planted’—as by a master gardener—in the place where they can receive the nourishment they need to flourish.”85 Because of his reliance on God’s instruction, the blessed one is fruitful and prosperous. As the metaphor suggests, this is not a temporary consequence, but a settled conviction and condition. Much like the earlier idea where the path on which one walks through life is about habitual and professed living, the fruitful tree planted by water conveys consistency.86

Verse 4 literally reads, “Not so the wicked.” By placing the negative “not so” (lo ken) at the beginning of the sentence, the psalmist not only contrasts the wicked with the blessed one, but also does so with the strongest possible emphasis. The wicked have no such foundation as God’s torah. They arrogantly believe that they can sustain themselves, yet are like “chaff,” the waste product that is blown away by the wind after the wheat has been harvested. John Calvin expressed the view that a withering tree, in contrast to a vibrant one, is not strong enough for the contrast here.87 The contrast is not about life and death but about usefulness and uselessness. Longman also emphasizes the intended contrast: “Chaff is the opposite of a tree. While a tree has an abundance of life-giving water, chaff is dry. The tree is deep-rooted and productive; chaff has no connection to the earth, but rolls as the wind blows it, and is useless.”88