BaptistWay Bible Series for September 3: Meditate on the words of Scripture for wisdom

Posted: 8/24/06

BaptistWay Bible Series for September 3

Meditate on the words of Scripture for wisdom

• Psalm 1

By David Wilkinson

Broadway Baptist Church, Fort Worth

Imagine for a moment that the numbering system was eliminated from the Bible’s 150 psalms, and you were an editor given the assignment of choosing the psalm to place at the beginning of this collection of hymns, poetry and prayers. Which of the 150 psalms would you select, and what criteria would guide your decision?

We don’t know the process that led to this psalm being selected as the first psalm, but these six verses serve well as a prologue to the final collection we know as the Psalms.

Psalm 1 is one of nine wisdom psalms (1, 37, 49, 73, 112, 119, 127, 128 and 133). This psalm, as with the whole of Scripture, is concerned first and foremost with God and with God’s redeeming relationship with humanity. But within that context, the Bible deals straightforwardly with the human experience, with real life. So it is fitting that wisdom—how to find genuine happiness and meaning and purpose in life—is the theme of this opening psalm. The reader is invited to learn and live by the deep truths of Scripture.

Rather than a hymn or a prayer, Psalm 1 begins with a beatitude: happy (or blessed) are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked … but their delight is in the law of the Lord. The psalm begins with a statement about the human experience and the fundamental choice life presents us: Following God’s way as taught in the Scriptures or the way of the “wicked”—those who do not choose God’s way. For the psalmist, a blessed life, a life filled with true happiness, derives only from the former.

In this extended beatitude, the writer offers a series of contrasts: In verse 1, what the blessed or the righteous do not do; verse 2, what they do; verse 3, an image of the righteous; verse 4, a contrasting image of the wicked; and verses 5-6, a concluding contrast on the outcome of the way of the righteous versus the way of the wicked.

Verse 2 states a central theme of the Psalms in particular and the Bible in general—the essential place of God’s word in the life of the person who chooses God’s way. The one who immerses his or her self in the Scriptures, meditating on them “day and night,” is obeying the command of Joshua, also expressed in the form of a beatitude: “This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful” (Joshua 1:8).

“Law”—or torah—refers in a generic sense to any authoritative religious teaching (from parents or priests, for example) or especially the instruction and guidance of God. In its more specialized sense in the context of the written books we know as the Old Testament, Torah refers to the Pentateuch, or the first five books of the Bible, which the Jews understood as central and authoritative for life individually and corporately as the people of God.

To “delight” in God’s law and to “meditate” on it (v. 2) is an exuberant expression of the central place of Scripture and the essential spiritual disciplines of study and meditation. The psalmist’s language suggests a devotion to the Scriptures akin to the passionate interest one would have in a chosen field of study. The righteous person studies Scripture with the kind of intensity and interest a doctor pores over literature related to his or her practice.

The translation “meditate” incorporates not only the meaning of “study” in a cognitive sense but also the spiritual sense of prayerful reflection. We cannot be true to the spirit of this psalm—or to the Psalter—if we limit our interaction with the words to an intellectual exercise. There is much to be learned from the Psalms, but there also is much to be experienced.

This opening psalm is a reminder of meditation on Scripture as a rich and rewarding discipline of faith. Thus, this nine-session study of the Psalms is an opportunity to “practice the practice” of meditation before moving to verse-by-verse study.

The psalmist uses symbols to paint a picture of the contrast between the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked. A symbol points beyond itself to a deeper reality. The image in verse 3 of trees planted by a life-giving stream is a powerful, universal symbol that points to deeper truths of our relationship with God.

As you meditate on this psalm, allow the image of trees planted by a stream to open your mind and heart to ways the Holy Spirit can lead you from the visible to the Invisible.

Discussion questions

• Take a few moments to practice the wise counsel of the psalmist and the ancient practice of people of faith by meditating on this psalm. Consider the image of a tree planted by a stream. What characteristics of trees and water might have made these symbols especially meaningful for the ancient Hebrews? How do these symbols speak to you? How can you be “planted” in ways that lead toward stability, nourishment and growth? What are streams that nourish your relationship with God?

• How does the kind of “happiness” the psalmist refers to differ from the definitions of happiness commonly portrayed in American culture?

• How does an understanding of the “wicked” as anyone who does not follow God’s way, rather than primarily a moral category, impact your understanding of this psalm?