Scripture Meditation - Psalm 1

Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man who shall not walk in the counsel of the wrong, And shall not stand in the path of sinners, And shall not sit in the seat of scoffers, 2 But his delight is in the Torah of יהוה, And he meditates in His Torah day and night. 3 For he shall be as a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That yields its fruit in its season, And whose leaf does not wither, And whatever he does prospers. 4 The wrong are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind blows away. 5 Therefore the wrong shall not rise in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 6 For יהוה knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wrong comes to naught. (ISR)

Verse 1- “Blessed is the man who shall not walk in the counsel of the wrong, And shall not stand in the path of sinners, And shall not sit in the seat of scoffers,”. We are reminded to take care in whom we get our counsel and advise from. How many of us haven’t placed ourselves under the authority of bad counsel, and then acting according to that counsel suffered the consequences. The Psalmist makes clear who "the wrong" are in the following verses. In verse 1 the triple metaphors of “walk”, “stand”, “sit” are applied. This reveals a deep spiritual truth that what we do (our walk) becomes our habits (stand, an orientation of more permanence), and eventually where we sit (our character and place in life). These three orientations of immovability are then linked with increasing level of rebellion against Elohim (wrong; sinners; scoffers). Our “walk” is our halacha. It is the way we live out our lives. It is how we put our faith into action. This walk that we are to avoid is in contrast to the walk we are advised by YHWH to keep which is to be: according to His commands (Deut 5:33; Jer 7:23); in His ways (Deut 28:9; Jos 22:5); In the old paths (Jer 6:16); as taught by Him (1Ki 8:36; Isa 2:3; Isa 30:21); uprightly (Pro 2:7); in His statutes and judgments (Eze 37:24); in newness of life (Rom 6:4); not after the flesh, but after the Spirit (Rom 8:1; Gal 5:16) honestly, as in the day (Rom 13:13); by faith, not by sight (2Cor 5:7 ); in love, following Mashiyach (Eph 5:2); worthy of Elohim (Col 1:10); in Mashiyach (Col. 2:6); by the gospel rule (Phil 3:16); in the light, as Elohim is (1John 1:7). Nearly all these Scriptures in which Elohim instructs as to how we should walk, a reference to Torah is made. “His Commands[Mitzvot]”; “the old paths”; “His statutes and judgments”; “uprightly”; “following Mashiyach”; “worthy of Elohim”; “in the light”: These are all references to keeping Torah, and walking according to the Halacha of Yeshua.

Verse 2- “But his delight is in the Torah of יהוה, And he meditates in His Torah day and night.” If there were to be any doubt that verse 1 is warning not to stray from Torah[1], verse 2 eliminates that doubt. The Psalmist praises the goodness of Torah, and YHWH communicates through His inspired poet that Torah is a delight for us to meditate on at all times. For the Netzarim, Torah is Messianic joy. The Mashiyach is the living breathing Torah, the Word of Elohim that became flesh and tabernacled amongst us. Meditating on Torah is meditating on Mashiyach, and meditating on Mashiyach is meditating on Torah. What a delight indeed.

Verse 3- “For he shall be as a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That yields its fruit in its season, And whose leaf does not wither, And whatever he does prospers.” YHWH frequently mentions those who have Torah as being “rooted” or “planted” in the sense of being well grounded and unshakable. Next, a promise is given. If you walk in Torah, you will be like a healthy tree near an abundant supply of water that will yield fruit. The fruit can be seen as a metaphor, first and foremost as a promise of prosperity. This should not be vain materialism, but rather producing goodly things that are a blessing to everyone and a testimony that you follow Mashiyach. The Psalmist's reference of yielding fruit is also the same metaphorical fruit spoken of by Mashiyach (Matt 12:33, John 15:4). The promise of being planted by “rivers of water” draws on similar imagery as Mashiyach’s promise to the Samaritan woman at the well to give her “living water" (John 4:10). Indeed Torah is life (Deut 30:19), but Mashiyach is life eternal (Rom 6:23), the fullness of Torah and its ultimate expression.

Verse 4- “The wrong are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind blows away.” Those who are “the wrong” mentioned in this verse are placed in contrast to those in verse 2 & 3. In contrast to those who walk in Torah those who do not, have no promise of the blessings of v3. Rather, they are like the chaff (thin shell) of wheat the blows away in the wind. That is, they have no firm grounding. I am reminded of Yeshua’s instructions to build our house on the rock (Matt 7:24), and the warning not to be double-minded, tossed to and fro by the wind and the seas (James 1:6-8).

Verse 5 & 6- “Therefore the wrong shall not rise in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For יהוה knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wrong comes to naught.” Here we have warnings that the wrong (those who are outside of Torah, as established by v4) will not rise to high esteem within the assembly of believers, or congregation. More seriously, we have a warning that they will not rise in the mishpawt (judgment). The Torah transgressions eternally separate us from Elohim, requiring we be sent to Sheol to protect the Kadosh (Set-Apart/Holy) nature of the Almighty. We were atoned for by various sacrifices and offerings, all of which point to Mashiyach as our perfect and eternal sacrifice. Thank the Almighty that He makes a way in spite our imperfection! Walk in Torah as Mashiyach did, and trust in His atoning work on the cross when you fall short.

Let us now reread the Psalm with all this in mind, and may the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) let us understand in spirit and in truth:

Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man who shall not walk in the counsel of the wrong, And shall not stand in the path of sinners, And shall not sit in the seat of scoffers, 2 But his delight is in the Torah of יהוה, And he meditates in His Torah day and night. 3 For he shall be as a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That yields its fruit in its season, And whose leaf does not wither, And whatever he does prospers. 4 The wrong are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind blows away. 5 Therefore the wrong shall not rise in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 6 For יהוה knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wrong comes to naught. (ISR)

Here are more English translations of Psalm 1.

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[1]For some reason, nearly all the English translations of the Bible have removed the word "Torah" and placed in the generic weak translation, "the Law" instead. So, I provide here the transliteration of the Hebrew text of Psalm 1:2 simply to affirm that it does indeed speak explicitly of Torah -

"Ki'im be'Tōrat YHWH chefəṣō ûve'Tōrāh'to ye'həgeh yōmām wā'lāyəlâ:"