Psalm 1: Difference between revisions
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|Message=In the end, it's those who follow YHWH's instruction who will flourish. | |Message=In the end, it's those who follow YHWH's instruction who will flourish. | ||
|Author=Anonymous | |Author=Anonymous | ||
|Background Ideas= | |Background Ideas=We can visualize the "story behind" Ps 1 with the following story triangle. | ||
[[File:Psalm 001 - Summary triangle.jpg|class=img-fluid|825px]] | |||
Psalm 1 (especially when it is read against the background of the end of Malachi) appears to assume a situation in which... | |||
# The wicked live alongside the righteous (like grain and chaff growing together in a field) | |||
# The wicked seem to flourish (cf. Mal 3:14-15) | |||
# People call the wicked "happy" (cf. Mal 3:14-15) | |||
In response to this assumed situation, the psalmist says that it is the righteous, not the wicked, who are to be considered "happy." The psalm envisions a coming time when... | |||
# Judgment will come (cf. v. 5) | |||
# YHWH will separate the wicked from the righteous (like chaff from gain) (cf. vv. 4-5) | |||
# YHWH will remove the wicked from the land (just as wind blows away the chaff) (cf. vv. 4-5) | |||
# The righteous alone will possess the land (see esp. Ps 37 as in many ways echoing the themes of Ps 1) | |||
# The righteous will flourish like trees in YHWH's garden (cf. Ps 92, which also echoes the themes of Ps 1) | |||
In order to fully appreciate this "story" and undertand the psalm, some background information is necessary: | |||
* People declare someone to be "happy" (אַשְׁרֵי) when they admire that person's condition and consider it to be admirable and desirable.<ref>Cf. Janzen 1965, 215-226; SDBH.</ref> For example, when the Queen of Sheba saw the wealth and wisdom and King Solomon, she exclaimed, "Happy (אַשְׁרֵי) are your men! Happy are your servants, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom!" (1 Kgs 10:8, ESV). | |||
* When wicked people flourish, others are tempted to declare them "happy." For example, Malachi (which occurs immediately before Ps 1 in the order of the Hebrew canon) says, “You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty? But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly evildoers prosper, and even when they put God to the test, they get away with it’” (Mal 3:14-15, NIV; cf. Jer 12:1; Ps 73). | |||
* YHWH is the judge of all the earth (Gen 18:25), and the job of a just judge is to acquit the righteous/innocent (צַדִּיק) and condemn the wicked/guilty (רָשָׁע) (see Deut 25:1). | |||
*“In winnowing, grain is threshed in order to separate the kernel of grain from the husk and straw. The mixture is thrown into the air with a winnowing fork or shovel. The wind blows the light husksaway, the heavier straw falls near the edge of the threshing floor, and the grain falls back to the floor tp be collected. Both the light husks and the heavier straw are referred to in the words translated ‘chaff’ in the Bible.”<ref>Ryken et al. ed. 1998, 136.</ref> | |||
* The place of YHWH's life-giving presence is depicted as a garden paradise (Gen 2; Ezek 47:12) in which the righteous grow like trees (Pss 52:10; 92:13-15).<ref>Cf. Creach 1999.</ref> | |||
}} | }} | ||
{{PsalmVideos | {{PsalmVideos | ||
Revision as of 17:50, 15 May 2025
Purpose: To persuade the hearer that following YHWH's instruction is worthwhile.
Content: It is not the wicked, but the one who follows YHWH's instruction who is "happy." This is because "YHWH cares for the way of righteous people, and the wicked's way will come to an end.
Message: In the end, it's those who follow YHWH's instruction who will flourish.
Author: Anonymous
Videos
Overview Video
Poetic Features Video
Video forthcoming
Exegetical Issues Video
Overview
Translation
Click 'Expand' to the right to see our Close-but-Clear translation of Psalm 1.
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