Meditation

Psalm 1:4-5 – Defining the “Righteous”

Wandering SheepPsalm 1:4-5 says the wicked will not “stand in the judgment” or “in the congregation of the righteous.” These two descriptions indicate the wicked will be expelled from the people of God. Standing in judgment puts this psalm in an eschatological context.

To stand in the “congregation of the righteous” refers to defining God’s people. The “assembly” (עֵדָה) refers a gather of anything into a large group. Very often it refers to the people of Israel (Exod 12:6, for example). Modified with “righteous” it refers to people assembled to worship God (Psalm 111:1, for example). There can be no wicked in the assembly of the Lord (Psalm 25, for example).

The righteous are the people of God, the tzadik (צַדִּיק). The word can refer to an innocent person, but also to a person who is a devout follower of God. Ezekiel 18:5-9 provides a description of the righteous person:

Ezekiel 18:5–9 (ESV) “If a man is righteous and does what is just and right— 6 if he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife or approach a woman in her time of menstrual impurity, 7 does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge, commits no robbery, gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment, 8 does not lend at interest or take any profit, withholds his hand from injustice, executes true justice between man and man, 9 walks in my statutes, and keeps my rules by acting faithfully—he is righteous; he shall surely live, declares the Lord God.

This description is important since it includes some of the behaviors we normally associate with Law-keeping Jews (no idolatry or defiling a neighbor’s wife, walk in the statutes of the Lord), but the majority of the characteristics of the righteous person are social justice issues: they do not oppress the poor economically and they care for the hungry.

Modern Christians have misunderstood the Law to be a list of rituals which someone made people right with God, but the righteous person is the one who responds proper to God by caring for people who cannot care for themselves, the poor, widows, orphans and resident aliens.

In contrast to the way of the righteous, the way of the wicked will perish. The verb the writer uses here is not death, but rather “to become lost” (אבד). Psalm 119:176 uses the word to describe someone who is no longer following the commands of the Lord, he is like a “lost sheep that has gone astray.” A lost sheep will probably die, this is true, but the emphasis is on someone who has drifted from the path of righteousness by walking in the counsel of the wicked, standing int eh way of the sinner, or sitting in the seat of the scoffer (1:1).

Rarely does someone wake up one morning and announce they are recanting their faith (although that might happen). Usually there is a slow process of wandering away from the Word of God, slight, easy steps most people do not even notice. It is not until the final judgment that they will realize how far they have drifted from the Word of the Lord.

Psalm 1:2-3 – “Like a Tree”

[NB:  I am teaching through some of the wisdom Psalms this summer at Rush Creek, so I thought I would use some of this material here.]

In Psalm 1:2-3 the one who is actively avoiding fools delights themselves with the Law of the Lord. The Word of the Lord is the delight for the blessed person. The noun is used in the wisdom literature for things which bring you joy.  This is a remarkable description, since the most un-joyful time in a typical worship service is the Scripture reading, and perhaps the sermon itself.

Palms at Lake TuendaeMeditating on the word of the Lord is to think deeply or dwell on his word. The verb has the sense of muttering in a low voice, and is sometimes associated with reciting a text to oneself. The implication is the Word of the Lord is memorized and turned over in the mind slowly and carefully.

The content of this joyous meditation is the Law of the Lord. Most Christians cannot imagine a joyous meditation on verses from Leviticus, but the word is broad enough to refer to the whole revelation of God at that point in salvation history. It is therefore easy enough to apply this delight to the whole canon of Scripture.

This blessed person is like a tree, planted by streams of water. This metaphor is very clear and would be quite striking to people who lived in the arid world of the Middle East. Hosea 9:13 and Ezekiel 17:8-10 both use the metaphor of a palm or a vine planted near water as a metaphor for God’s care for his people Ephraim. Jeremiah 17:7-8 is a very close parallel to this Psalm:

Jeremiah 17:7–8 (ESV) “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. 8 He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

But there are also a number of parallels in the ANE as well. Terrien mentions a text describing king Shugli of the First Dynasty of Ur as “the Gracious Lord, a palm-tree planted near the canal …a cedar rooter near gushing waters, who gives pleasant shade” (Terrien, Psalms, 74). The parallels with the Sayings of Amenope are remarkable for both the blessed and cursed. The difference is the definition of the “blessed.” In Amenope, he is the silent man (in contrast to the heated man), in Psalm 1 the righteous are those who delight in the Word of the Lord and meditate on it daily.

Sayings of Amenope, Chapter 4: As for the heated man of a temple, He is like a tree growing in the open.  In the completion of a moment (comes) its loss of foliage, and its end is reached in the shipyards; (or) it is floated far from its place, and the flame is its burial shroud.  (But) the truly silent man holds himself apart. He is like a tree growing in a garden. It flourishes and doubles its yield; it (stands) before its lord. Its fruit is sweet; its shade is pleasant; And its end is reached in the garden.… (James Pritchard, ed., The Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, 3rd ed. with Supplement (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969), 422.

The “streams of water” are irrigated channels which provide water from a spring. In Psalm 46:4-5 a flow of water comes from the habitation of the Lord. Even today in the Middle East there is a need to channel water from a river or spring to a place where plants are growing.

The tree by plentiful streams of water is successful. In order to give fruit in season, a tree needs a good supply of water. Date palms, for example, need careful irrigation if they are going to grow and eventually bear fruit. Since it is always benefiting from the water, the tree does not wither. Again, this is a clear metaphor since everyone has had a plant they forgot to water and it shriveled up and died. Without constant, appropriate water supply, a plant will wither and die.

The blessed person is therefore in a place where they can prosper in the way God has designed them to be. This is not a “health and wealth,” it is simply an observation that the wise person delights in the word of the Lord and avoids situations which are dangerous.

The Psalter therefore begins by pronouncing a blessing on those who drink deeply from the Word of God and meditate on it constantly, inviting them into the book for worship.

 

Psalm 1:2 – Delight and Meditate on the Word of the Lord

[The audio for this week’s evening service is available at Sermon.net, as is a PDF file of the notes for the service. You should be able to download the audio directly with this link, if you prefer (right-click, save link as….)  We are off next Sunday for Independence Day and I am speaking at West Coast Grace Youth Camp the next week. ]

The mind of the blessed person is on the Law of the Lord (Psalm 1:2).  The Torah is the focus of the righteous person’s attention.  The noun torah (תּוֹרָה) is repeated twice and it is plural in both cases.  This may indicate that the writer has in  mind more than just the five books of the Law, or simply the covenant found in Deuteronomy.  But the word basically means “instruction” and is used for the Law or the whole Hebrew Bible.  Psalm 19 and 119 both use torah to describe the God’s revelation of himself.  When God reveals himself, we must respond in some way (respect and obedience, or sinful scoffing).

First, the blessed person delights in the Law of the Lord.  The verb “delight”  (חֵפֶץ) refers to a strong desire. Sometimes it is used to describe “precious stones” because they are the type of thing people pursue, they are of extreme value. For example, the Lord does not delight in sacrifice, but in obedience (1 Sam 15:22), in Prov 2:15, 8:11 wisdom is described as more precious that jewels, nothing which can be desired is better than her.

For the righteous, the Law of the Lord is the object of his greatest desire. People tend to take delight in special objects, think about how people will take a precious item and display it on a shelf for everyone to see. Some people decorate their office with special items which they take delight in, photographs of family, special awards, souvenirs from special

I find this delight missing in contemporary culture.  People do not usually get excited about a sermon, even one based on Scripture.  It seems to be the price we pay to have a “worship experience.”  People do not really “delight in the Word of the Lord,” but seem to tolerate it, or read it as a duty.

Second, the blessed person meditates on the Law of the Lord.  The verb translated “meditate” (הגה) comes from a root which means to “growl” or “to mutter.”  In this context, it means to read the Law in a low voice while meditating.  I will admit that meditating is something I have never fully understood, primarily because of the way it comes across in the media – a swami meditating and chanting a mantra, etc.  It seems somewhat mindless to me, the goal is emptying the mind of rational thought.  I am not really interested in that, and I am not sure that is what this text indicates since this word describes an audible, verbal action.

The point of “muttering” the Law of the Lord is reading it out loud, perhaps in a low, respectful voice, but nevertheless out loud. We hear things when we read aloud that we do not hear when we read silently.  This is therefore not a mindless chanting of the Scripture, it is a pronouncement of what the Scripture says!  Psalm 35:28 and 37:30 both use this same word to describe a worshiper verbalizing the righteousness of the Lord as a part of worship.

I would suggest that this activity is rational, the purpose is to read and hear the scripture, to immerse oneself in Scripture, so that it becomes the way a person thinks.  Everyone knows that the Scripture says “Do no steal.” If you are in a store and do not have enough money to pay for something, you probably do not wonder whether it is God’s will to steal.  You know this because you have absorbed that concept from the Bible.  The more you absorb, the more your thinking changes so that you may not even notice that you are applying Scripture constantly.

These activities are constant: day and night.  This does not mean a ten minute devotion with breakfast and another ten minutes before bed (although that is a good start!) The blessed person is so immersed in Scripture that it is in his thoughts all of the time.