STUDIES IN THE PSALMS No. 1
Psalms 1 and 2
January 4, 2004
Having completed our series on biblical eschatology, or the Bible’s teaching about the future, we turn now to a short series of studies in the Psalms. We cannot return too often to the Psalter, the hymn book and the prayer book of the church. As one scholar has put it, the Book of Psalms is the “libretto of the Mosaic ritual.” The libretto is the words that are sung in an opera or cantata or any other work for the musical theater. What he meant by calling the Psalms the “libretto of the Mosaic ritual” is that, while we learn what was done in worship in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy, we learn what was said and sung in the Psalms. Well, there being but one Psalter in the Bible, the psalms are also the libretto of Christian ritual in the new epoch. These are the prayers and the hymns of public worship – either explicitly themselves or as the standard against which all other hymns and prayers are judged – but, of course, were also and have continued through the ages to be the private devotions of God’s people. It is important to say this at the outset: the psalms are the public voice of the church, the people of God together. Even those psalms that were born in the most intensely private and individual circumstances of life have, in the Psalter, become hymns for the saints to sing together. Even David’s prayer of confession after his sin with Bathsheba is now entitled “For the Choir Director or the Director of Music.” It has become the church’s hymn for all Christians to sing.
How immeasurably valuable the Psalms have been to the saints! They have not only directed the worship of the church these three thousand years and so sustained the heart and soul of Christendom, but they have become the shouts of victory and the cries of the heart for unnumbered multitudes of Christian men and women who have found in their sentences the most beautiful or powerful expression of the most deeply personal, individual, and private thoughts and feelings of the heart. One old writer put it this way:
“What a record that would be, if one could write it down – all the spiritual experiences, the discourses of the heart, the comfort and the conflicts which men in the course of the ages have connected with the words of the Psalms! What a history, if we could discover the place this book has occupied in the inner life of the heroes of the kingdom of God! [Tholuck on the front leaf of Ker, The Psalms in History and Biography]
The Psalms, in other words, “have pervaded human life and made themselves felt in the most critical moments of action and suffering…” [Ker, v] What a story we could tell, indeed, if we could learn in how many prison cells, on how many scaffolds and pyres, from how many deathbeds, on how many battlefields, from how many valleys of the shadow of death, in how many urgent prayers, and on how many summits of pure joy, it was the psalms that gave voice to faithful hearts.
“The Book of Psalms, beyond every book of man, and most parts of the book of God, can be brought into this connection with life. We can take passage after passage and write out for it some grief it has comforted, some doubt it has solved, some deliverance it has wrought or celebrated.” [Ker, 9]
During the Korean war, when my dad, sitting terrified in a plane, flying with his unit to a combat jump behind enemy lines – and he never having jumped out of an airplane before, much less into combat – and as he saw the fear in the faces of the other men on that plane, began to fear that he couldn’t do it, it was the 91st Psalm that calmed his fears and actually put him to sleep for the time it took to fly to the drop zone.
“For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.”
How countless must be the times some psalm or a part of a psalm came to mind to protect, to nerve, to comfort and console, to gladden the heart of some Christian man or woman.
How many Christians could honestly echo the sentiment of the writer of Psalm 119 who says in his 54th verse: “Your decrees are the theme of my song wherever I lodge” and apply that thought even more to the Psalter itself than to the decrees of God’s law. In an old book on the Psalms that is a favorite of mine, the preface includes this statement about the author of the book as if it were a sentiment all Christians would heartily agree with: “Like most men of strong faith, and deep insight into the human heart, he was especially fond of the Psalms…” [Ker, v] And no wonder. The Psalms themselves were born in the deep experiences of human life, of faith, and of wrestling with God. It should be no surprise that Christian hearts and minds have found in their testimony the bell-like tone of truth and reality, a tone as easily recognized these thousands of years later as in the time these great poems of faith were first being written.
These poems and hymns present us with life at the deeper level of the mind and the heart. It would be difficult to know precisely how and why David was, to a peculiar degree, “a man after God’s own heart” if we had only the books of Samuel to go by. But, when we have his psalms, we meet him and get to know him in a way we cannot from the historical narrative alone. Here we encounter his heart in the stress and strain of life, his aspirations, his longings, his sorrows over his own failures and those of others, his confidence in the Lord his God, his joy in God’s grace and salvation. Here we meet David as he truly was. Now we understand the Lord’s statement about David being a man after his own heart.
And so it is with others. We cannot help but stop and think about the man and about his life and about his spiritual experience and walk with God when we hear Rabbi Duncan say that the 73rd psalm was his favorite because it was a transcript of his own spiritual experience, or when we hear that Psalm 93 was John Calvin’s favorite psalm.
But there is more. Jesus says in the NT that much was written about him “…in the Psalms” [Luke 24:44]. And, as we will see, this is more true than many of us have realized or appreciated. The Psalter is cited in the New Testament more than any other Old Testament book. It is a book full of Jesus Christ the King. It is about him even in those many psalms which we have not typically thought of as prophetic or as “messianic” in their meaning or intention. The Psalter is a Christological book, indeed, the most Christological book in the Old Testament. The man who is doing most of the praying in the Psalter is the King himself, whom we know as Jesus Christ, prophetically embodied and anticipated in the faithful kings of the Old Testament. There is so much that makes sense in the Psalter when we recognize this single fact: that it is, in a very true sense, the prayer of Jesus Christ himself and our prayers only insofar as we are united to him and with him in his mind and heart, only insofar as we embrace his cause as our own. When Paul speaks of Christians in the new epoch speaking to one another in Psalms we know, and can confirm this from other evidence, that the psalms played a great role in early Christian worship precisely because it was understood that they were so redolent of Jesus Christ
Put those two thoughts together now. The Psalms are a transcript of the believer’s deepest experience of faith and communion with God and the Psalter is shot through with Jesus Christ. Well that a biblical book should be both things only makes perfect sense. The meaning of all our life, of all the experiences of our lives, is found in our relationship to Christ our King. And every true experience of our life, in one way or another, is a reflection of our knowledge of Him, our love for Him, our confidence in Him, our loyalty to Him. Such are the experiences transcribed in the Psalms. There is theological and spiritual iron in these hymns and poems and they will strengthen faith as almost nothing else can. As Martin Luther wrote, in the forward to an edition of the Psalms published in 1545:
“Whoever prays the Psalms earnestly and regularly will soon stop those other light and personal little devotional prayers and say: Ah, there is not the juice, the strength, the passion, the fire which I find in the Psalms.”
All of that to commend to you our study of the next several weeks. Now, tonight, we begin at the beginning.
Read Psalms 1 and 2
I read both Psalm 1 and Psalm 2 for a reason. They are, as a unit, the “gateway” to the Psalter, an introduction to the entire book of Psalms. The two psalms belong together as the introduction as several pieces of evidence prove.
1. First, neither of these psalms has a title. You’ll see that Psalm 3 has a title, in this case indicating both authorship and the historical circumstances in which the psalm originated. In fact, all the psalms of the first book of the Psalter have titles, except the first two. That sets them apart. You can check that for yourself by skimming quickly the beginning of all 41 psalms in the first book. You will find that there is no title for Psalm 10 but that is because Psalms 9 and 10 were originally a single psalm. Two untitled psalms at the beginning are thus set apart from the rest as an introduction to the rest.
2. Second, the two psalms together are a unity. I don’t mean that they were originally a single psalm, only that they are linked together as a unity. Mostly this is done with key words. Notice that the first psalm begins with a “Blessed is the man” statement and the second psalm ends with a similar statement. “Blessed be” is thus an inclusio uniting the material of both psalms together. You have “meditate” in 1:2 and again in 2:1 (the NIV’s “plot”]. There are other key words that occur in both psalms, such as “way” in 1:6 and 2:12.
3. Third, this is the way the first two psalms were taken in both the ancient Jewish and the ancient Christian interpretation of the Psalter. [Delitzsch, 82]
4. Fourth, while the psalms do not have the same subject matter, they do together form an introduction to the whole. If Psalm 1 is an introduction to the Psalter as the libretto of the Mosaic ritual – with its dealing with the law of God and meditation upon it and obedience to it – Psalm 2 is an introduction to the Psalter in its more prophetic aspects, as it deals with the King and the future prospects of his kingdom. [Delitzsch, 82-83] Spiritual life, within and without, the practice and experience of faith such as separates the righteous from the wicked, and Christology, are found at the outset of the Psalter as its introduction. All the rest of the Psalms, all 148 of them, fulfill the promise of the first two.
Before we begin with Psalm 1 itself, let me give you a word concerning Hebrew poetry. In studying the psalms, of course, we have to take account of the literary genre in which they were composed. You will understand, of course, that I am no scholar of these things, but am reporting to you the best thinking on the subject that I know. Much of what I am about to tell you I have taken from lectures by Prof. Bruce Waltke who has preached here on several occasions and whose name is known to you from references to his teaching in my sermons. I owe a great debt to Dr. Waltke. I have learned much from him. Years ago I worked with him on a committee preparing a study bible. The project was ill-conceived and never completed but I got a great benefit from it as I soaked up Dr. Waltke’s learning meeting after meeting. Since then I have read his books and listened to his lectures on tape and continued to profit immensely from his consecrated scholarship. I am delighted to repay the debt I owe to that saintly Christian scholar of the Old Testament.
As you know a large part of the Old Testament is poetry: almost all of the prophets, the psalms and hymns of course, the wisdom literature by and large, and bits and pieces found here and there in the historical books. In Hebrew as in other languages, poetry is a more restrictive form of speech. It is subject to specific rules that a writer does not have to observe when he is writing prose. In Hebrew, poetry does not have meter or rhyme, such as we are used to in English poetry, though it does have a rhythm. Hebrew poetry has been studied intensely for several centuries and no one has found its meter yet. It is more terse, as is often the case with poetry. It says more with fewer words. In Hebrew some of the characteristic little words that you find in prose (the article, the sign of the direct object, the relative pronoun all disappear). It’s basic characteristic, as you know, is parallelism, what is also called dichotomy. In this case the parallelism is not of sound but of thought.
In Hebrew poetry the B versette (or part verse) is related to the A versette in some way. Each versette may, in turn, be divided into halves or dichotomized again, and, in some cases, those halves once more into halves. In the old view, there were thought to be three kinds of parallelism: synonymous (the B versette said the same thing as the A versette but in different words), antithetic (the B versette expressed a thought opposite to or the reverse of the thought of the A versette) and synthetic (the second versette added some thought to the first). According to the new thinking, almost all of the parallelism of Hebrew poetry is of the third or synthetic type. As Dr. Waltke puts it, if one looks only for restatement, one cuts the text with a butter knife. If one looks for differentiation, for dissimilarity as well as for similarity, one cuts the text with a scalpel. The relationships between the versettes are of all conceivable kinds and are difficult to define precisely. Poetry is an art, not a science. It makes us think and ponder. Reading poetry of the Hebrew type, one chews the cud; he is forced to think about the parallelisms and what they convey. It is complex and beautiful literature.
C.S. Lewis made the observation, which he admitted was made by many before him, that it is a beautiful and important thing that in the divine economy, the writing of the Word of God should have been entrusted to a people whose poetry, depending largely on parallelism, should remain poetry in any language it is translated into. [Letters, 16 July 1940, p. 188] You can see immediately how true that is. Imagine that Hebrew poetry relied for its character on meter and rhyme. How much must then have been lost when translated into other languages. But it is not the case. It is as much poetry in English as in Hebrew and, when well translated, has the same effect on us as poetry as does poetry written originally in English. It is a universal poetic form.
You see the character of Hebrew poetry immediately as you begin to read the first psalm.
“Blessed is the man…
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
that is the first versette – now parallel to it are two more:
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
We’ll see when we get there that those are not simply three ways of saying the same thing, but three thoughts similar to one another, related to one another, but which are also sufficiently different that we have to reckon with what is being said in each case. It is synthetic parallelism.
So let’s begin our examination of Psalm 1.
1. Blessed is the man… “Blessedness” is the quality or character of life lived as the Creator intended, without the curse and its effects. For example, in Psalm 144:12-15 we have a characteristic summary of what life will be like when blessed by God in this comprehensive way.
Then our sons in their youth will be like well-nurtured plants,
And our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace.
Our barns will be filled with every kind of provision.
Our sheep will increase by thousands,
by tens of thousands in our fields;
Our oxen will draw heavy loads. There will be no breaching of walls, no going into captivity,
no cry of distress in our streets.
Blessed are the people of whom this is true;
Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord.
That is what it means to be blessed. Now there are two ways to understand such descriptions. Perhaps usually this has reference in the Bible to a future state. That is, this is the condition of life that believers will enjoy at the consummation, at the end when they receive and enjoy God’s salvation in its fullness. It is the same in the NT. This is just how Jesus describes the blessedness of believers when he speaks of his disciples in the beatitudes or “blessings” at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. Those who mourn, who are poor in spirit, those who are meek, who are peacemakers, who suffer persecution for righteousness’ sake will be filled, will inherit the earth, their reward will be great in heaven. The accent falls on the future, on the final fulfillment. Christian is always looking forward. We had many occasions to make this point in our previous evening series on biblical eschatology. And here it is again in the first psalm. You see it clearly in the reference at the end of the psalm to the final judgment.
However, one reason I want to study the psalms is that, in contrast to the futuristic emphasis of our recent studies, these descriptions of earthly blessedness, prosperity, fullness of life, and happiness are also used in the Bible to describe the quality of life that believers have in this world. This is the other side of the Bible’s emphasis. Here we have the Bible’s dialectical character once again; here the other pole on this continuum of the Bible’s teaching concerning God’s blessing of his people.
The this-worldly blessing of the faithful is the teaching of the Old Testament, as for example in Deuteronomy’s long list of blessings that faithfulness to God’s covenant will bring God’s people. You have those blessings listed in Deut. 28:1-14 and they are like those we just read in Psalm 144:12-15. These descriptions of the blessedness of God’s people are clearly a reference, in the first place, to life in this world. But it is the same in the New Testament. In Ephesians 6 Paul promises to faithful Christian children a long and prosperous life in the world. And Jesus had already said the same. Those that give up husbands and wives, parents and children, homes and fields for his sake and the sake of the gospel will receive 100x as much in this life – houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. [Mark 10:30]
Now, plainly, the Lord’s apostles did not finish their lives as wealthy land barons. We can immediately see how, by following and serving Christ, they gained 100x as many brothers and sisters – fellow Christians – but the 100x as many houses and fields must obviously be taken as a metaphor for blessings of other kinds. Some Christians may receive such earthly prosperity as may be measured in real estate and bank accounts, but most do not. And yet they all feel that Jesus has kept the promise he made to them about the 100 fold. He has met their needs, he has blessed them in the ways that matter most, he has left them feeling always that he has given them many more than 100x as much as they have given him. And, of course, in the future, they shall have everything, absolutely everything! It would be unseemly to want more here when everything awaits.
Well you have the futuristic emphasis here in Psalm 1, at least in vv. 5-6. But the emphasis here seems to fall, especially in v. 3, on the present. This man has God’s blessing now.
In any case, that blessedness, that living under the hand of God’s mercy and love, that bearing fruit, is directly related to the man’s faith and faithfulness. We read of his being blessed in the opening statement, but then in the remainder of vv. 1-2 we read of the man’s faith and character. It is precisely the order the Lord uses in the beatitudes. “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” “Blessed are they who mourn.” “Blessed are the peacemakers.” And so on. This is not blessing that God bestows on anyone, it is God’s answer to the faith and faithfulness of his people.
And the first things that are said about this man is his identification with God and with God’s Word. For those of you who are beginning the year with a plan for the reading of Holy Scripture, here is encouragement for you. This man is a man of the Word of God, and God’s blessing is heaven’s answer to this loyalty to and love for the Word of God. We will take that subject up next time.
But, as the new year begins, let us take to heart for the umpteenth time this fact and let us tell the Lord that we intend to see it proved to us many times in the coming year: that blessed are the people whose God is the Lord, the people who trust in God, who heed his Word, and take his cause for their own.