Psalm 1 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 1 on biblegateway.com
Verse 1Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers;
Verse 2but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night.
Verse 3They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.
Verse 4The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
Verse 5Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
Verse 6for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
Devotion
In the late 1950's I was in a college quartet that sang a piece based on Psalm 1. I confess I never liked that piece because the message seemed so simplistic, so "either/or." You were either "righteous" or "wicked" with no "in between." That negative attitude shadowed my feelings about this psalm for years.
In later years my feelings have changed, especially when I have read the way Walter C. Bouzard, Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Wartburg College, describes Psalm 1 as a "positive picture of the joys and pitfalls of our lifetime journeys." He goes on to say, "Taken as a whole, the psalm serves as an invitation to the entire psalter, holding before the community of faith—and not just the individual—the hope and promise that blessings will come from delighting in the instruction of the Lord."
How do you view your life journey? Is it "either/or with no in between,' or is it an exciting journey walking with your community of faith and "delighting in the instruction of the Lord?"
Prayer
Grant us, O God, to be open to your instruction as we daily walk our life journeys. Amen.