Psalms: Songs of Orientation 2
Psalm 1 is an introduction to the entire Psalter. It is placed over against Psalm 2 on purpose. Psalm 1 is a "Torah Psalm." The word "torah"' means "instruction." Here it most likely does not have reference to the law of Moses but to the book of Psalms. Psalm 2 is a "Royal Psalm" or "Messianic Psalm." This is a pattern that is repeated throughout the Psalter. It can be seen Psalm 19 being placed directly before Psalms 20-21, Psalm 119 is connected to the Songs of Ascents (Psalms 120-143). One ancient way of interpretation was by attachment. The attachment of the Messianic psalms to Torah psalms tells us teaches us that the purpose of the written instruction of the Lord is to lead us to a relationship with the Living Word.
Psalm 1 begins the Psalter by pronouncing a blessing on those who meditate on the law (torah; instruction) of the LORD. Psalm 2 ends by pronouncing a blessing on those who put their trust in the Son, the Messiah.
The idea is that meditation on Scripture (the Psalter) leads to trust in the Messiah.
Jesus told the scribes in John 5:39 ESV, "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. " They had Scripture, but they did not have Jesus.
The rich young ruler had a relationship with the written ordinances of the LORD's instruction. He was a keeper of the law, but He did not have a relationship of trust in the Messiah. Jesus told Him that it was great that he kept the 10 commandments, but He lacked one thing. It was not so much about the young ruler selling his possessions, or in giving it to the poor, although those were important acts of devotion for him. Jesus was showing this young man that his meditation of the Torah had led Him to the Messiah and now it was time to trust and follow Him. It was an invitation into a relationship with the Son (Mark 10:17-22).
After His resurrection, Jesus instructed the disciples from the three sections of the Hebrew Bible (Luke 24:45-53). His purpose was not so that they would be able to win debates with the Pharisees, rather it was so that they would know Him better. So as you compare the words of the Psalter with the writings of the NT, think about the fact that Jesus opened their understanding to understand the Psalter in this way. And the way they used the Psalms was to invite everyone they met into a covenant relationship with Jesus and that relationship is on that is based upon "trust."
The word translated "trust" or "take refuge in" at the end of Psalm 2:12 has the same meaning as the word "faith" that we read so often in the NT. It means to believe, to trust.
Faith, or trust, is not some kind of mental ascent or magic that manipulates God to act. Faith as the Bible uses it, is trusting in God and taking refuge in Him in times of trouble, and believing that He is Who He claims to be and that He will do what He promises that He will do (Segraves, p. 26). In order for this to be true, it takes a relationship. This relationship is one that goes through the hills and valleys of life.
Psalm 1 is a Psalm of orientation. If we read it only at a surface level we might think that its main teaching is that Israel's worship life is obedience, "to order and conduct all of life in accordance with God's purpose and ordering of the creation" (Brueggemann, p. 38-39). It tells us that a life lived delighting in and meditating on the instruction of the LORD is one that will be "happy" and has "well-being," a blessed life. "Blessed is the man..."
The psalm presents a contrast between the wicked and the righteous. There is no middle ground. The psalm presents life in either/or categories. Like much of the wisdom tradition and Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, it presents two paths.
Psalm 1
1 Blessed is the manWho walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
There is a progression from motion to a stationary posture. A person tries sin, then becomes accustomed to it, and finally, it becomes a lifestyle or habit. There is a contrast to the positive commandments of Deut 6:4-9.
“Hear, Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! 5 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7 And you shall repeat them diligently to your sons and speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk on the road, when you lie down, and when you get up. 8 You shall also tie them as a sign to your hand, and they shall be as frontlets on your forehead. 9 You shall also write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Notice the motion and the reality of the advice and instruction being something that is continually in front of both the righteous and the wicked. Counsel, way, and gathering are also progressive. They go from listening to advice to joining the walk to joining in living. Notice that each of these requires the presence of at least one other person. The words "wicked," sinners," and "company of mockers" are all plural. There is a contrast with "the [happy] one." The Psalter begins with the idea of the one versus the many. We can hear the words of Jesus echoed here that straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life and there are few that find it, and broad is that way and wide is the gate that leads to destruction and many there be that go therein (Matt. 7:13-14).
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law, he meditates day and night.3 He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.
His "delight" means that he takes pleasure in.
Meditation is verbal rumination. The ancients read out loud. The idea here is the sound of murmuring, muttering, or mumbling of the Torah. It sounds like the idea of a flowing stream.
It takes four lines to describe the blessing of the righteous and only one line to describe the destiny of the wicked.
The righteous are like "a tree planted by flowing streams, that bears its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers."
The wicked are like chaff that blows away.
The righteous is not just any tree, but one 'transplanted' by the Streams of Water. The place where the righteous is planted is intentional. The idea here is that a seedling has been planted there by Someone. It is this tree that dominates the entire psalm. It is central (Ezekiel 41:18; Gen 2; Isa 11:1; Zech 6:12; Deut 16:21). It has an invisible system of nourishment, roots secretly feeding it with the things that it needs to flourish in the harsh arid conditions of Israel.
4 The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
The Psalmist waits until the end to mention that the one who is delighting in the instruction of the LORD and who is like a fruitful tree that has been transplanted to a place beside the Streams of Living Water is not alone. He or she gets to stand in the congregation of the righteous. There is a communion of saints past and present, we are connected to those who have gone on before us, those who are serving the LORD in other nations and on other continents. The ungodly will not stand in the judgment. Their success is temporary.
The Psalmist closes with the words:
6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.
The Psalmist waits until the end to mention the Lord. Yet, the LORD has been there all along. The mention of the righteous here is all of the righteous. God is directing their way, path, the road they are traveling. The LORD is the one whose instruction they have chosen to follow. Notice the structure of Psalm 1:6
For the LORD (subject) knows (verb) the way of the righteous (object)
but the way of the wicked (subject) shall perish.
The message is that being the author of your one fate is the way of the march to self-destruction. The righteous have the instruction (torah) of the LORD. The instruction of the LORD is something that they cannot give themselves. It is a gift for those who realize that they cannot guide themselves. And this guidance is not just about memorizing verses, it is about learning to trust and obey a companion who will travel the journey along the way, the Messiah. There is so much that we do not know. Declaring Jesus to be Lord of your life through water baptism in Jesus's Name is a declaration that you realize that you need someone to guide you. And the Promise is that if we will the Holy Spirit will come and lead us into a relationship with Jesus.
Psalm 2
1 Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing?2 The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,3 “Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us.”
Remember the words "counsel of the ungodly. . . the path of sinners. . . the seat of the scornful" from Psalm 1:1? These terms are further described in Psalm 2:1. The wicked are seen as plotting a "vain thing." The "counsel of the ungodly" is seen in Psalm 2:2 as "the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His Anointed [the Messiah]" It is the ungodly counsel that leads kings and rulers to say, "Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us" (Psalm 2:3).
I do not often talk about it, but there is more than meets the eye to what happens in the business and political arena. Simon Chan talks about the world as the sin around us. The Gospel of John often places "the world" in opposition to Christ and the people of God.
John 15:18-19 NIV
18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.
Paul speaks of those outside of Christ as those who walk "according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:2). Sin has social dimensions. We see it demonstrated in "structural evils" like racism and sexual discrimination. "The evil within individuals contributes to a larger deeply entrenched sinful social structure. If the flesh provides the occasion for external temptation in the world, the world in turn molds and shapes the flesh without our being fully conscious of it... What makes social sins so dangerous is that people are less aware of them and so do not feel personally responsible for them. Yet they are more deeply entrenched and thus more difficult to eradicate. The consequences of these "structural evils" are far more socially destructive than the consequences of individual sins... The world is more than the sum of individuals who are indifferent to Christ, actively or passively opposed to Christ or even outwardly religious" (Chan, pp. 66-67). The "world" has a structural dimension. When we speak of "salvation history" we are speaking of God's working in the created realm saving and redeeming the world that culminates in the coming of Christ in the final age and the manifestation of His eternal kingdom in the new heavens and new earth.
Kevin O'Shea describes what he calls "perdition history." He says, "The Sin of the World is a virus of evil which entered the world as a personal force through original sin and dynamically unfolds itself and tightens its grip on humanity and on the world in escalating fashion down the ages of history. It is the hidden power that multiplies transgressions in the history of mankind. They are merely its symptoms; it is greater and deeper than all of them. It forms human history into what we might call "perdition history"... (Chan, pp. 66-67).
Just as salvation history moves to its consummation in Christ, "perdition history" is a downward spiral that moves towards its own fulfillment in the last day's symbol of the antichrist. When sin reaches its end it has a power that is all it's own.
There is such a thing as structural evil and sin. The Bible uses the phrase principalities and powers to describe these structures. There is a connection between the demonic and spirit realm to what happens in the everyday world that we taste, touch, smell, hear and see. This worldly structure of sin is so deceptive that Christians often do not recognize it for what it is. It burrows itself into the bowels of governments and businesses and family systems. One of the questions that the church has wrestled with for the duration of its existence is how to engage the culture, the world. Realizing that there are good, bad, and neutral aspects of it. Some have attempted to transform it. Others have tried to avoid it altogether. Still, others have joined it completely and eventually lost their distinction. Psalm 1 and 2 offer another alternative. Paul says that "the world" is passing away (1 Cor. 7:29-31). Psalm 1 says that the wicked are like chaff. They will pass away. But those who delight in and meditate on the instruction of the LORD, they will abide forever! But there is more to it...
The early church saw Psalm 2 as being fulfilled in the actions of Herod, Pontius Pilate, and the unbelieving Gentiles and Jews who crucified Jesus:
24 So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, 25 who by the mouth of Your servant David have said:
‘Why did the nations rage, And the people plot vain things?26 The kings of the earth took their stand, And the rulers were gathered together Against the Lord and against His Christ.’
27 “For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together 28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.
Paul says that it was the principalities and powers that crucified the Lord of Glory. They did not recognize Who He was or what the crucifixion meant to the redemption of the world! If they had known it, they would not have crucified Him! Verse 28 is one of the most powerful verses about the sovereignty of God that can be found in Scripture. It reminds us of God's words to the Pharaoh of the Exodus, "But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth" (Exod. 9:16; cf. Rom. 9:17).
We should be involved in the political process as God gives us the opportunity and we should decry injustice and hold our leaders accountable. But, at the end of the day, our "trust" is not in the princes of this world. The ungodly counselors (plural) say that loyalty to and trust in the Messiah should be cast off, but the one who delights in the instruction of the LORD is immovable. Ultimately, the ungodly will perish while the righteous stand.
The Psalmist goes on:
4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision.5 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, And distress them in His deep displeasure:6 “Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion.”
The reason the ungodly are like chaff that the LORD drives away (1:6) is that the LORD will distress them in His deep displeasure. This will be important next week as we begin exploring the Psalms of disorientation because there are moments when it seems like the wicked are flourishing like a palm tree and the righteous are being destroyed. Even this second part of the introduction to the Psalter would not have been understood immediately by the apostles as they saw Jesus crucified and buried under Pontius Pilate. Sometimes things look bad, but the LORD is the One who has set His King on His holy hill of Zion. God has chosen to give full and final revelation of Himself in the Lord Jesus Christ and He will reign forever and ever and there is nothing that the counsel of this world can do about it! God made a covenant with King David in 2 Samuel 7:8-17 (cf. Psalm 89:34-37):
2 Samuel 7:8-17 ESV
8 Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. 9 And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 10 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11 from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. 12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, 15 but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’” 17 In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.
Psalm 89:34-37 NKJV
34 My covenant I will not break, Nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.35 Once I have sworn by My holiness;I will not lie to David:36 His seed shall endure forever, And his throne as the sun before Me;37 It shall be established forever like the moon, Even like the faithful witness in the sky.” Selah
Luke 1:32-33 KJV
32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom, there shall be no end.
As Paul says in Philippians, "every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!"
As you read the Psalms you will find this theme repeated. God is as good as His Word. He made a covenant with David and through David all who will trust in the Messiah. Nothing that any ruler or authority can plot or try [whether they realize what they are doing or not] can thwart what God is doing, by revealing Himself in the genuine and full Humanity of Jesus Christ! Next are the words of the Messiah:
7 “I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.8 Ask of Me, and I will give you the nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession.9 You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ ”
This idea of the Messiah being the "begotten Son" is important to the writers of the NT. There are places where Psalm 2:7 is quoted directly (Acts 13:33; Hebrews 1:5; 5:5), and there are also allusions to Psalm 2:7 (John 1:14, 18; 3:16, 18; 1 John 4:9). Some scholars have suggested that psalms like Psalm 2 might have originally been used during enthronement ceremonies during the reign of David's descendants. The royal psalms may have been used in this way and the human kings were called "anointed ones" and "begotten sons" in this context. Solomon is spoken of as sitting upon the throne of the LORD (1 Kings 2:12; 1 Chron. 29:23). As you read the Psalter, realize that there are multiple layers of use and fulfillment of them, but the purpose of each psalm is not to preserve things like ancient enthronement liturgy [no matter how interesting that might be], but to point us to the ultimate Anointed One, the Only-Begotten Son of God in Whom All The Fulness of the Godhead dwells in bodily form! Jesus is the Son of David, but He is a greater son than all of the others combined! He outshines them all! We behold the Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ! In Christ, YHWH has come to sit upon the throne of David, forever!
So what is our response?
10 Now, therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth.11 Serve the Lord with fear And rejoice with trembling.12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.
The kings of the earth are instructed to abandon their vain attempts to overthrow the rule of Yahweh. They are instructed to be wise, serve the LORD with reverence and trembling. To be "instructed" (listen to the LORD's torah). They are welcomed to do the same thing that the lone person delighting in and muttering upon torah is to do. "Kiss the Son" means to show loyalty to Him. This is talking about giving Jesus the Lordship of your life. All are welcome. Pilate was welcome. Herod was welcome. Pharaoh was welcome. Nebuchadnezzar was welcome. The LORD invites the high and the low to place their trust in Him. And that is how this introduction to the book of Psalms ends, just like it began.
Psalm 2:12
Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.
Psalm 1:1
Blessed is the man.
See, as we explore the Psalter, we will hear some other voices that question this idea that meditating on torah does lead to a blessed life--the Psalms of disorientation. Life does not always seem to be working like these two psalms say that it will, and so a relationship with a God who has revealed Himself but Who sometimes seems hidden is vital. Trust is the keyword. The question that the Psalter asks is can you trust Him for Psalm 1-150 where you are able to abandon all else in praise.
For the Road:
In preparation for next week as we talk about these questions please read Psalm 137, 88, and 109. Think the words of these psalms and ask yourself if you have ever felt the emotions that the writers of the psalms seem to be experiencing. Are there any words in these psalms that make you uncomfortable? Why? Would you pray these prayers? Can you imagine how Jesus might have prayed these prayers? Write down your thoughts.
