How useful is NIVAC?

[Ιακοβ]

I don't have a lot of experience with reading these commentaries, so I thought it might be worth asking the question given they are so insanely discounted right now:

 

NIVAC - OT/NT

 

How useful do they tend to be for the academics side of things and/or the practical application side of things? Did you take advantage of the special, or wait on it?

[Tim Hall]

Iakob,

 

I have jumped in and made the purchase. I have 7 of the volumes in hardback and have used them extensively. They are geared toward preaching/teaching. The Original Meaning section gives a great overview of the important issues and thoughts (it is not technical though). The Bridging Context section lays out the "timeless truths" that the passage speaks to. The Contemporary Significance section provides application ideas from the text in question.

 

I would say that this commentary would not be a good choice if you are looking for extensive & in-depth technical discussion. It is a commentary set geared toward preachers & teachers, written by great scholars (David Garland-Mark & Colossians/Philemon was one of my seminary professors) with valuable insight and a great perspective.

 

I was unable to pass up the great deal that Zondervan/Accordance were offering.

 

Hope this helps.

[Daniel Francis]

I think it depends a whole lot on your perspectives I do own this in OT when it went on sale one time before it seemed a good bargain. Some of the volumes or at least  some of the sections seem very good and useful far too often for my liking they raise up a strident arguments that very much turns me off for reading. I do not expect to hear no differing views but I also do not appreciate being vehemently dismissing of alternative views. Many Zondervan resources use to take a more Irenic approach and I appreciated that much more than the style of at least some of the NIVAC.... It has use to offer and perhaps if you are a very conservative reader it will be a very welcome addition. But I would not recommend it in general for the above reasons. I am an Anglican who was raised lutheran, I affirm fully the Apostles/Niacin creeds, but my theological views do range into the more liberal/progressive side, so you can take my advice for what you will.

 

-Dan

Edited May 4, 2015 by Dan Francis

[ukfraser]

I have a number of these as hard back and kindle versions and have jumped in for the NT as they are such a great offer.

1) accordance means you can quickly switch between the different views contemporary, original etc. and this is such a breath of fresh air using them and they link with bible, the accordance team has done a great job

2) as others have said, it depends what you want but, every set is variable with and good and less useful volumes and they are not technical so think more practical application.

3) i enjoy using them as they give a different perspective and great for preaching, even if the author winds you up, at least its something others may be thinking or gives you something to consider which may not have ocurred to you. i can also see it being useful for bible studies. I dont think i would use it for personal devotional time, but it could be.

4) it also depends on what other resources you have, i wouldnt want this as my only commentary set but if you have been thinking about it, it may be worth getting either ot or nt, looking at them and deciding to get the other set. Alternatively, download some kindle samples and see how you get on with that.

its certainly been on my wish list for ages and i dont regret getting them.

I would get the whole set but dont think i would make most use as i have currently gone from preaching up to 4 times a month to about once every two or three months and unless something drastic happens, i can see that reducing further so the nt fits my current needs.

Fraser

 

There is also a podcast which gives you a flavour

Edited May 5, 2015 by ukfraser

[Daniel Francis]

For myself  Barclay or Wright's/Goldingay's For Everyone series are the more devotional style commentaries I go for. THE NIVAC is broader than those two series and are at a good price point now. At their regular price I do not see the NIVAC as a good value in my eyes, but as I stated above I am fully aware my background and viewpoint colour my view of them were I a conservative Evangelical background and mind view I would likely call this set great. And similar application based series Accordance sells from a similar view point that I use very often is the Holman Bible Commentary.

 

I offer you a look at both Holman and NIVAC on Psalm 1 (note I have no issues at all with how Psalm 1 is handled and think this shows the value and best of what the NIVAC has to offer).

 

 

PSALM 1

The Two Roads of Life

 

Quote

 

“Walk with God, and you cannot mistake the road; you have infallible wisdom to direct you, permanent love to comfort you, and eternal power to defend you.”

 

Charles H. Spurgeon

 

 

I. INTRODUCTION

The High Way and the Low

 

John Oxenham, the noted British author and hymn writer of the well-known classic “In Christ, There Is No East Nor West,” wrote in his poem The Ways:

 

To every man there openeth

A Way, and Ways and a Way,

And the High Soul climbs the High way,

And the Low Soul gropes the Low,

And in between, on the misty flats,

The rest drift to and fro.

But to every man there openeth

A High way and a Low,

And every man decideth

The Way his soul shall go.

 

Penned with poignant language, this literary masterpiece states that there are many different paths before every person, a series of choices that open    before each life. But amid these many different roads that could be taken, there are in reality only two paths—“a High way and a Low.” Every person’s life and, ultimately his destiny, is marked by the choice he makes regarding “the Way his soul shall go.” So each life must choose wisely. Decisions determine destinies. The road a person chooses marks the course of his or her life, not only for the present but for the eternities that follow.

Psalm 1 differentiates between these two paths of life. One road leads to blessing, the other to cursing; one to salvation, the other to destruction. There are only two roads in life—the way of the godly and the way of the ungodly—and they lead to two opposite destinies—one to life, the other to death. Accordingly, this first psalm is considered a wisdom psalm, one that provides guidance for godly living. Like a clearly marked entrance to the path of righteousness, it serves as an introduction to the entire Book of Psalms, directing all travelers to the path of God’s blessedness. This psalm, intentionally placed at the beginning, serves as a preface to the remaining 149 psalms.

 

 

II. COMMENTARY

The Two Roads of Life

 

  MAIN IDEA: Blessed are the righteous who live insulated from the deceptions and defilements of this evil world and who internalize God’s Word while, to the contrary, the wicked are unstable and will perish.

 

 

A. The Way of the Godly (1:1–3)

 

  SUPPORTING IDEA: The godly are abundantly blessed because they do not live according to the sinful philosophies, practices, or associations of fallen men but are deeply rooted in God’s Word.

 

1:1a. This psalm begins with the emphatic declaration that God’s abundant favor will rest upon the person who lives a truly God-centered life. In the original language, blessed is repeated. This is the Hebrew method of indicating the plural, intensifying its meaning. Thus, the phrase should read, “O, how very happy” or “the happinesses!” In reality, this soul satisfaction is pleasure found in the Lord himself. This promise of blessing is precisely what Jesus announced in the Beatitudes (Matt. 5:3–12). True happiness is the experience of all who trust in the Lord (cp. Pss. 16:11; 21:6; 34:8). The righteous are genuinely satisfied in the Lord (Phil. 4:4).

 

1:1b,c,d. This God-blessed life is first described negatively, or what the godly person does not practice. First, He    does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, meaning he refuses the secular philosophy and humanistic values of the godless. He refuses the worldview that places man at the center of the universe and entices him to live by his own standards of morality and pursuits of pleasure.

Second, neither does the righteous person stand in the way of sinners. This infers that his personal behavior resists the lure of the crowd to participate in their carnal activities and sensual living.

Third, the godly person does not sit in the seat of mockers, meaning he refuses to associate with those who scoff at God. He avoids close relationships with blasphemers, infidels, and atheists, no matter how prosperous they may be, because “bad company corrupts good character” (1 Cor. 15:33).

 

1:2. Positively, the delight of the godly is in the law of the Lord. The person who knows genuine joy reads and relishes God’s Word. This hunger for the Bible is a clear indication of the new birth as his new nature longs for the truths of God. This new appetite for God’s truth leads him to meditate upon the Word day and night. He constantly sets his mind on the truths of the Bible, throughout the day focusing on Scripture because it reveals the glory of God and his supremacy.

 

1:3. The person who delights in God’s law will be like a tree planted by streams of water which draws its life-sustaining nourishment from a stream flowing through its roots. The God-centered life draws its spiritual vitality from God’s Word, which is compared to many streams. This word streams is in the plural, representing the abundant, overflowing supply of strength and sustaining grace conveyed in God’s Word. The godly sets down deep roots into a reservoir which will never run dry—one that refreshes, revives, renews, cleanses, and satisfies those who draw upon it (John 15:3; Eph. 5:26). God’s Word can sustain the godly (cp. Ps. 19:7–10).

When indwelt by the living Word, the leaf of the righteous does not wither, meaning all that he does will have eternal value and lasting results. Furthermore, he is like a tree that yields its fruit in season. This pictures a continual fruitfulness in every season of life, whether good times or bad times, triumphs or trials. So potent is God’s Word that whatever he does prospers. He will enjoy a spiritually enriched life, the fullest life imaginable.

 

 

B. The Way of the Ungodly (1:4–6)

 

  SUPPORTING IDEA: By contrast, the person who lives without God is morally corrupt and will be condemned and damned forever.

 

1:4. Are the ungodly blessed? Not so! Are they happy? Not so! Successful? Not so! Fruitful? Not so! They may sound gregarious and look successful, but they are not so! The ungodly actually do what God forbids in verse 1. They walk in the counsel of the wicked; they stand in the way of sinners; and they sit    in the seat of mockers. Therefore, unlike the righteous who are like a tree whose leaf does not wither, the wicked are like chaff that the wind blows away. This is a picture drawn from harvest time. The part of the grain known as chaff was discarded as worthless and having no value. Accordingly, the wicked are empty, void, futile, unsubstantial, shallow, worthless, and, in the end, to be burned in the fire.

 

1:5. As a result, the wicked will not stand in the judgment. They will not have God’s acceptance when they stand before him in the last day. Rather, they will be exposed for what they really are (Rev. 20:11–15). They will be justly condemned in their sin, sentenced to eternal punishment in hell. Such corrupt sinners will not be allowed to remain in the assembly of the righteous but will be excluded from the joyful fellowship of the saints (Rev. 21:8; 22:15). They will be revealed in the final judgment as unworthy sinners, rightly condemned by Christ (Acts 17:31), and removed from the presence of the godly forever.

 

1:6. The last verse summarizes the two ways in life—the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked. The Lord watches over the way of the righteous, which means far more than that he is informed about their ways. Rather, he has a personal, intimate relationship with the godly and is involved with them in order to guard, guide, and grace them. But the way of the wicked will perish. The ungodly sinner, judged and condemned in the final judgment, will be damned forever. The wicked will suffer relentless torment in a real place called hell, always perishing, forever suffering the eternal wrath of God, never finding relief from God’s just vengeance.

 

  MAIN IDEA REVIEW: Blessed are the righteous who live insulated from the deceptions and defilements of this evil world and who internalize God’s Word while, to the contrary, the wicked are unstable and will perish.

 

 

III. CONCLUSION

You Can Get There from Here!

 

Martyn Lloyd-Jones tells about a traveler in Ireland who once stopped a man working beside the road to ask directions. The traveler asked, “My friend, if you were going to Dublin, which way would you go?” The Irishman quipped, “I wouldn’t go there from here.” Many people want to start from some place other than where they are in order to be where they want to be. But the truth is, we must start where we are, now, if we are to reach our desired destination. So it is, spiritually speaking. Many people want to enter the way of the godly, but they procrastinate, putting it off for another time, waiting to be at some other place in life. They want to start from somewhere other than where they are.

But if a person is to enter the way of the Lord, he must enter from where he is. He must face his sin, confessing it for what it is, and turn to the Lord by faith.    Anyone who travels the broad path of the wicked may enter the way of the righteous. But he must start where he is. He must repent of his sin and believe on Christ, who bore the sins of his people in his body upon the cross. This is the good news of the gospel. One may enter the way of the godly if he will trust Christ. But it begins where a person is—right now.

 

 

IV. LIFE APPLICATION

What Path Am I Traveling?

 

Every person must ask the soul-searching question, What path in life am I traveling? Have I entered through the narrow gate that leads to the path of the godly? Or am I traveling the broad road that is headed to destruction? These are the important diagnostic questions that each person must ask himself and answer carefully and accurately. If you say that you are walking the path of the righteous, this brings on another series of questions to determine the genuineness of your profession of faith. Is there clear evidence of a transformed life that authenticates such a claim? Are you experiencing the blessedness of God’s favor? Are you living a separated life, distinct from the beliefs and behavior of the ungodly? Have you made the break from the world? Is your delight in the law of the Lord?

The answer to these questions will reveal which path you travel. Many people today point to a mystical feeling or emotional “experience” for the validity of their conversion, but we must look for the fruit of a changed life. The authenticity and validity of a person’s faith is proven by the spiritual fruit he produces. Fruit is the test of salvation. This includes personal holiness (Rom. 6:22), Christlike character (Gal. 5:22–23), good works (Col. 1:10), ministry (Rom. 1:13), stewardship (Rom. 15:25–28), and praising God (Heb. 13:15).

 

 

V. PRAYER

 

God, we praise your magnificent name for blessing us so abundantly. Thank you for your abounding goodness which has been lavished upon us in Jesus Christ. We praise you that our hearts are most satisfied in you. May you insulate our souls from the temptations and deceptions of this world. Anchor us in your Word. Help us to draw the spiritual nourishment we need from the Scripture so that we may stand strong and live fruitful lives for the honor of your name. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

VI. DEEPER DISCOVERIES

 

A. Blessed (1:1)

 

This word (Heb. esher) means an overflowing joy and full contentment in God, a satisfaction and happiness in the Lord. This noun occurs forty-four times in the Old Testament, twenty-five of which are found in the Psalms. The word happy is a good synonym, although it must be understood that this word conveys far more than feelings of peace and contentment. This word is in the plural which intensifies its meaning, expressing God’s redemptive favor upon the person who fears the Lord and pursues his will. An alternate translation in Psalm 1:1 would be, “Oh the blessednesses.” This blessedness is not deserved, but it is a gift of God, not dependent upon our circumstances but upon the vitality of our relationship with God.

 

 

B. Walk, Stand, Sit (1:1)

 

These words picture the way of the ungodly as devolving decadence into deeper strongholds of sin. This downward spiral descends from walking, to standing, to sitting. The power of evil always proceeds downward in the lives of wicked people—from bad to worse. To walk refers to the series of steps that the ungodly person takes in life, the decisions he makes, the direction he pursues. To stand pictures the commitments a person makes to various causes. To sit represents the settled attitudes of the heart, the fixed disposition of a person’s heart.

Thus, the sinner descends from being one who is “wicked,” meaning corrupt internally, to being a sinner, or one who practices sin, and finally, to being a mocker, one who scoffs at God and holy things. This downhill slide begins with “the counsel of the wicked,” or ungodly thinking, digresses to “the way of sinners,” which is the perverted practice of ungodly beliefs, and arrives at “the seat of mockers,” or aligning oneself with the company of those who scoff at God.

 

 

C. Meditates (1:2)

 

See “Deeper Discoveries,” 63:6.

 

 

D. Chaff (1:4)

 

This word pictures a threshing floor at the time of the grain harvest. The threshing floors of Palestine were on hills that received the best breezes. The grain would be gathered and brought up to the elevated place of the threshing floor and crushed by animals pulling heavy instruments over it. Then the ground grain would be pitched high in the air, and the wind would blow the chaff, consisting of husks and broken straw, leaving the heavier grain to fall back to the threshing floor. The worthless chaff was gathered and burned, so it would not be blown back into the grain (Job 21:18; Ps. 35:5; Isa. 17:13; 29:5; 41:15; Hos. 13:3; Zeph. 2:2).    The wicked and evildoers will face God’s judgment (Isa. 33:11; Matt. 3:12).

 

 

E. Perish (1:6)

 

This word (Heb. abad) means “to die” or “to undergo destruction.” Among the various words which speak of destruction, abad is the most important. It is used to describe the loss of strength and knowledge, the decline of nations (Exod. 10:7; Num. 21:29–30), and is even applied to the destruction of pagan idols, images, and temples (Num. 33:52; Deut. 12:2–3). When used of people, the word generally refers to death and the cessation of life (Deut. 4:26; 11:4; Num. 16:33; Lev. 26:38; Josh. 23:16). Yet abad was also used of the eternal destruction of the wicked beyond physical death (Pss. 49:10, 12, 20; 73:27; 83:17; Prov. 10:28; 11:7; Ezek. 28:16). When used of destruction after death, abad was never used of a destruction that led into complete annihilation. Rather, it spoke of an unending, eternal destruction of the wicked that would never cease.

 

 

VII. TEACHING OUTLINE

 

A. The Way of the Godly (1–3)

1. He is satisfied in the Lord (1a)

a. Favored by God (1a)

b. Fulfilled in God (1a)

2. He is separated from the world (1b,c,d)

a. Refusing secular beliefs (1b)

b. Refusing sensual behavior (1c)

c. Refusing shameful belongings (1d)

3. He is saturated with the Word (2–3)

a. Delighting in the Word (2a)

b. Dwelling upon the Word (2b)

c. Digging into the Word (3a)

d. Drawing from the Word (3b-e)

(1) Stability (3b)

(2) Productivity (3c)

(3) Constancy (3d)

(4) Prosperity (3e)

B. The Way of the Ungodly (4–6)

1. He is corrupted internally (4)

a. The wicked are useless, life chaff (4a)

b. The wicked are unstable, life chaff (4b)

2. He is condemned judicially (5)

a. He will not stand in the judgment (5a)

 

b. He will not stand with the righteous (5b)

3. He is damned eternally (6)

a. The righteous will prosper (6a)

b. The wicked will perish (6b)

 

 

VIII. ISSUES FOR DISCUSSION

 

1. How might I be in danger of walking in the counsel of the wicked?

2. In what ways might I be standing in the way of sinners?

3. Do I find myself reading and delighting in God’s Word?

4. What fruit is God bearing in my life from the study of his Word?

 

 

 

Steven J. Lawson, Psalms 1–75, ed. Max Anders, vol. 11 of Holman Old Testament Commentary. Accordance electronic ed. (Nashville: B & H Publishing Group, 2003), 13-21.

 

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PLEASE NOTE OT in which I own NIVAC is not a happy camper when it comes to copying text. I am attempting to include everything but headings and such sometimes get lost in it so please forgive any errors, OT is fine for reading not so great for citing.

 

ORIGINAL MEANING: If you were to open a handwritten medieval manuscript of the Psalms at its beginning, chances are that you would discover this psalm — the first in the canonical collection — written in red ink and without any evidence of a number. That is because at an early date the psalm we now know as Psalm 1 was understood to be an introduction to the whole Psalter rather than just another psalm. It is likely that the final editors of the Psalter chose Psalm 1 as the gateway to the psalms because it encourages the readers/hearers to consider the songs that follow to have the effect of divine guidance or torah. This psalm also exhorts the readers both to read the psalms and to meditate deeply on the message God is communicating through them. It strongly affirms that how one responds to the revelation of God unleashed by reading the psalms determines one’s ultimate destiny.

The use of Psalm 1 as an unnumbered preface to the whole Psalter may also explain the description in Acts 13:33 (in some Western manuscripts of the Greek New Testament) of a quotation from what we now consider Psalm 2:7 as having been taken from the “first psalm.” Apparently in that manuscript tradition what we now call Psalm 1 was either unnumbered or had not yet been appended to the beginning of the collection. In either case, the special character of this psalm as introductory is affirmed.

Psalm 1 is described both as a wisdom psalm and as a Torah psalm. The former designation recognizes the standard wisdom motif of the “two ways” (1:6) of righteousness and wickedness (1:1, 4 – 6) as well as the characteristic wisdom exhortation “Blessed!” (ʾašre) at the beginning of the psalm. The designation as a Torah psalm is a response to the centrality accorded the torah (niv “law”) in verse 2. Other such Torah psalms (19; 119) appear in significant locations within the Psalter and provide a thematic focus for the final form of the whole collection.

Structurally Psalm 1 is arranged into a series of two- verse comparisons between the lifestyle, consequences, and divine evaluation of the alternative “ways” taken by the righteous and wicked. Three such comparisons are offered:(1) guilt by association (1:1 – 2); (2) identifying fruits (2:3 – 4); (3) ultimate consequences (1:5 – 6). In addition, the first and fifth verses intentionally employ similar terms and motifs of standing in the public assembly to drive home the contrast between the ultimate destiny of the righteous and the wicked.

The psalm is, then, an exhortation — through positive and negative examples — to adopt the fruitful and satisfying life characterized by immersion in God. Then and only then will the faithful find themselves on the “way” that is blazed and watched over by God himself.

 

Guilt by Association (1:1 – 2)

 

The opening blessing of the psalm (ʾašre) is common enough in the wisdom teaching of the Old Testament to recognize it as a characteristic method of the sages to exhort hearers to right action. The word “blessed” conveys the idea of happiness that flows from a sense of well- being and rightness. The same term probably originally underlies the “blessed” of the Beatitudes in Matthew 5.

Who does not walk... stand... sit. The positive exhortation leads to a negative example. This is a lifestyle to be avoided, not emulated. The sequence of verbs employed describe a life immersed and focused on association with all that is opposed to God. The order of these verbs may indicate a gradual descent into evil, in which one first walks alongside, then stops, and ultimately takes up permanent residence in the company of the wicked.

The passage has interesting similarities with the important command following the Shema (Deut. 6:4:“Hear, O Israel:The Lord our God, the Lord is one”) that faithful Israelites were to share Yahweh’s commandments with their children “when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up” (Deut. 6:7). While the parallels are not exact, both passages illustrate a totality of experience in which one is immersed, focused, and committed to a culture of association that dominates and shapes a worldview. In light of the move in Psalm 1:2 to direct the hearer’s attention to constant meditation on and delight in Yahweh’s torah, the contrasting profession and command from Deuteronomy may well have been in the back of the psalmist’s mind.

Wicked... sinners... mockers. The categories of persons mentioned can be instructive as well, and these groups of opponents of God return often in the remainder of the psalms. The “wicked” (rešaʿim) are those who have been judged “guilty” in a court of law or would be if brought to trial. In a legal contest between two parties, a judge would hear the testimony of the parties and make a determination (mišpaṭ) of the facts of the case and what the individual parties should have done in response. What actually happened is then compared with this mišpaṭ, and judgment is pronounced on each party. Those who appropriately fulfilled the expectations of the mišpaṭ were proclaimed ṣaddiq (“righteous”), while those who failed to live up to this standard were pronounced rašaʿ (“guilty”). These pronouncements were made publicly, and so the rešaʿim (plural of rašaʿ) bore the approbation of their community.

The second term, ḥaṭṭaʾim (“sinners”), emphasized the fallibility of individuals who have an inclination to sin. Such persons have not just committed an isolated act of evil but live lives dominated and shaped by their inclinations. The difference of nuance between rešaʿim and ḥaṭṭaʾim is perhaps similar to that of the person convicted of a single theft compared with a career criminal. In the psalms, however, these two terms are often synonyms.

The final term, leṣim (“mockers”), describes those who have gone beyond a few sinful acts and even a personal life marked by an inclination to wrongdoing. They actively seek through their mockery to express disdain for right living and seek to belittle and undermine those who want to be righteous. Mockers act out of overweening pride (Prov. 21:24) and refuse to seek or accept instruction or correction (9:7, 8; 13:1; 15:12). Through their disdain they stir up anger and strife (20:1; 22:10; 29:8). There is solidarity in numbers, and those who associate with such mockers often adopt their mocking ways and their ridicule of the path of righteousness.

Delight... in the law of the Lord. The psalmist now turns to describe an alternative lifestyle and association that lead to the blessing with which Psalm 1 begins. The transition is marked by a significant “but” (ki ʾim). This phrase is often used (as here) to introduce an exception after a negative statement and has the effect of “but rather,” expressing an appropriate alternative to what has preceded. Rather than associating with the proponents of evil, the readers/hearers are encouraged to immerse themselves in daily delight in Yahweh’s Torah.

Often the Hebrew word torah is identified with the Law — the primary identifying document of Israelite (and later Jewish) faith. The Torah in this sense refers to the first five books of our Old Testament — Genesis through Deuteronomy — which as a unified collection came to a final form as authoritative Scripture only in the exilic period (ca. 450 – 400 b. c.). While this is an appropriate understanding of torah in many contexts, the word often has a much more general sense of “guidelines, instruction.” This sense is by far the more common use in wisdom contexts, and since our psalm clearly moves in the wisdom environment, many have suggested it is this more general meaning that is appropriate here.

It may be possible to affirm both levels of meaning in this instance. As James L. Mays has shown us, Psalm 1 is the first of several Torah psalms strategically placed within the book of Psalms (1; 19; 119). These psalms exhort the hearers/readers to pay close attention to God’s commandments and to be faithful in their response to them. At the same time, however, the wisdom understanding of torah prevents easy limitation to the five books of the Torah. Biblical wisdom literature had already begun to identify torah (the life- giving commandments of Yahweh) with the life- giving insights given by Yahweh through the wisdom tradition. Thus, most likely torah here implies the traditional commandments of God in the Torah — commandments Israel is expected to obey — as well as the life- giving guidance God gives elsewhere in Scripture. Brevard Childs is undoubtedly right when he observes that the function of this exhortation in the introductory psalm of the Psalter is to encourage the readers to meditate on the book of Psalms as Scripture and to seek there God’s message that guides and establishes the life of faith.

Meditates day and night. The verb hgh (“meditates”) is onomatopoeic in that it imitates the sound of low voices murmuring or muttering as one reads Scripture in a low undertone. It appears to have been normal practice at the time to read out loud in a low voice rather than silently. The term can also mean “ponder/reflect” by talking to oneself. In Psalm 2:1, the same verb may be rendered “hatch a plot” in low conversations with one’s coconspirators. Psalm 1, however, stresses careful, diligent attention to Scripture seeking God’s guidance for life.

The seriousness of the investigation is indicated by its duration during both “day and night.” This is, of course, a merism, in which the two extremes are mentioned to include all in between as well. The sectarian community of Essenes, who withdrew from general society to a commune near the shore of the Dead Sea from approximately 160 b. c. to a. d. 70, took seriously such enjoinders to constant study. Their community rule explicitly mandated that at every hour of day or night someone should be studying and interpreting God’s torah. The psalmist clearly sees such purposeful immersion in the torah as an effective antidote to the inappropriate association with evil described in verse 1. Not only are students of torah occupied, but torah so feeds and shapes the mind and heart of those who give themselves to it that their feet are kept firmly on the path of life.

 

Fruitful Living (1:3 – 4)

 

The second comparison flows out of the first:Diligent study of torah is not only delightful occupation but yields fruitful results as well. The image of the tree planted by a source of abundant water is known to us also from the similar passage in Jeremiah 17:7 – 8. There as here the description of the fruitful tree is part of a balanced comparison between those who trust in humans and those who place their trust in Yahweh. In both passages, the tree is part of a blessing on the faithful — although in the Jeremiah passage the term “blessing” is baruk rather than Psalm 1 ’s ʾasre. The opening phrases of these descriptions are almost identical:Jeremiah 17:8 “He will be like a tree planted by the water....” Psalm 1:3 “He is like a tree planted by streams of water....”

Both passages go on to comment on the enduring quality of the tree’s leaves as well as its consistent fruitfulness, although not in terms as identical as the opening phrase. Thus, in both passages a fruitful tree planted near abundant water describes the effective future of the faithful who cast their lot with God rather than on human strength and evil.

Planted. The faithful tree is not simply a wild oak that takes its position by happenstance. Those who delight in Yahweh’s torah are “planted” (a passive participle) — as by a master gardener — in the place where they can receive the nourishment they need to flourish. Like a tree planted in a conservatory, well watered and provided with a protective climate, the leaves of this tree never wither, and it is able to remain consistently fruitful.

Whatever he does prospers. At the end the description shifts over to express more directly the consequence of faithfulness for the human being who delights in Yahweh’s torah. Like the well- watered tree, such a one rooted in the life- giving water of God’s torah will know fruitfulness. The term translated “prospers” here has more the sense of “be successful, bring to a successful conclusion.” Like the tree, the work of one who is rooted and grounded in God’s guiding Word is also fruitful.

Chaff that the wind blows away. By studied contrast, those who have rooted themselves in evil and have drawn their nourishment and delight from their association with the wicked will dry up and blow away. While the rooted and watered tree exudes an aura of endurance and stability, the unnourished wicked have no permanence. In the process of winnowing, the lightweight and useless chaff — the husk of grain that has been loosened from the kernel by beating — is swept away when the prepared grain is tossed into a strong wind, allowing the heavier seed to fall to the ground to be gathered. The contrast is acute:between fruitful tree and useless chaff; between well- watered stability and dry, dusty, windblown impermanence.

 

Ultimate Consequences (1:5 – 6)

 

How one lives and where one takes a stand has life- shaping consequences. The final set of comparisons sets out the contrasting ways and consequent result of the lives of the righteous and the wicked. The use of “two ways” — of righteousness and wickedness, wisdom and folly — is a characteristic teaching tool of biblical wisdom. Such a contrast provides readers with both positive and negative examples for life. This is the reason that so much of the proverbial literature (esp. that in Prov. 10 – 31) employs the poetic form of opposing parallelism.

The appearance in these verses of words and ideas from the opening verse suggests the psalmist is intentionally balancing the beginning admonition with this concluding one. Verse 1 cautions the reader to beware of seeking and accepting the influence of three categories of persons — the “wicked,” the “sinners,” and the “mockers” — or of taking up residence there. Here the two most general of these categories — the “wicked” and “sinners” — return as examples of those who will be unable to “stand” in the final judgment. Nor will these guilty ones be able to associate with the assembly of those who are declared “righteous” (1:5 b baʿadat ṣaddiqim; cf. 1:1 b baʿaṣat rešaʿim) in that same judgment. The similar wording is intended to drive home the fact that the one who enjoys the “counsel of the wicked” will ultimately be cut off from any association with the “assembly of the righteous.”

The way of the righteous. The “way” (derek) of a person is a chosen life path that, if left unchanged, determines one’s ultimate goal. Biblical wisdom literature often contrasts the way of the righteous and the wicked (wise and fool) as a way of demonstrating the consequences of evil and encouraging righteousness (cf., e. g., Prov. 10:9, 16, 24; 15:19, 24, 26, 29; 16:4, 7, 17, 25). Here at the end of Psalm 1, the reader is presented with a choice:the way of righteousness that God oversees or the way of wickedness that will ultimately perish. The verb that the niv translates “watches over” is ydʿ (“know”). Knowing in Hebrew understanding is not simply intellectual knowledge of information about something or someone. Rather, knowledge is the end result of experience and relationship. Thus, the “way of the righteous” is one that God knows well from experience because he has traveled it before and knows all its twists and turns. He is the great pathfinder who has blazed the safe and secure trail for those who come behind. By contrast, the way of the wicked seeks to explore territory in which God is absent and consequently will lead to separation from God and destruction.

 

Bridging Contexts: It goes without saying that in these explanatory sections of the commentary, we cannot expound exhaustively every facet of each psalm. This is both the frustration and the beauty of the psalms and of Scripture as a whole:One never reaches the bottom of the well from which God’s life- giving water flows. There are always new insights to be gained, new moments of understanding to be experienced every time you read the psalms with an open heart and mind. Thus, in these sections of the commentary I will be dealing with certain insights and issues that seem to me most important for understanding how these ancient works make contact with our contemporary lives — how we can gain access to the guidance for life that God has chosen to reveal to us through these originally Hebrew words from a distant and now- extinct culture.

Psalm 1 introduces the Psalter. In the case of Psalm 1, perhaps the most important insight is for us to understand the role of this composition as an introduction to the whole Psalter. This function is the least understood among most general and even advanced students of the psalms. The fact of Psalm 1 as an individual composition is fairly straightforwardly apparent, but what does it mean to read this psalm as introduction to the book that follows? How might this understanding transform the way we read, understand, and appropriate the Psalms as a whole?

Meditation. A true approach to the psalms involves continual, long- term meditation on and study of these compositions. The wisdom nature of Psalm 1 encourages us to read the term torah (“law”) in the more general sense of “guidelines, instruction” — a meaning that incorporates the psalms (and indeed the whole of Scripture) as God’s revelation of his will and purpose for our lives. The psalms are no longer just songs to be sung in worship or even heartfelt prayers with which we resonate emotionally in our own heart. Even more, they are a source of God’s word to us — a word that must be considered carefully and incorporated daily into the very fabric of our lives. Beyond being models for our own prayers to God, the psalms, when meditated upon, become texts in which God speaks to us in all parts of our being:body, soul, mind, and spirit.

Close and enduring association. Kathleen Norris recounts how during a month- long retreat among Trappist monastics the daily recitation of the psalms began to reshape and restructure her spiritual understanding and priorities for life. Such an extended encounter with the depths of praise, lament, thanksgiving, and a myriad of other moments of life poured out before God can have the (intended) effect of challenging our often simplistic understanding of life and faith, tearing us down and rebuilding us from the ground up to be more in the image of the God who made us. There is something about reading the psalms from the beginning of the Psalter to the end, day after day, that does not allow us to master them — picking and choosing what suits us, shaping them to our will, fitting them to our perceived needs and moods. Instead, such daily and continuing familiarity with these texts — more than any other, I believe — ultimately masters us and shapes us to the will of God in ways we can hardly anticipate. That is the fearsome challenge of the psalms:In exposing ourselves to them for the long term, we discover that God knows us and our “way” far better than we know ourselves.

A matter of life and death. The “way” of the psalms is a path to life that is “known” by God himself (1:6). When we immerse ourselves in the world of the psalms and make it our own, we are following the path that God himself took, the path he took in Jesus — a path of suffering and hurt; rejection and abandonment; deliverance, salvation, exaltation, and great joy. Together the psalms lead us on the path of real life — not the pallid substitutes for life we sometimes construct for ourselves where everything is hermetically sealed, sterile, and safe.

The life of the psalms is messy life where pain and joy, self- knowledge and self- doubt, love and hatred, trust and suspicion break in upon one another, overlapping and competing for our attention. It is a life in which we have real choices on a daily basis between life and death. It is the life that still lives both outside and inside our windows — if we allow ourselves to admit it — and the psalms will never allow us to forget it.

And in these psalms this messy life — this real life — is constantly brought before God as our own messiness ought to be, before it is cleaned up and sanitized. God wants us to bring all of life before him as the psalmists do rather than just the parts we consider acceptable. How else can God’s healing, revealing, confronting, forgiving love penetrate to the darkest corners of our secret places unless we open the door to let in the light?

On avoiding association with evil. Psalm 1 makes it clear that the “way” God knows is not discovered by following the footsteps or taking up residence in the company of sinners. Just who are these wicked ones we are encouraged to avoid? A variety of studies have been made of the “enemies” who appear in the psalms. Most often the enemies confronted there fall into one of three broad categories:(1) pagan unbelievers hostile to the faith and Yahweh, (2) members of the faith community who nevertheless live contrary lives, and (3) those within the faith community who misguidedly attack what they see as the faithless living of the psalmists.

As Christians whose community of faith cuts across boundaries of nationality and ethnicity, we must find new ways of understanding those references to the national enemies of Israel. Our kingdom — the kingdom of God that Jesus says is not of this world — can never be equated with any particular nation of the world, regardless how tempted we are to do so. Perhaps the best response to these national enemies is to relate them in our experience to the enemies of the kingdom of God — those who stand outside the faith and seek to tear it down, or those who in all they say and do stand directly opposed to the world- shaping principles of love, forgiveness, and the absolute dependence on God that Jesus calls citizens of God’s kingdom to display.

The wicked in the psalms are more than just national enemies. Many are clearly influential members of the psalmist’s society who use their influence and power for evil, oppressing those who are less powerful and exploiting them for personal gain. The collective voice of the psalmists calls the readers /hearers to take their stand with the oppressed, afflicted, and poor — and over against those who abuse power and pervert justice.

The psalmists’ treatment of the enemies is often harsh. Frequently they envision (and even desire) for the wicked complete rejection by God and total destruction. Such attitudes can leave us troubled when we remember Jesus’ encouragement to love our enemies and pray for rather than against them. Jesus himself was condemned for associating with sinners. How then can we justify the kind of separation Psalm 1 seems to enjoin? Two responses may help to set this question in its proper perspective.

(1) The psalmists are only too aware how narrow a line separates them from the wicked. While they may at points come across as very sure of their righteousness (e. g., Pss. 17; 26), they are also fully aware of their own sinfulness and how easy it would be to adopt the callous attitude and lifestyle of the wicked (cf. Pss. 32; 38; esp. 73). When Jesus’ association with sinners is questioned, he responds to his critics somewhat cryptically:“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.... For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matt. 9:12 – 13). The less than immediately obvious point of this retort is that the Pharisees themselves were sinners in need of the saving grace extended by Jesus to all those who acknowledged their sin. He was not implying that the Pharisees had no need of him, but rather that they needed to recognize their essential identity with the sinners they so strongly condemned. The psalmists are deeply aware of their need of God’s grace and the redeeming power of his forgiveness (cf. Pss. 32; 103).

(2) It is important to note that what Psalm 1 cautions against is adopting the attitude and lifestyle of the wicked, not some casual contact with them or especially not the kind of redemptive association that Jesus modeled. The warning is against taking the “way” or path of the wicked, standing with them, and ultimately taking up residence in their territory. The kind of association with unbelievers Jesus models is an essential part of our redemptive role as bearers of good news and witnesses to the transforming power of Jesus Christ in our own lives.

 

Contemporary Significance: Delighting in the Torah of Yahweh. If we truly wish to follow the “way” that God knows rather than a path that leads to destruction, how do we set about finding it? In the New Testament, toward the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warns his hearers, in words similar to the conclusion of Psalm 1, that entering the kingdom of heaven is like choosing between a broad, well- trodden roadway and a barely distinguishable footpath. The incentive to find and take the narrow path is that it leads ultimately to life, while the broad and easy road ends in destruction (Matt. 7:13 – 14). But how does one find this path of life in order to enter it? And once on the road, what map ensures we won’t get lost?

Jesus’ response to such questions comes at the end of his sermon when he introduces the story of the wise and foolish house builders. The wise builder built on a rock- solid foundation so that his house continued to stand in the face of the storms and floods of life. The fool, by contrast, took the easy way and built on the shifting sands. His house suffered complete collapse when the storms blew and the floods rose (Matt. 7:24 – 27). The only difference between the two, Jesus says, is their attention and response to his teaching. The former both heard and put into practice what Jesus taught. The latter failed to listen deeply or else refused to act altogether.

Psalm 1 offers the same warning:Hear and do. Delight in the torah, meditate on it, and act. Let what you hear, read, and study so permeate your being that your life takes up residence on the path that God knows and exudes a character that sets it clearly apart from the wicked, sinners, and mockers of verse 1. Such a person is truly “blessed.” Jesus describes the characteristics of the “blessed” in the Beatitudes at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:3 – 10). Taken together, these blessings set the citizen of God’s kingdom clearly apart from those who refuse to follow Christ along that path. The Beatitudes are not rules to be followed but characteristics growing in those who have bound their lives to Jesus Christ and have planted their roots deep in the stream of life that flows out from his words, life, and person.

In Psalm 1, the blessed one will send down roots deeply into the stream of life that flows out of God’s torah — his teaching and guidelines. These teachings cannot be confined to the laws of the Pentateuch but refer to the picture anywhere in Scripture of faithful living, miraculously lived by persons of little faith empowered by God when they heard and obeyed what he said. The psalmists are just such people who have their roots planted deep in the streams of God’s Word. They listen carefully, and they act out of what they hear. That is why their words of faith — sometimes anguished, often angry, deeply questioning, but always honest and coupled with an abiding sense of confidence and even joy — can be God’s words to us, guiding us, challenging us, shaping us, leading us. If only we will listen and obey.

Meditating day and night. How do we meditate “day and night” on God’s torah? Most of us have enough difficulty just establishing a daily routine of Bible study that marks our day. Who can give over the whole of each day to such study? Even the Essenes of Qumran, who took this responsibility seriously, established a rotation of interpreters to study and expound torah twenty- four hours a day, realizing that no one person could hope to accomplish the task.

Surely this is metaphorical language, but is it only hyperbole? Or is there some important truth behind it? Brother Lawrence, in his powerful little book Practicing the Presence of God, maintains that it is possible to call God and his guiding word to mind constantly throughout the hours of the day and even in the midst of the most mundane and distracting labors of life. By consciously dedicating each task to the service of God and our fellows, it is possible to make even the most unpleasant job a meditation on the grace and purpose of our God.

Some have encouraged the use of breath prayers — brief prayers repeated throughout the day whenever the person becomes aware of his or her breathing. Others have set their watch alarms to sound at regular intervals to remind them to be aware of God and his will and purpose in their lives. On television recently I heard the commentators at a golf tournament remarking on the WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) bracelet one of the top contenders was wearing.

These and other simple mechanisms can serve to remind us that there is — as Psalm 139 so beautifully affirms — no place in life where God is not already present before us and with us. Knowing this, we need only remind ourselves (as in the previous examples) to be aware of God, or, in the words of the step 11 of Alcoholics Anonymous, to seek “through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God....”

The psalms can and should be a part of the constant practice of the presence of God. Regularly read from beginning to end, they lead us again and again to consider aspects of life and of God’s will that we might not otherwise choose to remember or confront — let alone to embody in our living. Memorized in chunks the psalms can provide ready response to the pressing realities of our days. When I have wakened in a panic in the darkness of the early morning hours — submerged in fear, self- pity, or self- doubt — the psalms have often provided the assurance that my anxieties are known by God, who enlightens my dark places. So, I encourage you to make the psalms your constant companion. Keep a copy at hand, and keep their words in your mind and heart and on your lips as you meet the challenges of your days and nights.

Planted by streams of water. When we meditate on and memorize the psalms, we are planting our roots deeply into the life- giving water of God’s Word. This is the same “living water” that Jesus offers to the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4). As the woman learned when she accepted that gift, the water of God’s Word reveals our innermost contradictions and points up our need for restoration (4:15 – 18). Also, the living water is not easily distracted by theological quibbling but cuts immediately to the quick (the “life”) of every matter.

The power of the psalms is not that they present us with a neat, theologically consistent package we can assent to (or reject!) intellectually. Instead, they confront us with the messiness and conflict of the life of faith lived out in the real word of body, mind, and spirit. In so doing they allow God’s Word to penetrate deeply to “dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow,” laying bare our inward contradictions, yet at the same time encouraging us to “approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Heb. 4:12 – 16).