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1. Psalms 1
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Psalms 1
Contents: The two ways of man.
Characters: God, righteous man, ungodly man.
Conclusion: Blessed is the man whose footsteps are ordered by
the Word of God for he shall find both peace and prosperity. Those
who are without God are being hurried to a terrible doom.
Key Word: Godly and ungodly, Psa 1:1, Psa 1:4.
Strong Verses: Psa 1:2, Psa 1:3.
Striking Facts: Our Lord Jesus was the typical “blessed man”
who delighted to do the Father’s will.
Psalms 1
Title - This Psalm may be regarded as The Preface Psalm, having
in it a notification of the contents of the entire Book. It is the
psalmist's desire to teach us the way to blessedness, and to warn
us of the sure destruction of sinners. This then, is the matter of
the Psa 1:1-6, which may be looked upon, in some respects, as
the text upon which the whole of the Psalms make up a divine
sermon.
Division - This Psalm consists of two parts: in the first (from Psa
1:1 to the end of the Psa 1:3) David sets out wherein the felicity
and blessedness of a godly man consisteth, what his exercises
are, and what blessings he shall receive from the Lord. In the
second part (from Psa 1:4 to the end) he contrasts the state and
character of the ungodly, reveals the future, and describes, in
telling language, his ultimate doom.
Hints to Preachers
Psa 1:1 - May furnish an excellent text upon “Progress in Sin,”
of “The Purity of the Christian,” or “The Blessedness of the
Righteous.” Upon the last subject speak of the believer as blessed
1. By God;
2. In Christ;
3. With all blessings;
4. In all circumstances;
5. Through time and eternity;
6. To the highest degree.

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Psa 1:1 - Teaches a godly man to beware,
(1) of the opinions,
(2) of the practical life, and
(3) of the company and association of sinful men.
Show how meditation upon the Word will assist us in keeping
aloof from these three evils.
The insinuating and progressive nature of sin. - J. Morison.
Psa 1:1, in connection with the whole Psalm. The wide difference
between the righteous and the wicked.
Psa 1:2 - The Word of God.
1. The believer's delight in it.
2. The believer's acquaintance with it.
We long to be in the company of those we love.
Psa 1:2
I. What is meant by “the law of the Lord.”
II. What there is in it for the believer to delight in.
III. How he shows his delight, thinks of it, reads much, speaks
of it, obeys it, does not delight in evil.
Psa 1:2 (last clause) - The benefits, helps, and hindrances of
meditation.
Psa 1:3 - “The fruitful tree.”
I. Where it grows.
II. How it came there.
III. What it yields,
IV. How to be like it.
Psa 1:3 - “Planted by the rivers of water.”
I. The origination of Christian life,“planted.”
II. The streams which support it.
III. The fruit expected from it.
Psa 1:3 - Influence of religion upon prosperity - Blair.

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The nature, causes, signs, and results of true prosperity.
“Fruit in his season;” virtues to be exhibited at certain seasons -
patience in affliction; gratitude in prosperity; zeal in opportunity,
etc.
“His leaf also shall not wither;” the blessing of retaining an
unwithered profession.
Psa 1:3, Psa 1:4 - See No. 280 of “Spurgeon's Sermons.” - “The
Chaff Driven Away.” Sin puts a negative on every blessing.
Psa 1:5 - The sinner's double doom.
1. Condemned at the judgment-bar.
2. Separated from the saints. Reasonableness of these
penalties, “therefore,” and the way to escape them.
“The congregation of the righteous” viewed as the church of the
first-born above. This may furnish a noble topic.
Psa 1:6 (first sentence) - A sweet encouragement to the tried
people of God. The knowledge here meant.
1. Its character. - It is a knowledge of observation ands
approbation.
2. Its source. - It is caused by omniscience and infinite love.
3. Its results. - Support, deliverance, acceptance, and glory at
last.
Psa 1:6 (last clause) - His way of pleasure, of pride, of unbelief,
of profanity, of persecution, of procrastinating, of self-deception,
etc.; all these shall come to an end.
Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings
Whole Psalm
As the book of the Canticles is called the Song of Songs by a
Hebraism, it being the most excellent, so this Psalm may not
unfitly be entitled, the Psalm of Psalms, for it contains in it the
very pith and quintessence of Christianity. What Jerome saith on
St. Paul's epistles, the same may I say of this Psalm; it is short

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as to the composure, but full of length and strength as to the
matter. This Psalm carries blessedness in the frontispiece; it
begins where we all hope to end: it may well be called a
Christian's Guide, for it discovers the quick-sands where the
wicked sink down in perdition, and the firm ground on which the
saints tread to glory. - Thomas Watson's Saints' Spiritual Delight,
1660.
This whole Psalm offers itself to be drawn into these two opposite
propositions: a godly man is blessed, a wicked man is miserable;
which seem to stud as two challenges, made by the prophet: one,
that he will maintain a godly man against all comers, to be the
only Jason for winning the golden fleece of blessedness; the
other, that albeit the ungodly make a show in the world of being
happy, yet they of all men are most miserable. - Sir Richard
Baker, 1640.
I have been induced to embrace the opinion of some among the
ancient interpreters (Augustine, Jerome, etc.), who conceive that
the Psa 1:1-6is intended to be descriptive of the character and
reward of the Just One, i.e the Lord Jesus. - John Fry, B.A., 1842.
Psalms 1
INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 1
This psalm, though without a title, may reasonably be thought to
be a psalm of David; since the next psalm, which is also without
a title, is ascribed to him, Act 4:25; and since both are joined
together as one psalm by the Jews1
; See Gill on Act 13:33; and
since this is the general preface to the whole book, which is chiefly
of David's penning, it is entitled, in the metaphrase of
Apollinarius,
"a Song of David, the Prophet and King.''
Psalms 1
(Psa 1:1-3) The holiness and happiness of a godly man.
(Psa 1:4-6) The sinfulness and misery of a wicked man, The
1
(k) T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 9. 2.

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ground and reason of both.
Psalms 1
This is a psalm of instruction concerning good and evil, setting
before us life and death, the blessing and the curse, that we may
take the right way which leads to happiness and avoid that which
will certainly end in our misery and ruin. The different character
and condition of godly people and wicked people, those that serve
God and those that serve him not, is here plainly stated in a few
words; so that every man, if he will be faithful to himself, may
here see his own face and then read his own doom. That division
of the children of men into saints and sinners, righteous and
unrighteous, the children of God and the children of the wicked
one, as it is ancient, ever since the struggle began between sin
and grace, the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent,
so it is lasting, and will survive all other divisions and subdivisions
of men into high and low, rich and poor, bond and free; for by
this men's everlasting state will be determined, and the
distinction will last as long as heaven and hell. This psalm shows
us, I. The holiness and happiness of a godly man (Psa 1:1-3). II.
The sinfulness and misery of a wicked man (Psa 1:4, Psa 1:5).
III. The ground and reason of both (Psa 1:6). Whoever collected
the psalms of David (probably it was Ezra) with good reason put
this psalm first, as a preface to the rest, because it is absolutely
necessary to the acceptance of our devotions that we be righteous
before God (for it is only the prayer of the upright that is his
delight), and therefore that we be right in our notions of
blessedness and in our choice of the way that leads to it. Those
are not fit to put up good prayers who do not walk in good ways.
Psalms 1
The Radically Distinct Lot of the Pious and the Ungodly
The collection of the Psalms and that of the prophecies of Isaiah
resemble one another in the fact, that the one begins with a
discourse that bears no superscription, and the other with a Psalm
of the same character; and these form the prologues to the two
collections. From Act 13:33, where the words: Thou art My Son...
are quoted as being found ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ ψαλμῷ, we see that in

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early times Psa 1:1-6 was regarded as the prologue to the
collection. The reading ἐν τῷ ψαλμῷ τῷ δευτέρῳ, rejected by
Griesbach, is an old correction. But this way of numbering the
Psalms is based upon tradition. A scholium from Origen and
Eusebius says of Psa 1:1-6 and Psa 2:1-12 : ἐν τῷ Ἑβραΐκῷ
συνημμένοι, and just so Apollinaris:
Ἐπιγραφῆς ὁ ψαλμὸς εὑρέθη δίχα
Ἡνωμένος δὲ τοῖς παῤ Ἑβραίοις στίχοις.
For it is an old Jewish way of looking at it, as Albertus Magnus
observes: Psalmus primus incipit a beatitudine et terminatur a
beatitudine, i.e., it begins with ‫אׁש‬
‫רי‬ Psa 1:1 and ends with ‫אׁש‬
‫רי‬
Psa 2:12, so that consequently Psa 1:1-6 and Psa 2:1-12, as is
said in B. Berachoth 9b (cf. Jer. Taanith ii. 2), form one Psalm
( ‫חדא‬
‫פרׁש‬
‫ה‬ ). As regards the subject-matter this is certainly not so.
It is true Psa 1:1-6 and Psa 2:1-12 coincide in some respects (in
the former ‫יהגה‬, in the latter ‫;יהגו‬ in the former ‫תאבד‬...‫ודרך‬, in the
latter ‫ותאכדו‬
‫דוך‬ ; in the former ‫אׁש‬
‫רי‬ at the beginning, in the latter,
at the end), but these coincidences of phraseology are not
sufficient to justify the conclusion of unity of authorship (Hitz.),
much less that the two Psalms are so intimately connected as to
form one whole. These two anonymous hymns are only so far
related, as that the one is adapted to form the proaemium of the
Psalter from its ethical, the other from its prophetic character.
The question, however, arises whether this was in the mind of the
collector. Perhaps Psa 2:1-12 is only attached to Psa 1:1-6 on
account of those coincidences; Psa 1:1-6 being the proper
prologue of the Psalter in its pentateuchal arrangement after the
pattern of the Tôra. For the Psalter is the Yea and Amen in the
form of hymns to the word of God given in the Tôra. Therefore it
begins with a Psalm which contrasts the lot of him who loves the
Tôra with the lot of the ungodly, - an echo of that exhortation,
Jos 1:8, in which, after the death of Moses, Jahve charges his
successor Joshua to do all that is written in the book of the Tôra.
As the New Testament sermon on the Mount, as a sermon on the
spiritualized Law, begins with maka'rioi, so the Old Testament
Psalter, directed entirely to the application of the Law to the inner
life, begins with ‫אׁש‬
‫רי‬ . The First book of the Psalms begins with

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two ‫אׁש‬
‫רי‬ Psa 1:1; Psa 2:12, and closes with two ‫אׁש‬
‫רי‬ Psa 40:5;
Psa 41:2. A number of Psalms begin with ‫אׁש‬
‫רי‬ , Psa 32:1-11; Psa
41:1-13; Psa 112:1-10; Ps 119; Psa 128:1-6; but we must not
therefore suppose the existence of a special kind of ashrê-psalms;
for, e.g., Psa 32:1-11 is a ‫מׂש‬
‫יל‬ , Psa 112:1-10 a Hallelujah, Psa
128:1-6 a ‫ׁש‬
‫יר‬
‫המעלות‬ .
As regards the time of the composition of the Psalm, we do not
wish to lay any stress on the fact that 2Ch 22:5 sounds like an
allusion to it. But 1st, it is earlier than the time of Jeremiah; for
Jeremiah was acquainted with it. The words of curse and blessing,
Jer 17:5-8, are like an expository and embellished paraphrase of
it. It is customary with Jeremiah to reproduce the prophecies of
his predecessors, and more especially the words of the Psalms,
in the flow of his discourse and to transform their style to his own.
In the present instance the following circumstance also favours
the priority of the Psalm: Jeremiah refers the curse corresponding
to the blessing to Jehoiakim and thus applies the Psalm to the
history of his own times. It is 2ndly, not earlier than the time of
Solomon. For ‫ל‬
‫ים‬ ִ‫צ‬ occurring only here in the whole Psalter, a word
which came into use, for the unbelievers, in the time of the
Chokma (vid., the definition of the word, Pro 21:24), points us to
the time of Solomon and onwards. But since it contains no
indications of contemporary history whatever, we give up the
attempt to define more minutely the date of its composition, and
say with St. Columba (against the reference of the Psalm to Joash
the protegé of Jehoiada, which some incline to): Non audiendi
sunt hi, qui ad excludendam Psalmorum veram expositionem
falsas similitudines ab historia petitas conantur inducere.2
Psalms 1
The first psalm has no title prefixed to it, which is the case, also,
with many others, Ps. 10; Ps. 116; Psa 117:1-2, and others. It is
now in vain to attempt to search for the cause of this omission.
2
(Note: Vid., Zeuss, Grammatica Celtica (1853) ii. 1065. The Commentary of Columba on the
Psalms, with Irish explanations, and coming from the monastery of Bobbio, is among the
treasures of the Ambrosiana.)

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On the origin and authority of the titles prefixed to the Psalms,
see the introduction, Section 4. Some have supposed that the
reason why no title was affixed to this psalm was that the general
title, “The Psalms of David,” was prefixed to the whole book, and
that that was a sufficient indication of the author of this the first
in the series. But this is mere conjecture, and this reason would
no more make proper the omission of the title to the first psalm
than of any other that came under that general title. In some
manuscripts (2 codices of Rossi) this psalm is not numbered; in
some others (4 codices of Kennicott, and 3 codices of Rossi) it is
united with the second psalm, and the two are reckoned as one.
It is, however, manifestly a distinct composition from the second
psalm. It has a unity of its own, as the second has also; and there
are almost no two psalms in the whole collection which might not
be united with as much propriety as these. It is impossible now
to ascertain the authorship of the psalm, though the common
opinion is probably the correct one, that it was composed by
David. But on what occasion it was written it is now equally
impossible to discover. There are no historical allusions in it which
would enable us to determine the occasion on which it was
written, as there is nothing in it which certainly determines its
authorship. The terms employed are of the most general
character, and the sentiments are applicable to all times and all
lands. It has all the marks of being a general introduction to the
Book of Psalms, and of having been designed to express in a few
sentences the substance of the entire collection, or to state the
great principle which would be found to run through the whole of
it - that a righteous life will be attended with prosperity and
happiness, and that the life of the wicked will be followed by
sorrow and ruin. This was the great principle of the Jewish
theocracy; and was of sufficient importance to be stated clearly
in the commencement of a book that was designed to illustrate
so fully the nature and the value of true religion. Compare Deut.
27–28.
The psalm is designed to describe the blessedness or the
happiness of the righteous man. This is done “literally and

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figuratively, positively and negatively, directly and by contrast,
with respect both to his character and his condition here and
hereafter.” - Prof. Alexander. It is not, however, as Prof.
Alexander supposes, a “picture of the truly happy man;” it is a
description of the blessedness of the righteous man, in contrast
with the condition of the unrighteous. The righteous man is
indeed prosperous and happy; and it is one design of the psalm
to show this. But it is not the happy man, as such, that is in the
eye of the psalmist; it is the righteous man, and the blessedness
of being righteous.
The psalm is properly made up of two parts - the blessedness of
the righteous man, and the unblessedness, or, the German word,
“ungluck” (DeWette), of the wicked or ungodly man.
I. The blessedness of the righteous man, Psa 1:1-3. This
consists also of two minor parts:
(1) His character Psa 1:1-2, and this is described also in
two forms - negatively and positively.
(a) Negatively. He does not walk in the counsel of the
ungodly, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the
seat of the scornful, Psa 1:1.
(b) Positively. He delights in the law of the Lord, and he
has pleasure in meditating continually on his truth, Psa
1:2.
(2) his prosperity, as the result of being righteous, Psa 1:3.
His condition is compared with that of a tree planted in a
well-watered place, whose leaves are always green, and
whose fruit never fails; so whatever he does shall prosper.
II. The condition of the unrighteous, or the strong contrast
between the unrighteous and the righteous, Psa 1:4-6. Their
condition and destiny are expressed in three forms:
(1) They are like chaff which the wind drives away, Psa 1:4.
(2) They shall not be acquitted in the judgment, nor have
a place among the righteous, Psa 1:5.
(3) They shall not be approved by God, but shall perish, Psa
1:6.

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Psalms 1
A.M. 2957. — B.C. 1047.
This Psalm was put first as a preface to all the rest, as a short
summary of the whole book, and a powerful persuasive to the
study of it, and of the rest of the Holy Scriptures, taken from the
blessedness which attends upon the study and practice of them.
The subject of it is the difference of pious and ungodly men, both
in this life and in that which is to come. It is not certain who was
the author of it, but probably either the collector of this book of
Psalms, or David himself, as Apollinarius and others think. We
have here the holiness and happiness of a good man, Psa 1:1-3;
the sinfulness and misery of a wicked man, Psa 1:4, Psa 1:5; the
ground and reason of both, Psa 1:6.
Psalms 1
This Psalm is the development in poetical language and imagery
of the thought repeated in so many forms in the Book of Proverbs
(e.g. Pro 2:21-22), that it is well with the righteous and ill with
the wicked. The belief in Jehovah’s righteous government of the
world was a fundamental principle of Old Testament religion, and
it is here asserted without any of those doubts and questionings
which disturbed the minds of many Psalmists and Prophets,
especially in the later stages of Old Testament revelation.
The Psalm forms an appropriate prologue to the Psalter, which
records the manifold experiences of the godly. For it affirms the
truth to which they clung, in spite of all appearances to the
contrary, in spite of the sufferings of the righteous and the
triumphs of the wicked, that the only sure and lasting happiness
for man is to be found in fellowship with God.
The Psalm expresses a general truth, and does not appear to refer
to any particular person or occasion. Hence date and authorship
must remain uncertain. Some (without good reason) have
assigned it to David, during his persecution by Saul, or during
Absalom’s rebellion: Dean (now Bp.) Perowne conjectures that it
may have been written by Solomon as an introduction to a
collection of David’s poems: Prof. Cheyne thinks that it was a
product of the fresh enthusiasm for the study of the Law in the

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time of Ezra.
Two considerations however limit the period to which it may be
assigned.
(1) It is earlier than Jeremiah, who paraphrases and expands part
of it in ch. Psa 17:5-8 with reference to Jehoiakim or Jehoiachin.
(2) The most striking parallels in thought and language are to be
found in the middle section of the Book of Proverbs (10–24),
which dates from a comparatively early period in the history of
Judah, if not from the reign of Solomon himself. The ‘scorner’ is
a character hardly mentioned outside of the Book of Proverbs:
the contrast of the righteous and the wicked, and the belief that
prosperity is the reward of piety, and adversity of ungodliness,
are especially conspicuous in the middle section of that book: and
further striking coincidences in detail of thought and language will
easily be found.
The absence of a title distinguishes it from the mass of Psalms in
Book I., and points to its having been derived from a different
source. It may have been composed or selected as a preface to
the original ‘Davidic’ collection (Introd. p. lviii), or, though this is
less probable, placed here by the final editor of the Psalter.
The Psalm consists of two equal divisions:
i. The enduring prosperity of the righteous (Psa 1:1-3),
ii. contrasted with the speedy ruin of the wicked (Psa 1:4-6).
Observe the affinity of this Psalm to 26; and still more to 112,
which celebrates the blessedness of the righteous, and begins and
ends with the same words (Blessed … perish): and contrast with
its simple confidence the questionings of 37 and 73, in which the
problem of the prosperity of the wicked is treated as a trial of
faith.
Psalms 1
The blessedness of the righteous shown, in his avoiding every
appearance of evil, Psa 1:1. In his godly use of the law of the
Lord, Psa 1:2 This farther pointed out under the metaphor of a
good tree planted in a good well-watered soil, Psa 1:3. The
opposite state of the ungodly pointed out, under the metaphor of
chaff driven away by the wind, Psa 1:4. The miserableness of
sinners, and the final happiness of the godly, Psa 1:5, Psa 1:6.

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Psalms 1
Psalm 1 is a fitting introduction for the Psalter in that it
summarizes the two ways open to mankind, the way of the
righteous and the way of the wicked. It may be classified as a
wisdom psalm because of its emphasis on these two ways of life,
the use of the similes, the announcement of blessing, and the
centrality of the Law for fulfillment in life. The motifs in this psalm
recur again and again throughout the collection.
The psalm describes the blessed man who leads an untarnished
and prosperous life in accord with the Word of the Lord, and
contrasts him with the ungodly who shall perish.3
Psalms 1
Ps 1:1–6. The character and condition, and the present and
future destiny, of the pious and the wicked are described and
contrasted, teaching that true piety is the source of ultimate
happiness, and sin of misery. As this is a summary of the
teachings of the whole book, this Psalm, whether designedly so
placed or not, forms a suitable preface.4
Psalms 1
Two Ways of Life
A wisdom psalm
Psalm 1 gives a simple but comprehensive description of the
state of the world’s beginning from the time of God’s curse upon
Adam’s sin. The godly seed of the woman is always confronted
with the ways of the ungodly seed of Satan, the serpent, or snake.
The entire world is on the way to the Last Judgment, but the
righteous person will stand and be approved (1:6) by God. “The
joys” (1:1) can be literally rendered “happy.” The verbs “follow,”
“stand,” and “join” (1:1) describe the successive steps of a
3
John F. Walvoord, Roy B. Zuck and Dallas Theological Seminary, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of
the Scriptures (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1983-c1985), 1:790.
4
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, A. R. Fausset et al., A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New
Testaments, On Spine: Critical and Explanatory Commentary. (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997),
Ps 1:1.

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person’s involvement with evil. The Hebrew word translated
“think” (1:2) can also be used for the growling of a lion over its
prey. This suggests that thinking, or meditation, is a vocal, not
just a mental, activity. The biblical concept of meditation involves
a thoughtful and reflective recitation of the Word of God. Wisdom
psalms are noted for contrasting the ways of the righteous with
the ways of the wicked. This psalm presents two contrasting ways
of life and the two contrasting destinies that go along with them.
This contrast sets the context for all the psalms that follow. What
is “good” in a person’s life is not relative to personal pain or
pleasure. It is relative only to what God thinks about that life.5
Psalms 1
The opening psalm manifests its close contacts with the wisdom
tradition (→ Wisdom). The opening phrase, “Happy that one,”
occurs frequently in Proverbs within the context of reward and
punishment (e.g., Prov. 28:14); other statements about
meditating upon the law day and night are found in Josh. 1:8;
and the sequence of “walk, stand and sit (or abide)” in Ps. 1:1
recalls the exhortation in Deut. 6:4-9. A comparison may be
made with Jer. 15:5-8. Yet Psalm 1 is less tragic in tone than
Jeremiah, less legal and ritual than Deuteronomy, and closest of
all to wisdom literature. Psalm 1 presumes a body of instruction
upon which to meditate. It reflects a person of experience, totally
dedicated to the traditions of Israel. The psalm can be divided
into vv. 1-3, the way of the righteous; vv. 4-5, the way of the
rebellious; and v. 6, conclusion.
Verses 1-3 move from the past tense, where one has taken a
clear position with Yahweh (v. 1), to a present tense of
satisfaction (v. 2), to a hope for a happy future (v. 3). The Hebrew
term derek, “way,” indicates the conduct of individuals (Ps. 37:5-
5
Robert B. Hughes, J. Carl Laney and Robert B. Hughes, Tyndale Concise Bible Commentary, Rev. Ed. of: New Bible
Companion. 1990.; Includes Index., The Tyndale reference library (Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001),
208.
vv. verses
v. verse

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7) or of all Israel (Isa. 40:3), a way mysteriously directed by God,
yet clear in its moral expectations.
Some interpreters discern anticipation of reward and
punishment beyond the grave here: v. 3 may refer to the tree as
“transplanted” beyond the present conditions of earth; v. 5
employs a definite article with judgment, possibly foreseeing a
final reckoning. Early Christian writers interpreted the tree as the
cross and the life-giving water as baptism.6
Psalms 1
The Way of the Righteous
A righteous person rejects the lifestyle of the wicked (1:1) to find
delight in God’s Law (v. 2), a choice which yields stability and
prosperity (v. 3). The wicked are vulnerable to destruction (vv.
4–6), for God supervises the outcome of man’s moral choices.
Key concepts. Blessing Deuteronomy 11. Sin Genesis 13-14.7
Psalms 1
The Radically Distinct Lot of the Pious and the Ungodly
The collection of the Psalms and that of the prophecies of Isaiah
resemble one another in the fact, that the one begins with a
discourse that bears no superscription, and the other with a Psalm
of the same character; and these form the prologues to the two
collections. From Acts 13:33, where the words: Thou art My
Son... are quoted as being found ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ ψαλμῷ, we see
that in early times Ps. 1 was regarded as the prologue to the
collection. The reading ἐν τῷ ψαλμῷ τῷ δευτέρῳ, rejected by
Griesbach, is an old correction. But this way of numbering the
Psalms is based upon tradition. A scholium from Origen and
Eusebius says of Ps. 1 and 2: ἐν τῷἙβραϊκῷ συνημμένοι, and just
so Apollinaris:
6
James Luther Mays, Publishers Harper & Row and Society of Biblical Literature, Harper's Bible Commentary (San
Francisco: Harper & Row, 1996, c1988), Ps 2:1.
7
Larry Richards, The Bible Reader's Companion, Includes Index. (Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books, 1991), 350.

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́Επιγραφῆς ὁ ψαλμὸς εὑρέθη δίχὰ
̔Ηνωμένος δὲ τοῖς παρ᾽Ἑβραίοις στίχοις.
For it is an old Jewish way of looking at it, as Albertus Magnus
observes: Psalmus primus incipit a beatitudine et terminatur a
beatitudine, i.e., it begins with ‫אׁשרי‬ 1:1 and ends with ‫אׁשרי‬ 2:12,
so that consequently Ps. 1 and 2, as is said in B. Berachoth 9b
(cf. Jer. Taanith ii. 2), form one Psalm (‫פרׁשה‬ ‫חדא‬ ). As regards the
subject-matter this is certainly not so. It is true Ps. 1 and 2
coincide in some respects (in the former ‫יהגה‬, in the latter ‫;יהגו‬ in
the former ‫ודרך‬...‫תאבד‬, in the latter ‫דרך‬ ‫ותאבדו‬ ; in the former ‫אׁשרי‬
at the beginning, in the latter, at the end), but these coincidences
of phraseology are not sufficient to justify the conclusion of unity
of authorship (Hitz.), much less that the two Psalms are so
intimately connected as to form one whole. These two anonymous
hymns are only so far related, as that the one is adapted to form
the proaemium of the Psalter from its ethical, the other from its
prophetic character. The question, however, arises whether this
was in the mind of the collector. Perhaps Ps. 2 is only attached to
Ps. 1 on account of those coincidences; Ps. 1 being the proper
prologue of the Psalter in its pentateuchal arrangement after the
pattern of the Tôra. For the Psalter is the Yea and Amen in the
form of hymns to the word of God given in the Tôra. Therefore it
begins with a Psalm which contrasts the lot of him who loves the
Tôra with the lot of the ungodly,—an echo of that exhortation,
Josh. 1:8, in which, after the death of Moses, Jahve charges his
successor Joshua to do all that is written in the book of the Tôra.
As the New Testament sermon on the Mount, as a sermon on the
spiritualized Law, begins with μακάριοι, so the Old Testament
Psalter, directed entirely to the application of the Law to the inner
life, begins with ‫אׁשרי‬. The First book of the Psalms begins with
two ‫אׁשרי‬ 1:1; 2:12, and closes with two ‫אׁשרי‬ 40:5; 41:2. A
number of Psalms begin with ‫אׁשרי‬, Ps. 32, 41, 112, 119, 128; but
we must not therefore suppose the existence of a special kind of
ashrê -psalms; for, e.g., Ps. 32 is a ‫מׂשכיל‬, Ps. 112 a Hallelujah,
Ps. 128 a ‫המעלות‬ ‫ׁשיר‬ .

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As regards the time of the composition of the Psalm, we do not
wish to lay any stress on the fact that 2 Chron. 22:5 sounds like
an allusion to it. But 1st, it is earlier than the time of Jeremiah;
for Jeremiah was acquainted with it. The words of curse and
blessing, Jer. 17:5–8, are like an expository and embellished
paraphrase of it. It is customary with Jeremiah to reproduce the
prophecies of his predecessors, and more especially the words of
the Psalms, in the flow of his discourse and to transform their
style to his own. In the present instance the following
circumstance also favours the priority of the Psalm: Jeremiah
refers the curse corresponding to the blessing to Jehoiakim and
thus applies the Psalm to the history of his own times. It is 2ndly,
not earlier than the time of Solomon. For ‫ים‬ ִ
‫צ‬ ֵ
‫ל‬ occurring only here
in the whole Psalter, a word which came into use, for the
unbelievers, in the time of the Chokma (vid., the definition of the
word, Prov. 21:24), points us to the time of Solomon and
onwards. But since it contains no indications of contemporary
history whatever, we give up the attempt to define more minutely
the date of its composition, and say with St. Columba (against
the reference of the Psalm to Joash the protegé of Jehoiada, which
some incline to): Non audiendi sunt hi, qui ad excludendam
Psalmorum veram expositionem falsas similitudines ab historia
petitas conantur inducere. 64 8
Psalms 1
Our very first word, blessed, reminds us of the Beatitudes in the
Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:3–12). There at verse 2 we read,
by way of introduction, that Jesus sat and taught people. Jesus
was thus carrying on the teaching ways of those parts of the OT
which we call by the name of Wisdom Literature. It includes
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job, several of the Psalms and some
passages in the Prophets. “Wisdom” means, of course, the
64
Vid., Zeuss, Grammatica Celtica (1853) ii. 1065. The Commentary of Columba on the Psalms, with Irish
explanations, and coming from the monastery of Bobbio, is among the treasures of the Ambrosiana.
8
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament. (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2002), 5:47-
48.
OT Old Testament.

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teaching of God about the true way of life. Wisdom, which is a
feminine noun in Hebrew, is thought of as a Daughter of God (as
in Prov. 9). The schoolmaster seeks to pass on this divine Wisdom
to “my son”, as he delights to call his student, a phrase we find
in the first verse of each of chapters 2–7 in Proverbs.
King David, in his long reign in Jerusalem, turned the little
citadel of Jebus into his capital city. Solomon, his son,
consolidated his work. He built the temple, his own palace, and
palaces for members of the royal family, and many public
buildings also. In order to run his quite extensive empire he had
to have many young men trained and educated for the task of
administration. So he established at least one school for such
young men alongside the temple building in Jerusalem. By so
doing he showed these young men that Wisdom and Religion
were inseparable in the sight of God, in fact, that true religion
was in reality the Wisdom of God.
The editor of this our first collection of Psalms placed this
significant one at the head of the whole collection of 150 psalms.
He did so for the same reason that Matthew places the Beatitudes
at the beginning of Jesus’ teaching. It is as if he were saying:
“You should read all the psalms that follow in the light of this
one.” For life lived in the fellowship of God and in humble
obedience to him is the real way of life. As Micah 6:8 puts it:
What does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
Or, as Psalm 25:12 puts it:
Who is the man that fears the Lord?
Him will be instruct in the way that he should choose.
Here then are those young administrators, attending worship
at the temple, and singing about what they have learned at
school. Jeremiah seems to have done the same thing when he
echoes this psalm in his own writings (Jer. 17:5–8). How easy it
would be, our young man realizes, to let his moral convictions

18. Psalms 1
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slide, and so to accept a bribe (just a wee one!) and go off
drinking with those who think the very moral plans for the ruling
of Israel prescribed by Solomon and Solomon’s successors were
a mere joke. Those hard-liners had been around. They had seen
the toughness and cruelty of the administration that was the
accepted way of life in the surrounding nations. As they sneered
at this “Mosaic” way of life that showed love and compassion for
the poor and needy, our young civil servant has his answer ready,
one that would keep him loyal to God’s revealed World. For what
he is trying to put into practice is not the teaching of either Moses
or Solomon, but of the Lord.
The word law is the Hebrew word Torah, and that word means
both teaching and revelation. It is the name given to the first five
books of the OT. Of course much of the Pentateuch (its scholarly
name) had not yet come into being. But in the days of the kings
the stories in Genesis, for one thing, would be taught in this
school, along with those about God’s covenant with Noah, God’s
covenant with Abraham, and how God had kept covenant with all
his descendants after him according to his promise. Then there
was the great story of Moses and of God’s rescuing Israel from
the power of Egypt; then of his making covenant with all Israel
at Mount Sinai; then he learned the Ten Commandments and
some of the legislation we now find attributed to Moses; and,
finally, he would be told of God’s amazing grace in giving to his
people this land of theirs flowing with milk and honey. And now
this young man had the honour of helping to administer it,
including the city of Jerusalem, the City of God! No wonder our
young civil servant delighted in the Torah of the Lord, and now
went about his tasks with a quiet and contented heart. He
meditated, or perhaps “recited into himself”, as the word may
mean, bits from the Torah he had learned at school. For he had
recognized that the whole gracious and kindly community way of
life that God had revealed to Israel through the Torah, in
comparision with the ferocity and cruelty of the Canaanites, was
the only hope for the future of human society.

19. Psalms 1
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What God says is always effective (Isa. 55:10–11). The word
prospers carries this idea. In all he does in obedience to God he
finds himself to be an effective and efficient workman of God. A
well-irrigated tree will certainly be productive. Perhaps the word
planted means “transplanted”, so that this young man is like an
adopted son now growing up in a happy home (cf. John 15:16).
How often in the Bible is water used as the symbol of the giving
of new life!
That then is the one way. But there are two ways that
covenantal man, “the remaining descendants of Joseph” as Amos
5:14–15 calls the People of God, can choose from (see Deut.
30:15–18). Those who have put their feet on this other way are
not rooted and grounded in the will of God like a tree, and so they
are not effective people. They and their work are like chaff that
the wind blows away. Chaff is no use for feeding the hungry.
Thus, in the judgment of the congregation they don’t have a leg
to stand on. God does not have to destroy them, their way of life
destroys itself—they just blow away.
What a comfort it is, however, for those who honestly try to be
obedient to God’s revealed Way of life to go about their work
aware that the Lord knows the way they are going, and knowing
it, loves and cares for this son or daughter of his who delights in
doing his will. But those who opt out of the Covenant are useless,
hollow, empty people.
We read at Acts 11:26: “In Antioch the disciples were for the
first time called Christians”—yes, by other people. But it was not
their own name for themselves. They had already given their new
movement the name of “The Way” (Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4).9
Psalms 1
The theme of this psalm is the happiness of the godly and the
judgment of the ungodly. Verse 1 can be translated, “O the
9
George Angus Fulton Knight, Psalms : Volume 1, The Daily study Bible series (Louisville: Westminster John Knox
Press, 2001, c1982), 15.

20. Psalms 1
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happinesses of the man.” No matter where we turn in the Bible,
we find that God gives joy to the obedient (even in the midst of
trial) and ultimately sorrow to the disobedient. God sees but two
persons in this world: the godly, who are “in Christ,” and the
ungodly, who are “in Adam.” See 1 Cor. 15:22, 49. Let us look at
these two persons. 10
Psalms 1
Fruitful trees, useless chaff. The person who delights in God’s
Word and lives by its precepts will prosper (1:1–3); the ungodly
will be condemned (1:4–6).11
10
Warren W. Wiersbe, Wiersbe's Expository Outlines on the Old Testament (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1993), Ps 1:1.
11
H. L. Willmington, Willmington's Bible Handbook (Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers, 1997), 307.

21. Psalms 1
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References: