A Fork in the Road

My wife and I lived for a couple of years in Eastern Europe. While there we visited Prague, Czech Republic. Like many of these very old European cities the roads were narrow, curved, and labyrinth-like. Their angular jutting forth reminded us that there was certainly a time before the automobile.

We were seeking a restaurant that was down one of the main roads there and as we walked we came upon a fork in the road. The road literally split around a wedged-shaped building. Which way were we to go? It was hard to say since we really did not know either way well and were foggy about our destination.

There are certainly two ways presented in Psalm 1 as in much of scripture. These are antithetical[1] paths. They lead to two very different destinations. One is the way of righteousness and wisdom. The other is the way of sin, death and destruction. The latter is a broad paved road upon which many travel. The former is a narrow perilous way that few traverse with success.

The problem that we are faced with in Psalm 1 is that the blessed man, the one that travels the path of righteousness is no one we can ourselves claim to be. But how can I say that?

Components of the Covenant

Certainly we have all had times when we have said or thought, “I am blessed.” However, have we ever thought about what it means according to scripture to be blessed? Deuteronomy 28 gives us a clear picture of what it means to be blessed in the economy of the Bible. There we find 68 verses describing the components of the covenant God has made with his people.

On a most basic level we need to know that in any covenant there are always four components which are present. They can be represented by four “P’s”. First, we speak of the parties of covenant. In this case the parties are God and His people. Second, we speak of the promise that is made in the covenant. God promises to bless his people with life with Himself. Third, the condition or parameters in which the covenant is executed is laid out. Blessing for obedience and cursing for disobedience. One may see the weightiness of the covenant in the soberness of the parameters here. In Deuteronomy 28 approximately 75% of the chapter deals with the cursing that will befall Israel for disobedience, while the initial 25% of the chapter deals with blessings of life with God upon condition of perfect obedience. Finally, the fourth component of penalty for disobedience is the corollary to what is promised for obedience. In this case the curses of God are laid out ahead of time so that the disobedient will know what just end lies at the end of the path of wickedness and rebellion.

In short, covenant keepers will receive blessing. That blessing is seen when God exalts the obedient in their obedience to him. This is the way of the blessed and the destination of this way is this kind of divine and weighty blessing. Conversely, the way of the wicked arrives at the port of divine cursing and destruction. It is the humiliation of death and bondage that comes justly. It is important to note that whether one receives blessing or cursing in the economy of covenant, they are always receiving God’s faithfulness to his covenant. He is faithful to bless those who obey and faithful to curse those who disobey and thereby break his covenant with them.

Conclusion

So we come full circle. None of us can say we have perfectly kept covenant, which means that none of us are righteous (see Psalm 14:1-3). As this discussion progresses, it is my hope that you will have a clearer understanding of why that is true generally about humanity and most importantly why it is true about yourself (and me too). Psalm 1 presents us with two paths and their destinations. There is one who walks the way of blessing and a hoard of many who walk the way of the wicked. If we are sober in our thinking we will know that we are not ourselves the blessed man. But don’t give up, the psalm is not there to crush us; rather, as we read on we will find that it gives us great hope. We may receive the covenant blessing of God.

Below is a translation that I have made from the BHS text. It is one of many posibilities that I hope will edify the reader. The English words in purple are those that reflect the most conceptual liberty in translation. The hope is to bring out the manifold flavors of the Hebrew text.

Writer’s Translation

BHS

1. Blessed is the man, who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the journey of sinners, nor dwells in the dwelling of the scornful. 2. Antithetically, his pleasure is in the Law of YHWH and on His Law he meditates day and night. 3. He is like a tree planted on a canal of water, which gives its fruit at the right time. His leaf does not fade and all that he does is victorious. 4. Not so are the wicked, for they are like chaff that the wind drives about. 5. As a matter of fact, the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor will sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 6. For YHWH superlatively knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

This is the first of several posts on psalm 1. I will update the list of posts below as we go so that this post will serve as you virtual table of contents.

1. A Fresh Translation
2. Covenantal Connections
3. The Man of Blessing