Psalm 1:1-3

by Diane Jacobson

Happy are those who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked,
nor lingered in the way of sinners,
nor sat in the seats of the scornful!

Their delight is in the law of the LORD,
and they meditate on God’s teaching day and night.

They are like trees
planted by streams of water,
bearing fruit in due season,
with leaves that do not wither.

This psalm not only begins the psalter, it also serves as a gateway, as a guide into the study of and encounter with all of Scripture. We are invited into this encounter with a number of strong images that help us to imagine what we are doing as we hear and study Scripture together. I want to talk about just two of these images.

The first image is found in the first two verses: “Happy are those whose delight is in the law of the LORD, who meditate on God’s law, God’s teaching, day and night.” The word that is sometimes translated “law” and other times translated “teaching” is the Hebrew word torah. “Happy are those who delight in the torah of the Lord, who meditate on God’s torah day and night.” Torah can indeed mean law, but more fully it refers to either the first five books of the Bible or, by extension, even to the whole of Scripture. Torah thus includes within it both the law, which directs us to the paths we should take as God’s people, and the story, through which we hear the marvelous good news of God’s love for us and for all creation. Both the law and the story give us our identity as the people of God. Psalm 1 invites us to take delight in both the path we walk and the story we proclaim. Scripture, our torah, is identified as a source of joy!

Psalm 1 then invites us further to meditate on the Scriptures day and night. Often we picture meditation as an exercise we do alone, clearing our minds of all distractions and being alone with God in prayer. This is not a bad image. But another image is equally at work in these words. The Hebrew word for “meditate,” hagah, is the same as the roaring of lions and the cooing of birds. Roaring is not a very private activity! In the same way, meditation involves shared or communal as well as individual study. We are to study God’s torah as a community. Picture a group of rabbis sitting around and actively engaging with both the text and each other. Or picture yourself with a group of Christians in a lively Bible study ... all of us together experiencing the text speaking to us and through us to one another — inspiring us, challenging us, giving language to both demand and promise.

In addition to questions found in this study, here are some general questions that can be used:
1. What is God saying to us through this passage?
2. What does this passage tell us about God?
3. How does this passage speak to us as a community?
4. What does this passage teach us about our neighbors and our world?

The promise of Psalm 1 comes to light most wonderfully in the strongest of the images found in the psalm. The promise is this: when we take delight in God’s torah, when we participate in such cogitating, such cooing and roaring, such reading and listening and engaging together with the Bible, we become “like trees planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither.” What an amazing promise! Think about this image with me. Like a tree, we students of the Bible are made alive and are kept alive by being rooted by an ever-flowing stream.

We are rooted in God, in God’s life giving Spirit, in God’s word in Scripture and in God’s word in Christ. Without being rooted thus, we cannot grow. Rather, we, like the wicked in the final verse of Psalm 1, perish and die.

But the image of the tree is more than an image of roots. What is visible when we look at a tree is not its root but rather its fruit and its leaves. And the fruit and the leaves are not only for the tree itself. Fruit is always for the other — the fruit nourishes the other, reaching out to the other. The fruit-laden branches visibly mirror the life-giving roots. Fruit gives sustenance to all who eat, and in truth the word sustains us as we share the fruits of the word with others. And the leaves add yet more to this picture. The leaves of a tree provide both shade and shelter. Small wonder that this image is found scattered throughout the Bible — in Jeremiah and Ezekiel and Revelation, where it is said that the leaves of the tree of life are for the healing of the nations.

So brothers and sisters in Christ, I invite you to open your Bibles and come join the conversation. May studying Scripture together be our joy and our delight. May we together root ourselves in God’s Word in order that we might bear much fruit. And may our encounter with God’s Word sprout a whole Spirit-filled, church-load of leaves for the healing of the nations.

Diane Jacobson is director of the Book of Faith initiative and teaches at Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Questions on Psalm 1:1-3

How do we “meditate” on the Word together?
In what ways do we take delight in the study of the Bible?
What are we rooted in?
How does studying God’s word together help us to be like trees providing fruit or leaves for others?

As you consider opening Scripture, you may wish to consider these questions:
1.How does the Bible feed your daily life?
2. How does the Bible feed the life of this community?
3. How are we renewed, empowered, and enlivened by the word?
4. What stands in the way of our opening the Bible and joining the conversation?

See also