Category: Uncategorized

Psalm 1

If you open to the first page of just about any book, you will see an introduction, where the author explains what he is trying to do. Perhaps he or she seeks to inform, entertain, correct, or remember certain things. As he explains his goal, he might also describe his method. A good clear introduction will give you a handy tool to quickly decide whether or not it is worth your time and effort to continue to read.

Psalm 1 is the introduction to the book of Psalms. In these six short verses, the Psalmist will set forth his purpose, indicate his method of achieving it, and give you a reason to be interested. Let’s unpack this introduction.

Blessed is the person who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! The first word of this psalm is congratulatory. “Blessed” could be translated “How happy you are if…” The founding document of our country assures us of our right to seek happiness. Television and social media offer us hundreds of ways to promote and enhance our happiness. God placed this hunger for happiness in us, and He can satisfy it.

He first tells us that we say hello to happiness by saying goodbye to the things that impede it. Our holy God separates us from sinful things. There is a downward pull to sin that is expressed in this psalm: first we walk with sin, then we stand in it, then we settle down and sit with it. We not only participate in it, but we also scoff at people who are avoiding it. Paul explains the slide downward very well in Romans 1:28-32…”They don’t see fit to acknowledge God, so God gives them up to…do those things that are not proper….They are people without understanding, untrustworthy, unfeeling and unmerciful….and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.” They both practice sin, and scoff at those who don’t practice sin.

How happy is the person who isn’t a doer of wrong and a mocker of right. That word “happy” is defined as “the condition created by Christ’s indwelling in a person’s heart, which brings fundamental satisfaction in the life of a believer.” (Zodhiates, Key Word Study Bible). A song says, “I can’t get no satisfaction.” That’s why we continually quest for the next good thing, drug, toy, or companion.

The psalm tells us what really satisfies: “His delight is in the law of the Lord, and in that law he meditates day and night.” The law of the Lord is the Torah; the first five books of the Bible, which is all that was available in the time of David. It contains the narratives of Abraham and the great heroes of the faith. It contains the account of the exodus, the wilderness wanderings, and the entrance into the promised land that displayed the nature and power of God. It explained the way to approach God, with a humble awareness of sin and the sacrifice that brings forgiveness. To meditate on the law is to carefully consider who God is and what He does. The relationship that grows as we focus on Him satisfies our deepest need for meaning.

A beautiful metaphor comes next: That person will be like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers. The picture before us is one of complete flourishing. This Godward focus is nourishing, like water for a tree. It makes us fruitful; we are making a meaningful contribution to the life around us. God continually renews and sustains us. Wherever life takes us, we thrive. What a power packed promise God gives His child in this psalm!

This introductory psalm ends with a warning: where the godly prosper, the wicked perish. Their scoffing, their self-seeking stroll described at the beginning of the psalm, leads nowhere, bears no fruit, and disappears without a trace.

This contrast between the prosperous and the perishing leaves no third alternative. We either focus on God or we don’t. No one gets to hang back indecisively. Not to put God at the center of life is to reject Him, no matter what other “good” thing we may try to use as a substitute.

How happy is the person who makes God his or her focus. The psalms will help us focus more clearly and increase that happiness. That’s why we will be looking at them for the next couple of months.

I believe that the book of Psalms is closely connected to a fascinating Greek word, “phrane”, usually translated by a word like “sensible”, “sober”, or “wise”. Look up Matt. 24:45 in your Bible and see what adjective describes the faithful and “_____” slave who keeps the servants fed in the last days. Then check 2 Tim.1:7 to see how God has replaced a spirit of fear with one of “power, and love, and ‘____”‘; and you will have found a word or two your Bible uses to describe “phrane”. You will also have seen how important phrane is in these last days. It’s the spirit that replaces fear with God’s powerful gift; that enables last day saints to serve. If you continue to track this amazing word through the Bible, you will be more and more anxious to acquire it.

Phrane is the Greek word for your diaphragm, a very important piece of your internal real estate. It separates your chest from your digestive system. Today when we think about our sense of logic and our emotions, we would talk about our mind and our heart. In Bible days, anatomy was understood a little differently. A person thought with his heart (Prov. 23:7); and felt with his digestive system; his “guts”. When Paul wants to tell his Philippian friends to have mutual affection in Phil.2:1, he literally asks them to have “fellowship of the Spirit, guts, and compassion”. (It’s translated “affection” in the NASB)

Phrane, then, is the membrane that divides emotions from thought. It’s what separates that massive can of worms that we work to “keep a lid on” from our control center. It’s the filter that keeps us from saying stupid things. It’s what sanctifies our raw feelings and makes them the wind that fills our sails instead of a destructive tornado.

Your diaphragm makes you able to breathe. When it contracts, you take air into your lungs. When it relaxes, you exhale. The Greek word for “spirit” (pneuma) also means wind or breath. It is the word for exhaling. Pseuche is the Greek word for “soul”. Pseuche also means “to inhale”. Adam became “a living soul” when he inhaled what God breathed into him in Genesis 2:7. Phrane is the diaphram that separates your soul – the part of you that thinks, feels, and decides, from your spirit – the part of you that worships God and senses right and wrong.

To sum up, God seeks to help His children develop the ability to sanctify their feelings. That emotional mess deep inside needs to see the light of day and be exposed to God’s loving correction. “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts, and see if there be a wicked way in me; and lead me in the everlasting way”(Ps, 139:23-24). As God does this, worry can become prayer; fear can become humble dependence, pride can become quiet confidence, and so on.

That sanctifying of emotion is what the Psalms are all about. David, “a man after God’s own heart”, had an adventurous, turbulent life. He ran the gamut of emotions. He learned to turn them into prayers and songs. Harnessing our emotions and making them serve God is what the Psalms are all about. I hope you will join me as we single out some of those emotions and see how to make them serve their highest purpose.

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!