Psalm 1 Lyrics
Psalms 1:2: But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
Psalms 1:3: And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Psalms 1:4: The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
Psalms 1:5: Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
Psalms 1:6: For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
About
Introduction to Psalm 1
Many believe that Psalm 1 was intentionally placed at the beginning of the Psalter as a kind of introduction to the Psalter. In fact, in some early manuscripts, Psalm 1 is off-set in a different colored ink.
As an introduction to the Psalter, Psalm 1 hints at the major preoccupation of the entire Psalter: Ethical conduct.
Ethics is not what we normally associate with poetry, but it makes sense according to the Hebrew way of thinking: Just knowing something is not enough to motivate human action. We know a lot of things, much of it just miscellany and junk information. How do we separate – internally cherish – those things that really matter, that we want to direct our lives. The Hebrew answer:
We impress it on our souls through speaking it out loud and capturing it in powerful language. We crown ideas with language.
It’s a process worth considering, regardless of religious affiliation, because if we don’t consider how ideas affect us and whether we can or should control that process, we may just become victims of the slickest and flashiest ideas out there, which are often manufactured on multi-million-dollar advertising budgets, and which (as the Psalm indicates) are often destructive.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
- 1.Genesis 1
- 2.Genesis 2
- 3.Genesis 3
- 4.Genesis 4
- 5.Genesis 5
- 6.Genesis 6
- 7.Genesis 7
- 8.Genesis 8
- 9.Genesis 9
- 10.Genesis 10
- 11.Genesis 11
- 12.Genesis 12
- 13.Genesis 13
- 14.Genesis 14
- 15.Genesis 15
- 16.Genesis 16
- 17.Genesis 17
- 18.Genesis 18
- 19.Genesis 19
- 20.Genesis 20
- 21.Genesis 21
- 22.Genesis 22
- 23.Genesis 23
- 24.Genesis 24
- Psalm 1