Chapter One

In the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin Bibles, this psalm is not inscribed with the name of David. The psalm contains no indications by which one could discern either the author of the psalm or the time and circumstances of its origin.

The content generally treats the fate of the righteous and the wicked, so this psalm may be regarded as an introduction to the entire Psalter, which is chiefly concerned with depicting the fate of the righteous and the wicked.

In many ancient Greek manuscripts, when the Book of Acts cites a passage from the present second psalm: “You are My Son; today I have begotten You” (Ps 2:7; Acts 13:33), it says that it is found in the first psalm (ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ ψαλμῷ). This indicates that at one time the present first and second psalms constituted one, the first psalm, and therefore the author of the latter was the same person as the author of the present second psalm, and it was written for the same reason as the latter—that is, in the time of David, by David, on account of his war with the Syrians and Ammonites (see Ps. 2).

Whoever does not walk wickedly but always follows the Law of God is blessed like a tree planted by water (1-3). The wicked, on the other hand, will be rejected by God (4-6).

Psalm 1:1. Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked and does not stand in the way of sinners and does not sit in the assembly of scoffers, “Blessed” is synonymous with the expression “happy.” By the latter one must understand both external earthly prosperity (see verse 3) and reward at the judgment of God, that is, spiritual blessedness, heavenly blessedness. “Man,” a part for the whole (metonymy)—a person in general. “Wicked”—one who is internally separated from God, who has and lives with sentiments contrary to the elevated commandments of the law; “sinners”—those who reinforce their bad internal disposition in corresponding external actions; “scoffers” (Hebrew letsim, Greek λοιμός—a mocker)—not only those who act badly personally, but also those who mock the righteous manner of living. “Does not walk, does not stand, does not sit”—three degrees of inclination toward evil, whether in the form of internal, though dominant, but not constant attraction to it (“does not walk”), or in the reinforcement of evil through external actions (“does not stand”), or in complete inclination toward it, reaching the point of external opposition to divine teaching and the promotion of one’s own views.

Psalm 1:2. But in the law of the Lord is his delight, and on His law he meditates day and night! A characterization of the righteous man from the positive side. “In the law of the Lord is his delight.” “Delight”—the disposition, attraction of the righteous to the “law of the Lord,” not only to that which is expressed in the Ten Commandments of Moses, but to all divine revelation. “Meditates day and night”—always to harmonize one’s conduct with this revelation, which requires constant remembrance of it (see Deut 6:6-7).

Psalm 1:3. And he shall be like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither; and in everything he does, he prospers. The consequence of the righteous man’s internal assimilation of the law and his life according to it will be his external prosperity and success in his deeds. Just as a tree growing by water always has moisture for its development and thus bears fruit, so the righteous man “prospers in everything he does,” because God gives him protection.

Psalm 1:4. Not so the wicked, [not so]: but they are like chaff which the wind blows away [from the face of the earth]. Psalm 1:5. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, and sinners in the assembly of the righteous. Psalm 1:6. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. The condition of the wicked is not the same. They, like “chaff”—dust, husks, easily blown away by the wind; their external position is unstable and insecure. Since the wicked are permeated with and live contrary to God’s commandments, they cannot “stand in the judgment” before Him and cannot be where the righteous will be gathered (“in the assembly”), because the Lord “knows” (in the sense of caring for, loving) and therefore rewards the conduct (“way”—activity, its direction) of the righteous, but destroys the wicked. In these verses there is no precise indication which judgment of God is meant—whether on earth, during a person’s lifetime, or after his death. But in either case the meaning remains the same—the Lord will reward only the righteous. The history of the Hebrew people presents many facts showing that even during earthly life, when the Lord acts as judge of a person, He punishes the wicked. But since a person’s existence is not limited to earth, the final judgment over him will be rendered on the last day, that is, at the terrible judgment (cf. Matt 3:12; 1 Cor 6:2).