The Traits of Activity of the Righteous and the Wicked (Verses 1–2)

Verse 1. Blessed is the man who did not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, and did not stand in the way of sinners, and did not sit in the seat of the destroyers.

Blessed is the man. All the blessings—all the advantages—are on the side of the righteous. He begins with the supreme good, so passionately sought by all yet found nowhere. He points to a sure but arduous path; therefore he places blessedness at the forefront, as both goal and reward, to inspire courage. The Chaldean and Syriac render it: beatitudines viri. The Syriac renders blessed with the same words in the Gospel of Matthew (Mt. 5:3). The LXX (Septuagint, the translation of the Seventy interpreters): blessed is the man. Some see here an interjection, an adverb, or a particle—a rhetorical exclamation that burst from the Prophet’s breast after a silent meditation on the righteous and the wicked: “How good is his lot!” Be that as it may, it in any case denotes such a condition in which, both in body and soul and in outward relations, everything proceeds according to the heart’s desire, as a foretaste of eternal blessedness (Ps. 19:5, 32:1–2, 33:13, 34:9–10, 83:5; Deut. 28:3 and following). — The man, in Hebrew: ha-ish, that very man—a person in general possessing a manly soul—it denotes not so much the sex as the disposition of the soul. Did not walk in the counsel — he turns away from their schemes and deliberations, does not bind himself to them, does not imitate their stratagems.

Counsel, atsat — the deliberation and resolution to attain a proposed goal by one or another means.

Of the ungodly. The Hebrew word: rasha — restless, turbulent, and disturbing others—the ungodly, having no peace of conscience, are tossed by the waves of their own lusts into various lawless deeds (there is no peace) (Is. 48:22, 57:21; Prov. 4:16) (they cannot sleep unless they have done evil). The counsels of the ungodly are described in Job (depart from us, we desire no knowledge of Your ways): (Job 21:14–16, 22:17–18; Ezek. 11:2–3).

Walking—a common metaphor used to signify schemes, endeavors, undertakings, and courses of action—by which, as with feet, one reaches either a particular goal or the goal of one’s whole life (Gen. 17:1; Ps. 118:1, 3, 9 and elsewhere; Rom. 8:1 and others).

Did not walk — a perfect past, used in place of the present… decisively, categorically he did not go—not once, but always—this is the rule of his life. The Hebrews, when expressing the present, used either the past or the future. An example of the former is here; an example of the latter is in the following verse: he meditates.

In the Greek translation of the LXX and in our Church Slavonic (did not walk, he meditates) we see a literal translation of the original; the Russian translation (does not walk, he reflects) is a translation by sense, the so-called paraphrase. In Russian one says: “what is he to you—a brother or an uncle?” when in fact he is exactly that.

It should be noted that, according to a grammatical idiom of the Hebrew language, the negative expressions here emphatically (emotionally) express the contrary—the positive. As if to say: he flees far off, he turns away from every bond with the ungodly, he loathes them, counting as nothing their outward glitter that sometimes attends sinners.

Did not stand in the way of sinners. If sometimes, through the weakness of the flesh, he strays onto the broad road of vice, he does not stop there on that wide way that leads to ruin (Mt. 7:13); but he immediately hastens to return to the narrow way of God’s commandments, so as to walk it unswervingly once more. The way denotes established customs to which one constantly adheres, and the corresponding plans, habits, concerns, undertakings, and methods. Do not walk in the way of the ungodly, and turn your foot from their paths (Prov. 1:15; Ps. 118:9, 15, 35). Of sinners — those who long ago abandoned the works of the law, who sinned not just once but by frequent falls have made sin a habit—they sin ceaselessly—it is all they do and consider; not out of ignorance but knowingly, and no longer in secret but openly—unashamed before people and not fearing God. We are commanded not to stand in the way of such people—not to linger, not to become hardened in sins and vices, not to establish or make permanent our habitation or sojourn among the destroyers.

Did not sit in the seat of the destroyers. — Seat, moshav — in Hebrew. Cassiodorus: thronas est regum, tribunal judicum, cathedra propria doctorum—such meanings are not found in Scripture. The word signifies: 1) in general—a place of habitation, a settled dwelling (Ps. 106:4, 7; Lev. 25:29; 2 Kgdms. 2:19 and others); 2) a session, for example of elders (Ps. 106:32); and 3) a seat—for example, the royal seat, a chair set against the wall at the table (1 Sam. 20:25) (the seat of Job as judge at the city gate (Job 29:7)). The Chaldean translation: in the assembly or in the company; the Syriac—in a session (Mt. 23:6; Mk. 12:39). Thus the devout man is counseled not to establish himself finally and permanently in a session or habitation where destroyers sit and dwell. Λοιμων, λοιμος — plague, pestilence. These are despisers of the law, those who count it as nothing and bring it into contempt. In Hebrew: letsim — mockers, scorners, jeerers; they corrupt the truth (2 Cor. 2:17), ridicule piety, faith, and uprightness, and dismiss as fables all that is said of the wrath of God and of punishment. They are also called the proud and wrathful (Prov. 21:24, 3:34); quarrelsome troublemakers (Prov. 22:10); drunkards, or such as drunkenness makes a person (Prov. 20:1). This is why it is not amiss that the LXX translation calls them a plague, while Aquila renders it more precisely: χλευαστων. Symmachus: παρανομων. The Chaldean and Syriac: mockers. The Syriac tongue uses this word for the Pharisees who sneered at Christ: εκμυκτηριζονταη(Lk. 16:14). It is noteworthy that David the father—at the beginning of the Psalms—and Solomon his son—at the beginning of the Proverbs—both expose this plague, the despisers of the law (Prov. 1:22). Among such despisers of the law the devout man does not establish his habitation.

There is a gradation—from the ungodly, tossed about in unlawful notions and desires with their lack of fear of God, to the sinners who by frequent falls have rooted themselves in the habit of sinning—and from these to the despisers of the law, who not only sin stubbornly but glory in their sinfulness, displaying every contempt for virtue.

There is also a gradation in the verbs: he walked—turning aside from the straight path—he stopped and became established in a corrupt disposition—and then he sat… surrendering himself wholly to sinful schemes, goals, and habits, with a disposition hostile to righteousness. Thus all possible fellowship with the ungodly and the sinful is here forbidden, if one would have blessedness.

Verse 2. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.

To those many injuries done to the law by the unrighteous, the Prophet contrasts a single devotion to the law as the one object in which all good resides. The righteous man unites with it by his will—in love and delight—and with his mind, in unceasing meditation and reflection upon it. The law, in Hebrew: Torah — striking like an arrow with the fear of God, while on the other hand watering dried-up souls like rain with the hope of God’s goodwill and of a better life; it instructs them in righteous deeds, tracing out the patterns of a life pleasing to God. In David’s time by the law were meant the five books of Moses (as in Joshua (Josh. 8:31–32), and as they are still called by the Jews to this day), and perhaps the books of Joshua and Judges as well. Later this word came to denote the whole of Revelation expressing God’s will and His commandments binding on all who desire to please Him (Is. 5:24, 1:10). Furthermore, under this name of the law one must understand all divinely inspired writings, in which we have fully revealed to us the whole will of God—both legal and evangelical—the knowledge of which is now necessary for everyone who seeks true blessedness. On the pages of these books the devout man rests his sympathy and delight, as on a treasury of incomparable goods (Prov. 3:15, 8:11, 19). Hafets, propensio—an inclination as toward a bride (Gen. 34:9; Est. 2:17; Is. 62:5). Thus the righteous man seeks his joy not in the empty vanities of the world, but in the word of God alone, which is itself good and faithfully leads to unending goods in eternity. It is for him an incomparable treasure, like a passionately loved bride whom he loves alone, for whom alone he cares, whom he guards, adorns, and cherishes.

And in His law he meditates.

He meditates (future in place of present, as a sign of the continuity of the action)—both in heart (Ps. 48:4), and with the lips (Ps. 34:28). The Hebrew expression denotes a careful deepening and attentive examination with heartfelt interest, when a man speaks with himself and deliberates, as it were, on what would be best to do (Prov. 15:28), or ponders the wondrous works of God (Ps. 76:13, 142:5; Job 27:4; Prov. 8:7; Ps. 34:28; Is. 59:3). So earnestly does the devout man occupy himself with the word of God—as much inwardly, by reflection, investigation, and impressing it on the memory, which powerfully disposes one toward fulfilling it in deed—as outwardly with his tongue, proclaiming it and sharing it with others. And this not merely once or on occasion, but constantly, day and night. Not that besides this occupation he neither eats, nor drinks, nor sleeps, nor does anything else—but rather that, by reason of the heart’s delight in God’s word, the remembrance of it never departs, as happens with those who love something or someone—who, whatever they do, always hold the beloved in mind, hold them in mind even in sleep and cannot refrain from remembering. Hypocrites, by contrast, occupy themselves with God’s word only in passing, by chance, or for show, and then at once forget it again (concerning day-and-night meditation on the book of the law see Josh. 1:8. Even weeping is day and night (Ps. 41:4; Jer. 9:1 and elsewhere). The expression: day and night—signifies unceasing concern and the heart’s engagement—when even after the action (effectus) ceases, the love of the object (affectus) does not cease—so that even amid other occupations attention does not depart from God’s commandments, but on the contrary holds them up as guiding principles.