Psalm 1

You don't often hear anyone say, "Turn to Psalm 1 please." It seems that with the grand exposition of the glories and downfalls of humankind, with the declarative exclamations, praises for and pleading with God that follow this humble Psalm, it is often overlooked. But this small Psalm, a simple setting of God's feeling toward the righteous and the unrighteous, gives a compelling frame of reference for the entirity of the Psalms. Much like the familiar beattitudes in Mark 5, Psalm 1 begins "Blessed is the man who..." Right from the start, God desires to reveal to us his love for us. Like a proud father, like a husband glowingly gazing at his bride, the Lord says, "Blessed is the man!"

In a move that makes my heart sing, God doesn't say, "In the future, the man will be blessed..." or "The man will be blessed if he can acheive great things..." Two glorious words begin the Psalms, the greatest poetic expression of the heights and depths of man and the wonderous unfolding of God's character. These two words are present, and always: Blessed is.

Ahh.

-S