Reflections on the Psalms. Steven Croft

Psalm 1

       Blessed are they who have not walkedin the counsel of the wicked…

       ‘… planted by streams of water’ (v.3)

      The image, in Psalm 1, of trees planted by streams of water is a vibrant and evocative picture. It brings to mind refreshment and rootedness. The trees, which the psalmist invites us to imagine, are sustained not just occasionally but permanently from a source that invites them to sink their roots down deep and find nourishment and strength. Those who do not take the path of the wicked are like these trees, the psalmist tells us, with deep roots in the law of the Lord.

      The wicked, in contrast, are not like sturdy trees but like chaff – dried out, lacking in substance and blown away by the breeze. Although we may not naturally make chaff the opposite of trees, it doesn’t take much thought to see why the psalmist chose this particular contrast.

      This opening psalm of the whole Psalter presents us, then, with two rich images that not only stir our imaginations but also present us with a choice. Will we choose to be like those who love God’s law or those who spurn it? Will we, by the choice we make, find depth and refreshment, or aridity and flimsiness? By presenting us with this choice at the outset of the Psalter, Psalm 1 challenges us to choose what kind of life we will have and, as a result, how we will respond to the rest of the psalms that follow.

      Reflection by Paula Gooder

      Refrain:

       The Lord knows the way of the righteous.

      Prayer:

       Christ our wisdom,

       give us delight in your law,

       that we may bear fruits of patience and peace

       in the kingdom of the righteous;

       for your mercy’s sake.

       Psalm 2

       Why are the nations in tumult,and why do the peoples devise a vain plot?

       ‘Let us break their bonds asunder’ (v.3)

      Many people will hear the stern voice of the bass soloist in Handel’s Messiah when reading this opening verse. ‘Why do the nations so furiously rage together?’ he sings. Pilgrims would gather in Jerusalem for the new-year festival and this psalm was spot on with its theme of the kingdom of God as a new king was crowned or an established king renewed in office.

      So why do the nations still conspire and plot against the peaceful way of the Lord, or in the old words ‘so furiously rage together’? Good question. The nations still believe what the rebellious choir in the Messiah sings, that they can burst asunder the bonds