Exploring the Meaning of Psalms 1
Av New Christian Bible Study Staff, Joe David
In this first Psalm, the inner meaning is pretty close to the surface.
Verses 1-3 are saying that people who make it a habit to avoid doing evil things can be led by the Lord, through the Word, to love good things. They will be reborn, or regenerated.
In verses 4-5, it's saying that people who don't live well - who are ungodly - will not be saved.
In Verse 6, the meaning is that the Lord knows us all, interiorly.
There are at least four important truths about our spiritual development here:
1) It's clear that our actions, our habits, are vital. There really are spiritual consequences.
2) We can't "grab good" for ourselves, but we CAN stop doing evil things. That clears up some space for good to flow in, from the Lord.
3) The Lord wants to save everyone; He's constantly trying to lead us towards good. But - since human freedom is so fundamentally important - we are free to reject His leading, and to be ungodly, and, ultimately, to reject His salvation.
4) When we die, the loves that we have built up here on earth stay with us; they ARE us. If they're good, we find a place for ourselves in a heavenly society; if they're evil, we gravitate towards a hellish society of people who have similar loves to ours.
Here are a few of the fine points:
"Blessed be the man". When people receive the Lord's blessing, it illustrates how His love and wisdom flow into us in forms that fit the spiritual state those people represent.
"...in the internal sense 'blessing' means being enriched with all spiritual and celestial good, a blessing which neither does nor can possibly exist unless it comes from the Lord." Arcana Coelestia 981.
"Sitting in the seat of the scornful" implies making a habit of looking down on other people. The word 'sit' is used because 'sitting' means remaining in a state; for movement from one place to another means changes of state involving the interiors, as becomes clear from what has been shown in Arcana Coelestia 2837, 3356, 3387, 4321, 4882, 5605, 7381, and therefore sitting down means remaining in a state involving the interiors. Because 'sitting' has this meaning it was an accepted religious custom among the children of Israel to sit whenever they represented a state of the interiors that was permanent, as in the Book of Judges. Arcana Coelestia 9422
Psalms 1:1-3
1
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2
But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
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.
