Psalm 1 Nobody Knows Why

Psalm 1

Nobody knows why -- humanly speaking, that is -- that the Psalter as a whole collection came to exist or why it appears in the Holy Scriptures.

The different Psalms that make up the entire book of Psalms were written by various authors over a period of 1,000 years. Psalm 1 is generally thought of as a "wisdom Psalm," demonstrating that the way to happiness is through a life that is morally and well-lived, according to the rules that have been sent down by the Lord, and that the way to evil is to live a life that is in contrast to the rules set down by the Lord.

There is the belief that the Psalms were meant to be a teaching manual for worship and prayer (this is because of the fact that the Psalter is divided into five different books).

The Psalter teaches not by telling individuals how to pray but rather by showing them how to pray. For example, Jesus responds to a request for teaching on prayer by giving his disciples an actual prayer that they can pray, which is also a prayer that they can use as an example and a canon for their prayer.

The Psalms speak from God by showing us how to speak to God. Athanasius's Letter to Marcellinus said, "Most of Scripture speaks to us; the Psalms speak for us.

Psalm 1 is the happiness of people and what is needed in order to find that happiness. The Psalm begins with the word "blessed." Psalm 1 says, "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers." The Psalm is telling people that they must pick who they choose to be associated with very closely. However, there is a progression inside of the Psalm that needs attention. First of all, the message of verse one is telling us that the company that we choose to have around us can affect our happiness to a large extent -- that is, the people that we choose to have in our lives can have a big influence on our own happiness, whether we are aware of it or not.

The first passage is Psalm 1 isn't necessarily saying that the "wicked" are those people who are actively pursuing evil, rather, the Psalm is talking about life, in general, and how it is filled with immorality and immoral people. There is deceit and lies all around us and that is what the Psalm is warning about.

Psalm 1 warns us that there are friends of God (whom he calls righteous) as well as enemies of God (whom he calls godless). In order to become happy people we must not ever do what the godless people tell us to do and not go where there are sinners. Another teaching from the Psalm is not to scorn what God is teaching us.