Psalm 1

“That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season.” (Psalm 1:3)

Psalm 1 is often viewed as a wisdom psalm because it puts forth the merits of the moral life as two “ways,” the “way of the righteous” and the “way of the wicked” (1:6), which is characteristic of wisdom thought. For the psalmist the matter was very simple: one must choose between the two ways. When the final edition of the book of Psalms was forming, Psalm 1 was installed as an introduction to the Psalter. The book is an anthology that has come into existence over several centuries. Most likely the composition and placement of Psalm 1 was one of the last strokes of the book’s editor(s), and it may have been written by the editor(s), or at least chosen for its appropriateness as an introduction to the whole book. By the time of the Psalter’s final editing, the Torah (Law) had become the basis of religious study and the source of religious piety.

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