Dn. Raphael Think of the first Psalm as an introduction to them all. It asks us to take all the Psalms to heart. Learn from them. Apply them.
It starts, “Blessed is the man…”
Who is the man? What do you think?
I posed this question to a dozen people and got three responses: 1) Me. 2) Any person—man or woman—who reads them. And 3) Jesus. I believe all are correct.
This Psalm, Psalm 1, was written 1000 years before the incarnation of Christ. The first two responses in the previous paragraph were the original interpretations. It was the early Church Fathers who introduced Jesus as the man. St. Augustine of Hippo said, “This statement should be understood as referring to our Lord Jesus Christ, that is, the Lord-Man.”
Is the man Jesus or people? I think it’s both… and in this order: first read Psalm 1 thinking of Jesus as the man, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. Then read it again seeing yourself as the man (or woman).
The verse then jumps into three groups to avoid. Those who:
• Walk in the counsel of the ungodly.
Instead, seek advice from God in scripture, readings of the holy saints, your Spiritual Father, etc.
• Stand with sinners.
Do not stand in solidarity with them. Stand with God and his saints.
• Sit in the seat of the scornful.
Don’t join in with those who make fun of, blame, mock, or scoff at those who do not agree with them. I think their scorn is ultimately directed at God.
The Apostle Paul must have remembered this Psalm when he wrote in I Corinthians 15:33, “Do not be deceived: evil company corrupts good habits.”
Jesus too, must have remembered this Psalm after fasting 40 days in the wilderness. He was hungry. Satan approached him with what seems like good advice, “Command that these stones to become bread.”
But it was bad advice. Jesus answered with scripture, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
When I was young I thought, “Why is this bad advice?” It’s because Jesus was determined that his nourishment, both physical and spiritual, would come only from God. Dependent on God for 40 days in the desert, then to suddenly follow Satan’s advice would truly be a shameful thing to do.
He refuted Satan’s second suggestion again with scripture. At Satan’s third suggestion, Jesus commanded him to leave.
Our identity is in Christ. Do not let worldly people weasel their way to influence you. Walk, stand, and sit with the Lord and His saints. Whenever we interact with the ungodly, however, let us do so with kindness and respect.
A note about the seat of the scornful. Teachers today stand and their students sit. Years ago, teachers sat as they taught. Notice the scornful are sitting in this verse. They make fun with sarcasm and humor. The implication here is that sitting, they see themselves as teachers. But don’t listen to them! Their pride makes them see themselves as better than others. They are everywhere today as then. Sarcasm and bitter humor make them easy to spot. Beware of their wicked words.
With the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness as our example, we see that the first step of the role of the man is to unrelentingly place our faith in God. Politely but firmly use scripture as Jesus did to rebuke the bad advice of the world and to shake off any self-suggested bad advice or temptation. If that doesn’t help don’t just stand there and take it, change the subject or walk away.