As we begin the book of Psalms, we should realize that like the hymns in a hymn book, these songs were not written all at the same time, nor were they printed in chronological order. If Psalm 23 comes from David, for example, it might have been written around 960 BC; but Psalm 126 was written after people returned from Exile, perhaps 510 BC – more than four centuries later. Indeed, the book of Psalms within our Bible includes five earlier “booklets” (1-41, 42-72, 73-89, 90-106, 107-150), which apparently were used independently by different groups for some period of time before someone compiled all five into the collection we read today. And the Psalm of the Fool, for example, was popular enough to get included (in slightly different versions) in two of these booklets (Psalm 14, Psalm 53).

And we should remember that they are songs: we sing them to express strong emotions, like praise, faithfulness, sorrow, and rage. These feelings are well represented throughout the psalter. The ancients were not afraid of vivid demonstrations of how they felt about God, about the situations they faced, and about their own place in the world.

When we sing Psalm 1, we remind ourselves that there are good choices and bad choices, and it really matters which way you choose, both in terms of the essence of your character and the path of your life: “The Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish” (Psalm 1:6). We might be tempted to propose a third alternative, putting ourselves somewhere in the middle between those two. That is, we’d admit we’re far from being saints, but at least we’re not wicked like psychopaths or something. And so we might suppose it’s OK if we’re just kind of average.

But the intention of Psalm 1 is to push us to choose the good and reject the bad: “Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers” (1:1). The goal is to teach us to be diligent rather than slackers: to find our delight in the law of the Lord, in steadfast contemplation on the word (1:2), instead of following the path of least resistance like chaff blowing away on the wind (1:4).

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Teach us your way, O Lord: teach us to choose what is right and reject what is wrong. And let us find the real happiness you have for us, as we sing your word, and as we see it established within our hearts, day by day.