Psalm 1 (1928 BCP)

Psalm 1 (1928 BCP) opens the Psalter with a contrast between the way of those who delight in God's law and the way of the ungodly. In the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, it begins Morning Prayer on the first day of the month. Its images of a watered tree and windblown chaff invite worshippers to consider both the nourishment of a life attentive to God and the seriousness of judgment.

Text of the Psalm

The Prayer Book prints the psalm under its Latin opening, Beatus vir qui non abiit. Its verse divisions differ from those in many English Bibles: the Prayer Book divides the psalm into seven verses, the opening verse being unnumbered in the printed text.

BLESSED is the man that hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, * and hath not sat in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; * and in his law will he exercise himself day and night.
3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the water-side, * that will bring forth his fruit in due season.
4 His leaf also shall not wither; * and look, whatsoever he doeth, it shall prosper.
5 As for the ungodly, it is not so with them; * but they are like the chaff, which the wind scattereth away from the face of the earth.
6 Therefore the ungodly shall not be able to stand in the judgment, * neither the sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
7 But the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous; * and the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Two ways and the law of the Lord

The first verse describes a pattern of association and conduct: walking in counsel, standing in a way, and sitting in a seat. The contrast is positive as well as negative. The blessed person delights in the Lord's law and exercises himself in it “day and night”; attention to God's instruction shapes a life over time. The image of a planted tree adds dependence and growth: fruit arrives “in due season,” sustained by water rather than produced by a momentary effort.

The Anglican priest John Mason Neale, gathering older Christian interpretations, sees the opening movement as both renunciation and action:

And in the respective position of the two verses we learn that the beginning of God's fear is to depart from sin,—its progress, to do good; as it is written, “Cease to do evil, learn to do well.”

Neale reads the paired verses as an invitation to turn from evil and practice good, not simply to avoid disreputable company. His interpretation belongs to a tradition of spiritual exposition; it does not make the tree a guarantee that the faithful will never suffer.

Prosperity and judgment in the Psalter

The tree's enduring leaf and fruit contrast with chaff, which has no root and is scattered by wind. The conclusion locates the difference in God's knowledge of the righteous way and in the fate of the other way. The contrast is a statement of moral and divine judgment, not a timetable for visible rewards.

Psalm 73 gives the congregation language for the difficulty of seeing the wicked prosper:

Nevertheless, my feet were almost gone, * my treadings had well-nigh slipt.
And why? I was grieved at the wicked: * I do also see the ungodly in such prosperity.

Read together, the two psalms leave room for distress at injustice while directing attention to its ultimate judgment (Psalm 73:16–18). Psalm 1's “prosper” should therefore not be reduced to wealth or immunity from trouble. The final line points to the Lord's knowledge and judgment, rather than to a technique for obtaining success.

A Christian reading

Augustine begins his exposition by identifying the blessed man with Jesus Christ:

This is to be understood of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Man.

This is Augustine's Christological interpretation of Israel's psalm. It allows Christian worshippers to hear the blessed life in relation to Christ's obedience, without requiring them to deny the psalm's original contrast between righteous and wicked ways. John 15:4–5 offers a related, though different, image: branches bear fruit by abiding in Christ. In prayer the image of fruitfulness can thus call Christians to dependence on Christ as well as to sustained attention to God's word.

Morning Prayer

The monthly division places Psalm 1 before Psalms 2–5 on the first morning. The Office also provides for a portion or selection of psalms, so this is an appointment in the monthly course rather than a claim that the psalm must be used at every celebration of Morning Prayer. After the Venite, the Office directs:

Then shall follow a Portion of the Psalms, according to the Use of this Church. And at the end of every Psalm, and likewise at the end of the Venite, Benedictus es, Benedictus, Jubilate, may be, and at the end of the whole Portion, or Selection from the Psalter, shall be, sung or said the Gloria Patri:

The rubric permits the doxology after each psalm and requires it at the end of the whole portion or selection. It gives the Church's recitation an explicitly Trinitarian ending:

GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, * world without end. Amen.

The recurring monthly use places the psalm's call to delight in the law within common prayer: the congregation hears and offers Scripture before proceeding to the lessons. Its language can also guide private reflection on the habits, company, and sources of counsel that shape one's life.

See Also

• Book of Common Prayer (1928)
• The Psalter (1928 BCP)
• Daily Office (1928 BCP)

External Links

• The 1928 Psalter, Psalms 1–50, Society of Archbishop Justus
• Augustine's exposition of Psalm 1, New Advent