Verse 1
A trilogy of expressions describes the person who is blessed or right with God. Each of these is more intense than the former one. These descriptions proceed from being casually influenced by the wicked to cooperating with them in their wickedness. However, this is probably a case of synonymous parallelism describing the totality of evil rather than three specific types of activities in a climactic development (cf. Deuteronomy 6:7). [Note: VanGemeren, p. 54.]
"Happy" is a better translation than "blessed" since the Hebrew language has a separate word for "blessed." "Happy" was the Queen of Sheba’s exclamation when she saw Solomon’s greatness (1 Kings 10:8). It appears 26 times in the Psalter. This blessedness is not deserved but is a gift from God. Even when the righteous do not feel happy they are blessed from God’s perspective because He protects them from judgment resulting from the Fall (cf. Genesis 3:15-19). "Blessed" in this verse also occurs in Psalms 2:12 forming an inclusio binding these two psalms together. Likewise the reference to the "way" in this verse occurs again in Psalms 2:11-12.
"Wicked" people willfully persist in evil, "sinners" miss the mark of God’s standards and do not care, and "scoffers" make light of God’s laws and ridicule what is sacred.
Be the first to react on this!
