Psalm 1:5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. Did you know that the church in the New Testament isn’t the oldest church? There were congregations in the Old Testament, too. In fact, this psalm actually uses the word congregation and not the word assembly. Does it matter? I don’t know. But it’s interesting that there’s such a big deal made over the churches in the New Testament and how they were the first church and how they took the place of Israel and the Jewish people (which is also odd, since most of the original churches were actually part of the synagogue), when neither is actually true. Makes you wonder… Psalm 1: 6 For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish. The word for know in this verse is “yada,” and it means much more than to know with your head. Adam knew his wife, and this is the verb used there, too. This is an intimate knowledge, it’s a knowledge that understands and is concerned, that knows by experience. Interestingly, that brings to mind Yeshua. He knew the way of the righteous because He walked it in everyday life… The word for way is also interesting; it means custom or journey. It’s not just an object that you walk on or that lies on the ground. It’s movement, living, fluid. It’s the journey along the way. For the righteous, God knows the journey intimately, but for the wicked this lifestyle or journey along their path will cause them to get lost and ultimately, to be corrupted and destroyed. I know which way I’d rather walk!
Psalm 119:1 Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD! Psalm 119 is one of those books that some people tend to shy away from because it’s so long (they shy away from the books in Numbers where it’s all about geneology, too). There are 176 verses! For some reason last night I started reading it in my NLT Bible, and it was so beautiful that I decided to read it and see how the Hebrew says it. So, I got as far as verse one! The first thing that caught my attention was the phrase “the law.” I’ve been listening to a lot of people discuss what that means and whether or not it’s even relevant today. I don’t want to get into a long discussion of this because I don’t know all the best arguments or anything like that. It just makes sense to me that the law is relevant today as a guide for living, not as a means of salvation. Anyway, I looked to see what word was used for “the law” and found that it was towrah (torah). There are two sets of laws: the Torah (the written law given by God to Moses that He says will NEVER pass away) and the Talmud (which, as I understand it, is the “oral law” as given by the various rabbis through the ages). If you want a really interesting discussion of Torah vs. Talmud, you should read some of the information on this site. It’s really interesting, and while there is obviously a huge amount of controversy here, it makes a lot of sense (especially in light of some of the questions I’ve asked over the years). Anyway, the word used here is Torah, the law given by God to Moses on Mt. Sinai. The next thing I did was look at the other words. Here are some interesting things that I thought about: 1. Blessed is a noun. So, it’s more like “a state of blessing.” 2. Way is a way of life or course of life, manner of living, etc. (definitely something that is done – a verb) 3. Blameless is complete or whole, innocent and unimpaired. 4. The second half of the verse seems to clarify what it means to be completed or whole. It’s to walk (definitely another verb – something that is done) in the Torah of YHWH. So altogether the verse is saying that a state of blessing for those whose way of living is complete and innocent which is to walk or live according to the Torah. Living according to Torah won’t save you or redeem you from judgment. It will, however, make life more blessed and complete. The final thing that caught me was that this verse is all about doing. It’s not about just knowing about YHWH or about Torah. It’s about walking – the things we do every day. Do my actions reflect my love for God? Do I give lip service and not walk out the things I believe? If I don’t act on them, do I really believe them?