Psalm Meditation 682
Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time
July 14, 2013

Psalm 1
1 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;
2 but their delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law they meditate day and night.
3 They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.
4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
(NRSV)

What is the advice of the wicked? It would be interesting if it changed from time to time and situation to situation, however it is almost always the same, ‘Take the easy way, the thoughtless way, the selfish way; that’s the way for us to go.’ The way that takes no real effort and reaps instant, high rewards is the wicked way. The risks are usually pretty high, and pretty well hidden, at least at the beginning.

Those the psalmist calls ‘the righteous’ make the effort to discover the will of God, give thought to how best to live that out and put in the time and energy to see that through. The rewards come more slowly and are the kinds of rewards that are held in the heart rather than in the hands or the bank. It takes more effort to get started on the way of righteousness, and in some sense in gets easier as time goes by, as lives are touched and hearts are warmed on a regular basis.

The way of the wicked looks attractive at first and gets uglier as time passes. The way of the righteous looks difficult at first and while some parts get easier as time passes, the continuing challenges to become deeper and broader have a way of keeping things interesting.

July 8, 2013