Psalm 1 | The Way To Human Flourishing | Part 1
Part 1 of a 5 part series in Psalm 1
Do you want to learn the way of human flourishing? The path to the fullest pleasure and satisfaction that life can offer? Then consider the wisdom literature of the Bible.
The Psalms form a beautiful tapestry with which we can glean many lessons from. Some chapters express lighter shades of how to have joy in God, some, neutral shades of persevering through mundane life, and others are dark shades which help us trudge through lament and grief. All of which form an image of Wisdom. They answer the question, how do we faithfully live and relate to God, or flourish, in the various seasons of our lives?
In this five part series we will take an in depth look at Psalm 1. To begin, we will look at verse one, the introduction.
Blessed is the man/woman
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;-Psalm 1:1
what is blessed?
The first words of the book of the Psalms starts: “Blessed is the man…” With four words a paradigm is born.
What does blessed mean? With our modern understanding of the term “blessing” we can be prone to interpret this initial phrase as “I will be blessed by God if I do what follows…”. It’s not that this is a wrong translation (although its implications can be and often are wrong). Rather, it doesn’t get to the heart of the matter.
Some modern Bibles will translate blessed as happy. “Happy is the man…” This gets closer to the heart of the original authors. But we must remember that in the scriptures the authors will employ stylistic literary forms that our english language can struggle to fully communicate. Such is the case with the word blessed.
a path to flourishing
This stylistic form of saying “blessed is the man…” is one by which the author of the Psalms will hold out an ideal way of living and say, “do you want to be flourishing in life? Then do what follows because this way of living is the embodiment of the human flourishing you seek.”
(See this Theological Journal related to the stylistic form mentioned above)
Flourishing means to live within an optimal range of human functioning. For the Christian, it is a way of living that lines you up as close to God’s design before the fall in Genesis 3 when things were ideal. It leads to the most fulfilling relationships with people, sex, money, vocation, and spirituality. It is the apex of living we should all aspire to and which God longs to lead us into. It’s properly relating to God in all of life’s situations. Properly ordering our lives with a Godward priority. And living for the Kingdom of God, instead of the kingdom of us.
In essence, it is obedience to God. Charles Spurgeon says: “If we were perfectly obedient, we would be fully restored. If the whole world would obey the Lord, it would be heaven on earth.” This is what it means to flourish. To obey God by lining ourselves up with his design. It leads to the most satisfying life.
Flourishing does not = the prosperity gospel
This foundation we’ve explored is helpful in understanding why the person who lives in this way is “blessed” or happy. But we must make a distinction. This flourishing has less to do with our western interpretation of blessed as in monetary wealth or giftedness. And more to do with a way of living in both good and difficult seasons which leads to a pristine way of being.
If we were to simply stop here we might draw incorrect implications for what the Psalmist is leading us into. Is this a type of prosperity gospel? If we follow God’s way nothing bad will ever happen? We will be rich? Healthy? Beautiful? Accepted?
No. Flourishing does not equal the prosperity gospel. For as we will see, the Psalmist is interested in giving us a better way of being in the world that will keep us and sustain us in the difficult valleys of life as well as allow us to feel the beauties of the good days too.
This type of flourishing that is not tied to earthly things can happen both in prosperity and in poverty. In sickness and in health. We will explore this in a later part, but for now it is important to note the implications of the saying “Blessed is the man…” as an introduction to a way of living that leads to flourishing/faithful living in both good and bad seasons of life.
sin fractures flourishing
Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;-Psalm 1:1b
With this foundational understanding, how is the Psalmist going to paint this way of life that we should imitate if we want to flourish? He begins by offering us the negative way, or things not to do, that will lead to being that blessed man/woman (flourishing).
Like we said, this flourishing is the apex of living we should all aspire to and which God longs to lead us into. It is properly relating to God, prioritizing your life correctly, and living for the kingdom of God, not our own.
But what so often leads us astray from this? Just like with Adam and Eve, it is sin.
“God longs to lead you into the fullest pleasure life can offer” may sound strange to your ear. Perhaps because we are so indoctrinated by the notion that to fully follow God is somehow less fun, less pleasurable, and less “full” than living in sinful ways.
The psalmist has something to say about that, which we will discuss in part 2 of this 5 part series.
Reflection questions
The author of Psalm 1 holds out for us an image of a person who is the epitome of human flourishing, will we follow? Some reflection questions for you as you seek to do just that:
Do you believe that God is for your pleasure? Or against it?
Do you agree with Psalm 1 that the path to flourishing in life is through holiness?
In what ways have you misprioritized your life?
How can you flourish in life in both poverty and in richness? Sickness and health?
Is the way you spend your time, money, and affections building God’s kingdom, or yours?
Do you believe that properly relating to God, prioritizing your life correctly, and living for the kingdom of God is truly what it means to flourish in this life? Why might this be difficult to believe?
Desiring to flourish,
Josh.
Want to be alerted when the part two in Psalm 1, a guide to human flourishing releases? Make sure you are subscribed to our email list!