Psalm 1. Being Genuine in a Cynical Age.

Observation: The first psalm contrasts the life of "sinners" and "scoffers" with those who delight in God's law. The wicked will not "stand in judgment," but be "driven away like chaff". Those who delight in God's law, however, will flourish like trees by a stream. It's a common message in the Hebrew Bible: seek God's ways and you'll prosper.

Application: This psalm, and passages like it, are sometimes used to prop up the "prosperity gospel," the idea that God will make you rich if you are good enough and deserve it enough and believe enough. It seems to me Jesus directly contradicts this teaching with the first words out of his mouth in the Sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are the poor." He turns the conventional thinking of his time--that wealth and prosperity in this life are one big "thumbs up" from God--on its head.

So what do I do with this psalm? If I agree with Jesus, and don't accept that "Be Good" automatically equals health and wealth, can I still get anything out of Psalm 1? I think so, but it takes redefining what "prospering" actually looks like. 

As my rapidly greying beard suggests, I was a teenager in the 1990's. This means I went through the most sarcastic period of my life, at a time when sarcasm and cynicism were in vogue. I still enjoy a good sarcastic quip now and again. :-) What I learned during that time was a pretty common lesson for teens of any age: that scoffing is a pretty good defense mechanism. If you don't take anything seriously, then you're spared the heartbreak of missing it when it's gone. If you scoff at everything, then you don't take on the risk involved with committing to something. You won't end up looking dumb when it doesn't work out. 

But what if the kind of "prosperity" this psalm is talking about is entirely in our minds? What if simply believing in something is a kind of prosperity? What if being genuine, and not caring if others think it's naive or stupid, is its own kind of wealth? What if simply trusting that living God's way can make us happy right now, even if we stay poor, or aren't as healthy as we wish we were, is enough?

The "stream" we're planted in when we trust in God has nothing to do with earthly riches. It's about hope. 

Prayer: God, I still sometimes want to pull back from taking life seriously. I still get tempted to scoff. It's easier than committing. But I pray for the strength to commit, to be seen as naive, to be a fool for you, anyway. Amen.