1Felices los que no siguen los consejos del malvado, los que se niegan a seguir el camino de los pecadores y no se burlan de los demás.
2Sino que por el contrario aman obedecer la ley del Señor, y piensan en ella día y noche.
3Son como árboles plantados junto a ríos de agua viva, que producen fruto en cada temporada. Sus hojas nunca se marchitan, y son exitosos en todo lo que hacen.
4Pero tal no es el caso de los malvados. Ellos son como paja que se lleva el viento.
5Por eso los malvados no sobrevivirán al juicio, pues los pecadores no tienen lugar entre los que viven con rectitud.
6Porque el Señor guarda a los que siguen el camino del bien, pero el camino de los malvados conduce a la muerte.
📖 Chapter study
Summary
The psalm opens the book by contrasting two paths: the way of the righteous, who meditates on the law of the LORD and flourishes like a tree planted by streams of water, and the way of the wicked, who is like chaff blown away by the wind and cannot stand in the judgment.
Explanation
Psalms was Israel's hymnbook and prayer book, used in temple worship for centuries. Psalm 1 functions as a gateway: it sets the standard that will guide the reading of all 149 psalms that follow — there is a path that leads to life and one that leads to ruin. The image of a tree planted by streams of water describes someone deeply rooted, who withstands life's droughts because he is continually nourished by the Word, unlike chaff, which has no root and no weight of its own. Today this invites the question: is my life rooted in something stable, or am I carried along by opinion and the wind of the moment?
Fun facts
- The psalms were organized into five 'books' (1-41, 42-72, 73-89, 90-106, 107-150), mirroring the structure of the five books of the Torah — Psalm 1 opens 'Book I' as a kind of programmatic introduction.
- The image of a tree planted 'by the rivers of water' echoes the tree of life in Eden and reappears in Jeremiah 17:8, showing how the biblical writers reused the same figures of speech.