Against this " iniquity," or " unrighteousness," the chief threatenings of the Psalter are directed, striking often literally and low, at direct dishonesty in commercial dealings, and rising into fiercest indignation at spiritual dishonesty in the commercial dealing and " trade " of the heart.^
3. The first word in the Psalter is a word expressive of
^ Raskin, Bock Honeycomb ( Works, xxxi 121).
PSALM I. I 171
emotion, being an exclamation : 0 the blessedness of so and so. The Hebrew word is often rendered happy in the A.V. (as Ps. cxxvii. 5, cxliv. 15, cxlvi. 5 ; Deut. xxxiii. 29 ; Job v. 17 ; Prov. iii. 13, xiv. 21, xvi. 20, xxviii. 14) ; and it might for distinct- ness be so rendered always. It occurs in the Psalter twenty-six times.
^ How abundantly is that word " Blessed " multiplied in the Book of Psalms ! The book seems to be made out of that word, and the foundation raised upon that word, for it is the first word of the book. But in all the book there is not one " Woe." ^
^ The Welsh translation is very expressive — " Wliite is that man's world who walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly." The translator gives up all attempt at being literal, and seeks to express the central and governing thought that no spot or blemish can mar the whiteness of that man's character, experience or life. This conveys the idea of the completeness and fulness of the blessings expressed by the word " blessed." ^
4. We all wish to know who the blessed man is. No one who values life, who cares for its enjoyments and its hopes, can be indifferent to this question, namely: Who is the vitally, the truly happy man ? Here we have a distinct declaration upon the subject. The voice is loud, sweet, clear. The man who pronounces this opinion has evidently no difficulty upon the subject. His sentences are so sharp cut, so evidently spoken from the heart, that to him, at least, there is no doubt as to the happy man. Who is he then ? He is described in this verse by what are called negatives. There is nothing affirmative said about him. We are told what he does not do. He does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly ; he does not stand in the way of sinners ; he does not sit in the seat of the scornful. As if goodness came by not doing things. But it so happens that we cannot understand some of the very highest things in life unless they are put to us in precisely this way.
^ When God Himself came down from Heaven to set things in order, He took precisely the course that is taken by the writer of this verse. What did He say ? He said, " Thou shalt not lie ; thou shalt not kill ; thou shalt not commit adultery ; thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not bear false witness." As if goodness
^ Donne. "^ D. Davies, Talks with Men, Women and Children, i. 235.
172 THE MAN THAT IS BLESSED
consisted in not doing evil ; as if not to do anything were to do everything that is best. It is so in the teaching of your own children. Do you not begin by telling your little child what he must not do ? If you were to set your child something that he must do, you would find it very difficult to accommodate yourself to his early perception. But if you tell him not to do certain things, you can more easily get at his understanding. There are more ways of saying Thou shalt not than there are of saying Thou shalt}
^ The man that walketh in the counsel of the ungodly is not a happy man. Can I teach any young life that one lesson ? Do you want to go out to-night to seek a happy man ? The Psalmist tells you that there is one direction in which you need not go, for he has been there before you, and the happy man cannot be found ; and that is the direction of the counsel of the ungodly. Then where ? The Psalmist says, " I can save you trouble in another direction ; if you want to find a happy man, you will not find him in the way of sinners. I can yet save you a journey; you will not find a happy man amongst those who sit in the seat of the scornful." Then how much of the devil's territory is left for exploration ? Not an inch. He has taken up the counsel of the ungodly, the way of sinners, the seat of the scornful. Take these things from the satanic empire and you have left nothing.^
5. This picture, then, begins with negatives. " Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the wicked, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." It is not an accident that behind the shelter, as it were, of a forbidding wall of negatives, the fruits of holy character grow up. For in a world like this, where there is so much wickedness, and where there are so many men who do not live after the highest pattern, and from the highest motives, no good thing will ever be achieved, unless we have learned to say, "No! This did not I because of the fear of the Lord."