Psalm Genre: Wisdom

This Sunday we are looking at the very first Psalm in the book. It (perhaps along with Psalm 2) serves as a literary introduction of sorts to the entire Psalter. This Psalm is what is known as a Wisdom Psalm.

The Wisdom Psalms

Examples: Psalm 1, 14, 37, 73, 91, 112, 119, 128

Features: The Wisdom Psalms are songs that pick up on the themes common to the other wisdom literature of the Bible: Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. Wisdom literature tends to focus on the fate of the righteous (wise) vs. the wicked (foolish), on issues of theodicy, and on God’s Law. A subset of Wisdom Psalms are often referred to as Torah Psalms, because of their focus on God’s law. The best known example of these is Ps. 119. These Psalms are also noteworthy for what they do not have. They rarely express either lament or praise. Rather their tone tends more to towards reflection, meditation, and contemplation. Their focus is very didactic in nature. The result is that the Wisdom Psalms are very practical and seem more like pedagogical poetry than songs. But that does not mean that the Israelites did not sing them.

Chiastic Structure of Psalm 1

    A (v 1) The Path of Blessedness (Righteous vs. Wicked)

            B (v 2) Delight in the Lord’s Law

                    C (v 3) Like a Tree of Life

                    C’ (v 4) The Wicked Like chaff

            B’ (v 5) The Lord’s Judgment

    A’ (v 6) The Path of Death (Righteous vs. Wicked)