I reference Psalm 1 a few times in The Wisdom Pyramid, not only because its a beautiful wisdom psalm, but because I think its poetic imagery captures so much of the contrast between wisdom and folly. The psalm was important to me as I wrote the book. So much so, that I commissioned Poor Bishop Hooper (whose Psalm-based songs are really spectacular) to record a new live performance of their version of Psalm 1, to release in conjunction with The Wisdom Pyramid. Here’s the video:
I love how their take on Psalm 1 puts a musical accent on the joy of those whose “delight is in the law of the Lord.” To meditate on God’s Word, to trust it and obey it, is not a legalistic chore. It’s a joy. It’s the joy of a thriving, fruit-bearing tree:
He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
Psalm 1’s image of the healthy tree as opposed to the “chaff” is simple but profound. The vibrant tree is strong and sturdy by virtue of its proximity to water—the river of life. That is: proximity to God and his Word. The weak, blown-away-by-the-wind chaff is fragile by virtue of not being in proximity to God and his nourishing water that feeds healthy soil and strong roots.
This is the same for wisdom, I argue in The Wisdom Pyramid. We are wise insofar as we are close to God, fed and nourished by him above all else. We are foolish insofar as we distance ourselves from God, going our own way apart from him. The wise man thus has sturdy roots, strong foundations, the ability to withstand furious winds. The fool is easily swayed and blown over by the slightest breeze. Rootless and frail, he is like chaff.
The key to human flourishing and a life of joy and wisdom, then, is simple: live a life oriented around God (his Word, his presence among his people, his handiwork in creation, the beauty that attune our senses to the world he made). Be like the tree along a river. This is why I ordered the Wisdom Pyramid the way that I did.
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God” (Ps. 14:1), and thus wanders aimlessly through the desert. The wise man, by contrast, lives a radically God-centered life. I love how A. W. Tozer puts it:
As the sailor locates his position on the sea by “shooting” the sun, so we may get our moral bearings by looking at God. We must begin with God. We are right when and only when we stand in a right position relative to God, and we are wrong so far and so long as we stand in any other position.
Wisdom is proximity to God. Presence with him. Attachment to the vine. Roots deep in the fertile soil along his river banks. That’s the truth Psalm 1 so beautifully captures.
“Oh the joy” indeed.