Psalm One
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Maybe it is just a random coincidence with no plan or purpose at all, but I somehow believe that in His divine strategy, the Holy Spirit deliberately located the first psalm immediately after the book of Job. “Why?” you might ask. My simple answer is that this particular psalm seems to be a commentary on and an explanation of the life of Job. The psalm opens with the statement, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” The postures depicted in this opening line (walking, standing, and sitting) characterize the position we can find in the story of the hero of the previous book.
Before we go there, let me use a few lines to sketch out the big picture of the book of Job. The story opens by introducing the main character, but the scene immediately shifts to heaven where there is a cosmic-level conversation between God and the devil. As the result of this often-misunderstood power play, Satan wound up with God’s permission to torment unsuspecting Job. After orchestrating one catastrophe after another in an attempt to get Job to abandon his trust in God, Satan returned to God and requested even more liberties. With these new and expanded parameters, Satan intensified his attacks on his unfortunate target. At this point, some supposedly well-meaning friends made the trek to Job’s ash heap – ostensibly to encourage him. The next thirty-five chapters of the book record the words of Job’s so-called comforters and his responses to them. Interestingly, none of the men really had anything encouraging, edifying, or comforting to say to their friend. On the contrary, their every word was an accusation against the testimony of their friend. Granted, their intent was to try to find where Job had gone wrong with the intension of helping him get back on course; however, the result was simply to make one indictment and allegation after another against the already suffering Job. Their visit added insult to injury rather than bringing any consolation or healing. Job responded to each charge with the simple testimony that he knew his own heart and was certain that none of their suppositions was valid. Eventually, God showed up to untangle the twisted theological web that had been woven by this point. The result was that Job was justified and restored to his former state of prosperity – in fact, to a position far superior to his original situation.
As part of one of Job’s lengthy rejoinders (chapters 26-31) against the allegations of his friends, he set up several possible scenarios and invited curses – as if anything worse than what was already going on could possibly happen to him – upon himself if he could be proven guilty of them. One such scenario is found in verses five through eight of chapter thirty-one:
If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit; Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity. If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands; Then let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let my offspring be rooted out.
The obvious implication of this hypothetical situation is that he is not guilty of any of these faults: he has NOT walked in vanity; his foot has NOT hastened to deceit; his step has NOT turned out of the way; and his heart has NOT walked after his carnal eyes. In other words, Job qualifies on the first count listed in Psalm 1:1 for being a blessed man – he has NOT walked in the counsel of the ungodly.
When his so-called comforters came to him, Job refused to accept even one of their opinions. Let me suggest that he simply would not walk (partner, fellowship, or agree) with them because they were sinners. Even though the scripture doesn’t tell us anything about the moral lives of Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, Zophar the Naamathite, or Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, I believe that their very words likely betray them. When I worked with Dr. Lester Sumrall, he was operating an extensive Christian broadcasting ministry that required massive sums of money to maintain. Part of the financial backbone that supported this operation was periodic telethons in which he asked the viewers to make one-time contributions and monthly pledges. As the donations came in, a running total was posted so that everyone who was tuned in could see how close he was to reaching the goal. Of course, the “side effect” of such a practice of publicly talking about the large sums that were being raised was that there were occasional accusations that Dr. Sumrall was syphoning off generous portions of the funds for himself. Dr. Sumrall’s standard answer to such allegations was, “Well, that tells me what you would do if you were in my position.” His philosophy, which I’ve seen to be true time and again, was that the thing we accuse others of is the thing that is inside our own hearts. Obviously, we must have a particular sin or fault in our own thinking for it to be on our minds so that we can even suspect others of it. Assuming this to be the case with Job’s visitors, we can surmise from the very long list of sins and faults that they projected on Job that they must have been a rather errant bunch – at least in their hearts, if not in their actual deeds.
Concerning his posture of standing, Job makes only one claim, “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.” (Job 19:25-27) This statement was part of his answer to Bildad’s caustic remarks in the previous chapter in which he categorically defined the eternal separation of the wicked from the presence of God – obviously trying to implicate Job. Job’s simple refutation of such an allegation was that he was assured that he would stand with God in the hereafter rather than to be eternally separated from Him. The flipside of that argument could be interpreted as saying that – in the here and now – he is NOT standing with the wicked (or sinners, as David would define them) as Bildad was suggesting.
In the same rebuttal that Job gave to the accusation that he was walking with the ungodly, Job spoke of his former life and described the position of authority he once held in the community:
When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street! The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the aged arose, and stood up. The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on their mouth. The nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth. When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me: Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out. And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth…Unto me men gave ear, and waited, and kept silence at my counsel. After my words they spake not again; and my speech dropped upon them. And they waited for me as for the rain; and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain. If I laughed on them, they believed it not; and the light of my countenance they cast not down. I chose out their way, and sat chief, and dwelt as a king in the army, as one that comforteth the mourners. (Job 29:7-25)
As a city elder, he had the privilege, honor, and responsibility of sitting at the city gate as a judge and councilman. In this important position, he served in a capacity similar to a passport control official, deciding who could enter the city. By controlling the influences that were allowed into the city, he was able to set the standard of morality for the city and lay the groundwork for determining the eventual destiny of his people. He also served as a customs officer, regulating the flow of goods into and out of the city. Through this position, he was able to establish the standard of living for the citizenry – a determination of their prosperity. Additionally, he was a public defender who fought for the rights of the oppressed, underprivileged, and misfortunate. By his own testimony, he alleviated their suffering and helped them rise above their downtrodden plight. He even held a determinate position in the military – a position that he used as an inroad into the power seat of his nation to bring spiritual counsel and healing. Definitely, he did NOT sit in the seat of the scornful.
According to the introductory verse in psalm one, the person – any person, including Job and you and me – who is careful and deliberate in his posture in sitting, walking, and standing is blessed. Therefore, the book of Job is the story of a blessed man. I know that this is a radically different concept from the way we traditionally view this book; however, just because we’ve always done something one way doesn’t mean that it’s right. What matters is that we take the time to look at the narrative afresh with an honest and open mind.
First of all, let’s remember that a major chunk of the book is made up of the opinions of men. Solomon warned us no less than four times that human ways of seeing things can be dangerously erroneous. (Proverbs 14:12, 16:25, 21:2, 21:8) Paul explicitly said that philosophical and traditional thinking of men is empty and deceitful if it is not modeled after the nature and wisdom of Christ. He went on to say that such human interpretations of life will spoil us – a Greek term that means to lead away as booty or to seduce. (Colossians 2:8) Of course, our ultimate authority on truth is always Jesus Christ Himself who blatantly told us that holding to a thought or action simply because it is the traditional way of thinking or acting will void out the truth of God and make it ineffective in our lives. (Matthew 15:6; Mark 7:9, 7:13) Therefore, I challenge you to have an open heart and rethink the storyline of this book.
Actually, the bulk of the book of Job covers only a very small sliver out of the life of the man. When we are introduced to Job, he is already a mature man of no less than fifty years of age. Verse two of the first chapter says that he had ten grown children. Assuming that he started having children at around age twenty and that he had one child each year, we can calculate that he must have been no less than thirty years of age by the time his last offspring was born. Of course, there is the possibility of twins or triplets that could have sped up the process; however, the likelihood is that he was actually much older by the time all ten were born. Verse four adds that each of these children had his/her own house. This means that they were all adults by the time the narrative begins. If the youngest was twenty when he/she moved out on his/her own, then Job had to have been a minimum of fifty years old at the time. We are given no suggestion as to how long Job and Mrs. Job had been empty nesters; however, the word “continuously” used to describe how Job interceded for his adult children suggests that his prayers had been going on for a long time – possibly adding several years to our timetable. At the end of the book, we see that Job was blessed with an additional ten children and that he lived to see the great-great grandchildren produced from this second set of offspring. (Job 42:13, 15) Again, we can assume that Job probably had this new batch of children at approximately one year apart, meaning that his last child came no earlier than ten years after he was healed and restored. Using twenty years as a minimum age for each individual to reach maturity to start bearing children, it would take approximately sixty years for Job to see his first great-great grandchild from the youngest of his children. Thus, we have a minimum of seventy years after the end of his tribulation before he saw the last child’s great-grandchild. Assuming that there was more than one great-grandchild born to this last child, we have to add on even more years. Using the minimum that Job was at least fifty years old when his troubles began and the minimum that he lived no less than seventy years after they ended, we can account for at the very least one hundred and twenty years of Job’s life that were apparently trouble free. The reason I call these years trouble free is that verse ten of chapter one states that there was a protective hedge around his life that kept the enemy at bay so that the devil had to actually get God’s specific permission to interfere with his life. (Job 1:4-12, 2:1-6) Subtracting these trouble-free years from the total one hundred forty years of Job’s life (Job 42:16), we see that his problems lasted no more than twenty years.
However, there is an even more accurate way to calculate the period of time that Job endured all his losses and setbacks. According to verses sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen of the first chapter of the narrative about Job, all his calamities occurred almost simultaneously in that each one was reported while the messenger who conveyed the message of the previous one was still in the process of making his report. Although there was no timeframe given for Satan’s follow-up visit with God, it is only logical that he didn’t waste any time in getting back to ask for more leeway in his attacks on Job. Seeing the rapid-fire approach he took in his first round of assault, it is likely that he let no more than a few days go by before petitioning for further liberties.
The next segment of the story deals with the visit of Job’s friends. From verse one of chapter one, we know that Job lived in the land of Uz. According to verse eleven of chapter two, his friends came from Teman, Shuh, and Naamath. Although there is some uncertainty as to the exact locations of all these ancient cities, there is consensus among biblical scholars that all these cities were in close proximity; otherwise, there would have been no way that the men could have maintained a close relationship. Even without social media, bad news travels fast; therefore, it is likely to assume that the friends got word of Job’s situation within a week or so. It is logical to assume that they left within the first day or so of having received word because they were part of Job’s inner circle of friends. Knowing that Job was the wealthiest man in the East (Job 1:3), we can only assume that his close friends were also men of means – meaning that they could afford to travel by the fastest form of conveyance available at the time. Thus, it is likely that they were at Job’s side within just a matter of days after hearing about his problems. Although they were too awestruck to utter a word for the first seven days they were with their friend, they could have presented all their arguments within just a matter of hours once they started talking. According to verse one of chapter thirty-eight, God interrupted their session by sending a whirlwind from which He personally spoke and eventually reprimanded the visitors and commanded Job to pray for them. (Job 42:7-9) Verse ten of chapter forty-two triumphantly announces that God then turned the captivity of Job and restored to him double of all that he had lost. Viewed from this perspective, it is likely that the entire episode of tragedy likely lasted no more than a couple weeks or a month – not so bad when compared to a hundred thirty-nine years and eleven months of good health and prosperity!
Even if we opt for the maximum duration of twenty years for his suffering – but especially if we chose the minimum time of more like twenty days – it becomes easier to see why I say that psalm one is a commentary on the life of Job. He was a blessed man who delighted in the law of the Lord and meditated on it both day and night. His life was fruitful, and everything he did prospered. Moreover, the conversations between God and Satan in the first two chapters revealed that God Himself had taken note of Job’s life and knew his ways and his character. (Job 1:8, 2:3) Job truly was a man who brought forth fruit in his season. There was a season when he was physically fruitful with birthing of children. There was a season when he was fruitful in business with the multiplication of flocks and herds. There was a season when he was socially fruitful as he served as a leader in his community. And even in all his distresses, he was fruitful spiritually as he testified to his friends about his unshakable faith and confidence in his relationship with God. Furthermore, his leaf did not wither, no matter how intense the oppression he endured. When his whole life fell apart, he simply answered, “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21) When his wife challenged him to curse God and die, he answered, “Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10) In both of these responses, the narrator of the story remarked that Job did not sin with his mouth or charge God foolishly. His leaves were just as alive and fresh in these trying times as in his times of prosperity and peace!
