Psalm 1
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Psalm 1
1 Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of HaShem,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.
4 Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For HaShem watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.
In contemplating this psalm, it affirms and develops something important that has been a powerful contemplation of mine, and this is that time reveals all things. That which is chaff and based in egotism withers before time, and is blown away by the winds of time, that which is good thrives in the face of time and bears good fruit. Certainly, the wicked here refers most significantly to overt evil, but can be extended to anything based in the egotism and the egoistic condition. This isn’t necessarily a cause of dread, but can be a cause for celebration of the Tikkun (Rectification), for it is the nature of Tikkun.
The meaning of the word for HaShem (YHVH) is, “that which was, is and forever shall be.” This then speaks of the nature of the force within and behind creation that enlivens and moves creation. This Divine Name, YHVH is associated with Chokmah, which is the depth of the past, implies that this is a primary, initial movement and intention within the force of creation, liberation. Time then, seems to have this essential nature. In withering that which is founded in the egotism and giving life and energy to that which is good, that which serves the Divine intention, time liberates us from the husks of darkness that undermine our good and gives force and energy to that which is good and serves the Divine Will.
Certainly, the light shines on the wicked and the righteous alike, and all things, good and evil alike can thrive in an ephemeral way, but time tests and tempers all things, brings to the surface the truth of them, cuts away and withers that which is unsustainable. When I look into my own experience, I can see that things that have taken huge quantities of effort to be sustained, that create constant frustration and difficulty that can never find resolution and never become self-sustaining are most often so because I am attempting to maintain them with self-will. Sometimes it is merely a matter of adjusting how I relate to them, slightly adjusting my aim, other times, the activity or the thing I am attempting to sustain in my life is completely based in my own egotism and must be utterly shed and let go of.
In this way, it is never my own energy that sustains anything, but the life-force of creation itself. I merely tend the fields; tend the garden, as it were. If I am the one trying to “make it grow,” then it is not founded in the Divine Will, but in self-will, and can never really bear good fruit because it is an aberration of the Life-Force itself. That which is based in the Divine Will is made to grow naturally and spontaneously in its own way and in the Light of the Divine and my role is merely to tend it as a gardener. In this way, time reveals all good things and the Life Force makes things to bear good fruit in the time appointed to them. My role is merely to tend to their health, their harmony, and await the Creator’s timing in each plant bearing good fruit in its own way.
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