Psalms 1 · The Lantern

Blessid is the man, that yede not in the councel of wickid men; and stood not in the weie of synneris, and sat not in the chaier of pestilence.

And "the chair of pestilences" will be the theaters and tribunals, or rather the compliance with wicked and deadly powers and complicity with their deeds.

What a delightfully apt beginning! Those who wish for a grand display and a great celebration to add glory to the games generally promise a prize. They make much of the honor of the crown to be conferred. All this is to make the contestants more eager to take part and to strain every nerve in order to win. This is what our Lord Jesus does.

This Psalm is distinguished from the whole work, for it has no title but serves as a kind of title for the entire work. David composed the Psalms in the manner of one praying, who does not maintain a single mode but adapts himself according to the diverse affections and movements of the one praying.

But his wille is in the lawe of the Lord; and he schal bithenke in the lawe of hym dai and nyyt.

Certainly, even if I shall not have been able to understand everything, if I am, nevertheless, busily engaged in the divine Scriptures and "I meditate on the law of God day and night" and at no time at all do I desist inquiring, discussing, investigating, and certainly, what is greatest, praying God and asking for understanding from him who "teaches humankind knowledge," I shal…

One learns to be bound by the law through continuous meditation so that one shapes himself by it.

Now the blessedness of man is in God. Ps. 143: "Blessed is the people whose God is the Lord," etc. The right process toward blessedness is therefore, first, that we submit ourselves to God, and this in two ways. First through the will, by obeying His commandments; and so he says: "but in the law of the Lord"; and this pertains especially to Christ. Jn.

And he schal be as a tree, which is plauntid bisidis the rennyngis of watris; which tre schal yyue his fruyt in his tyme. And his leef schal not falle doun; and alle thingis which euere he schal do schulen haue prosperite.

But from the fig tree learn a parable: for when its branch has now become tender and puts forth leaves, know that summer is near; so also you, when you shall see all these things, know that it is near, at the door. Amen I say to you, that this generation shall not pass away, until all things be done. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

What do you want? To have temporal things and to pass away together with time or not to love the world and to live forever with God? The river of temporal things carries [us] along, but like a tree growing near a river is our Lord Jesus Christ. He assumed flesh, died, rose again, ascended into heaven. He wanted, so to speak, to plant himself near the river of temporal things.

In this part the outcome of blessedness is described: and first its diversity is set forth; second, the reason is assigned, at "because the Lord knows," etc. Concerning the first, he does two things. First he sets forth the outcome for the good; second, for the wicked, at "not so the ungodly," etc.

Not so wickid men, not so; but thei ben as dust, which the wynd castith awei fro the face of erthe.

The ungodly have no possible hope of having the image of the happy tree applied to them. The only lot that awaits them is one of wandering and winnowing, crushing, dispersion and unrest; shaken out of the solid framework of their bodily condition, they must be swept away to punishment in dust, a plaything of the wind.

We have spoken of the blessedness of the just man, we have spoken of his reward, that he who has not done three things, and has done two things, is compared to the tree of paradise, that is, to Christ the wisdom. We have spoken, then, of the holy man; now on the contrary let us see what is said of the sinner and of the ungodly. Not so the ungodly.

The outcome for the wicked is the opposite, which is described at "not so," etc. And concerning this he does two things. First he sets forth the similitude; second, he applies it, at "they shall not rise again." But note that here he puts "not so, not so" twice, for greater certainty. Gen.

Therfor wickid men risen not ayen in doom; nethir synneres in the councel of iust men.

And even as the righteous who are perfected in good works shall not come into the judgment to be judged, so of the wicked also whose sins are many, and the measure of whose offenses is overflowing, it shall not be required that they should draw near to the judgment, but when they have risen again they shall turn back to Sheol.… All the nations that know not God their Maker are…

(Verse 5.) Therefore the wicked do not rise in judgment. That is, they do not rise to share in the fate of those who will be judged; nor do sinners rise in the council of the righteous. You see that the wicked arise, but they do not rise in the judgment of the righteous, because sinners, though they do not rise in the council of the righteous, do rise in judgment.

Then he applies the similitude at "they shall not rise again," because they are like dust. But against this, 2 Cor. 5: "We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ." Likewise, 1 Cor. 15: "We shall all indeed rise." To which it must be said that this can be read in two ways.

For the Lord knowith the weie of iust men; and the weie of wickid men schal perische.

God is ignorant of evil deeds, not because he is unable to understand everything or to grasp it with his own intelligence (for it is wrong to think this way about God) but because those deeds are unworthy of his contemplation.… God is ignorant of the way of the wicked, and he knows the way of the righteous.

For the Lord knows the way of the just, and the way of the ungodly shall perish. For the Lord knows the way of the just. And what is so great, if the Lord knows the way of the just? But God is said to know those whom he deigns to know.

Then the reason is given why they shall not rise in judgment: "because the Lord knows," etc. And he speaks properly, because when someone knows what is lost, it is restored; but when he does not know, it is not restored. The just indeed are dissolved through death, but God knows them. 2 Tim.

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