Psalm 2:1 Wicked attacks against Israel are vain

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The second chapter of Psalms continues the first. While Psalm 1 is a private question and wonder about the prosperity of the wicked, Psalm 2 raises the same question, this time ‘on the large scale’ about the prosperity of evil nation and wicked forces in the world.

“לָמָּה רָגְשׁוּ גוֹיִם וּלְאֻמִּים יֶהְגּוּ רִיק”

“Why have nations gathered and kingdoms think vain things?”

The Hebrew word the Psalmist uses for ‘gathered’ is not the common one. We would usually say:
“למה נאספו גויים” ,
the term “Ragshu” (רגשו) as appears in our verse means excitement, more like a fuss. Each time there is a different force or nation that wants to diminish the Israeli nation.

Already at the first verse, King David tells us: these thoughts and efforts are in vain, “..think vain things”.

In the verse that follows, we will see the reason for these vain attacks and empty thoughts against the Israeli nation.

Psalm 1:5 Hindrance punishment for the wicked

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“עַל כֵּן לֹא יָקֻמוּ רְשָׁעִים בַּמִּשְׁפָּט וְחַטָּאִים בַּעֲדַת צַדִּיקִים“

“Therefore, the wicked shall not stand up in judgment, nor shall the sinners in the congregation of the righteous.“

Wicked`s sentence will come. But why is does it happen that way?

Why won’t the punishment be an immediate one? so we can witness it, the wicked themselves will see the righteousness of the Lord and everyone therefor improve their ways?

The possibility to worship G-d with free will!
Without the hindrance of the punishment, there isn’t a real option for one to sin.. no option to to worship the Lord out of pure free will.

Give it a try, offer a kid two option:
1 – eat a candy and you will hit him to death with a terrible stick you hold in your hand,
..Or..
2 – eat a carrot, and he’ll get a bag full of colorful candies you hold in the other hand…

The opportunity to worship HaShem purely out of free will, is given only when outcome is concealed, not immediate.

 

Psalm 1:4 The wicked as a detached husk

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“לֹא כֵן הָרְשָׁעִים כִּי אִם כַּמֹּץ אֲשֶׁר תִּדְּפֶנּוּ רוּחַ”

“Not so the wicked, but [they are] like chaff that the wind drives away.”

(The allegory continues) Unlike the righteous persons that are described as a solid tree close to it’s source of water,
The wicked is detached and unstable, like a chaff.  Chaff, is the waste of the fruit. While it is attached to the fruit and the seed it has value, once detached, the chaff is worthless, gone with the wind.

Psalm 1:3 Being connected to the essence of life, Torah

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“וְהָיָה כְּעֵץ שָׁתוּל עַל פַּלְגֵי מָיִם אֲשֶׁר פִּרְיוֹ  יִתֵּן בְּעִתּוֹ וְעָלֵהוּ לֹא יִבּוֹל וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה יַצְלִיחַ”

“He shall be as a tree planted beside rivulets of water, which brings forth its fruit in its season, and its leaves do not wilt; and whatever he does prosper.”

Happiness and success are promised to the person whom is attached to the source of the world, to the Torah.
The allegory, is of a tree that is connected to the the source of it’s essentially, planted beside of the water.

Look at King David himself. Long periods of his life he was ‘detached’, despised by his brothers as a kid,  oppressed by King Saul, his wife Michal was given away to Palti son of Laish, he was forced to live in a foreign-enemy country of Plishtim, even after he turned a king, his own son, Absalom rebelled against him and he had to run away from his own palace.
Regardless to all that, King David was never a detached person! he always had this firm spiritual ground that stabilized him.
This spiritual solid ground of the Torah, in which he desires, provides a person a base that will always hold.
The German poet, Heinrich Heine called the Torah “The portable homeland of the Jew”. It is a safe ground one can always relay on.

What is “..and its leaves do not wilt..” ?
Being connected, doesn’t gets only the branches and fruits of a person to  be connected to the Torah. Alas, even the leaves are connected – every simple, even not spiritual deed and talk of this person are connected to holiness.  Being connected by one’s essence, makes every part of him meaningful. Look at the great Jewish sages, you can learn G-d’s will just from looking at their day to day behavior.

 

Psalm 1:2 Free will, Absolute truth and Individualism

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“כִּי אִם בְּתוֹרַת יְהֹוָה חֶפְצוֹ וּבְתוֹרָתוֹ יֶהְגֶּה יוֹמָם וָלָיְלָה”

“But his desire is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.”

Individualism is an important key for the prosperity of the world. Indeed, how can you improve the world while being worthless.  If the world is some sort of structure G-d is building, then the stronger we make ourselves, the stronger the bricks are – the stronger the structure will be.

“…and in His law he meditates day and night”
In Hebrew, there is a double meaning to the word “His”. In the current verse, It is usually refers to the Lord, but can also be referred to the person that desires and studies the Torah.
Wait, let us start from the beginning…

Well then, the Psalmist teaches us, there are three parts in studying and obtaining the Torah:
First, you desire the law of the Lord. Since free will is one of the Jewish bible’s fundamentals, a person must have an inner desire to understand the Bible and it’s ways. Not out of constraints, sure not forced to it.

Second, understanding the Torah is the absolute and supreme truth.
Unlike other subjects, that the logic can change from time to time (not so long ago most of the world thought the world is flat),
or from place to place (you might think reading this post is a basic possibility for everyone, no matter where they live. Well, few days I ago I met a person who spoke to me about his desire to build a school in Sudan. “Will you let internet in, so the students be able to learn things about the world?” I asked. He laughed. “Where is the list of the girls students? I see here only the boys?”, it took only few seconds for him to realize I was talking about education also for girls..then he left..),
and so, of course from one culture to another.
The Torah, sent to us by the creator of the world, is not a matter for changes. It is an absolute supreme truth.

Approaching with the right attitude of (1) inner desire and (2) total acceptance of the absolute truth of the Torah, brings us to the third part, where one can acquire the Torah in an individual way, seek his own path in it, Then, when one’s self can actually be part of the Torah while he studies it.

 

Question: Is this true for anyone or just for Jews?

Answer: The Torah belongs to the Jews, as it was given to them on Mount Sinai, so the question is a good one. 
Nevertheless, we see there are 7 Noahide commandments for Non-Jews, Ethics and Morals everyone must follow. In simple words, no one can avoid learning from the Bible how should he live his life.

[Notice: These summaries are taken from classes during the week about Judaism. Therefore, some of the issues that were brought up are just mentioned and will be discussed more lengthily on other chapters]

Psalm 1:1 Avoiding the Evil

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“לֹא הָלַךְ בַּעֲצַת רְשָׁעִים וּבְדֶרֶךְ חַטָּאִים לֹא עָמָד וּבְמוֹשַׁב לֵצִים לֹא יָשָׁב…”

“.. that he did not follow the counsel of the wicked, neither did he stand in the way of sinners nor sit in the company of scorners.”

Even the slightest touch with the evil can easily be contagious:

It starts with a small talk, just a glance, one tells himself: ‘what can an open minded chat harm?, just listening to other ideas won’t affect me, with my strong beliefs’..

To start with, you might not ‘follow the counsel of the wicked’, but this is how things will develop:

The ‘quick look’ will become more like ‘a touch’.
What can happen from trying only this once? one will ask himself. ‘I am not changing myself, I am a good guy that only experience what others are doing’.. In the words of the Psalmist: the counsel is now a stand.

The end of the ‘glance’ that became ‘a touch’, is turning from something external to one’s own self. The temporary contact will quickly turn to integration with the soul and dominates it. Now they sit together.

To sum it up,
The cautious from the evil person, is because of the affect they have on one’s soul. The one who knows how to avoid this inner damage, will be a more stable man, therefore happier and ready to the second part, of ‘choosing the good’.
After you avoided the bad, you can chose to be in the good side.
‘Shun evil and do good’ (Psalm 34:15)

Psalms 1:1

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אַשְׁרֵי הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר לֹא הָלַךְ בַּעֲצַת רְשָׁעִים וּבְדֶרֶךְ חַטָּאִים לֹא עָמָד וּבְמוֹשַׁב לֵצִים לֹא יָשָׁב:

The praises of a man are that he did not follow the counsel of the wicked, neither did he stand in the way of sinners nor sit in the company of scorners.

“Ashrei Ha Ish “,  ‘Osher’ in Hebrew means bliss or happiness.
A person seeks for happiness in his life, nonetheless, so many stumbling blocks are preventing him from getting this basic request.
At same time the life of the evil persons seems many times to be full of bliss – Why? how come the evil succeeds whilst not behaving in the path this world should be lived by?

This chapter teaches us a clearer perspective on life and what is happiness. Not the assets one posses and the figures in  his bank account, not his power, strength nor the might or authority are the ones that will gain the sought after happiness.
What is true happiness then?  It is, when you are doing good things, and then you have this feeling of wholeness within you.

A person, in which his path is of avoiding the evil while thriving towards and doing good, ‘The good’. – This is the person that will always live with bliss regardless to the hard incidents that may occur to him and the difficulties that he encounters.

Otherwise, choosing the wrong doing path, leads to lack of stability. For a long time now, we know that wealth is not a measurement of happiness or quality of life.

Contented means you’re stable. Evil is temporary and not stable. Evil is not stable, even though sometimes plated with gold!