Psalm 1 is not incidentally the first psalm listed in the Psalter. Rather, it is a pr‚ cis, a template for all the psalms that follow. Psalm 1 introduces the whole theme of happiness, the state of blessing that surrounds those who are righteous and just. Its focus is on the chasm of experiences that lies between the just and the wicked and the promise of happiness for the good and judgment for the impious. The psalmist acknowledges the existence and influence of the wicked in this world but chooses to begin by focusing on positive pronouncements. "Blessedness" or "happiness" is the ongoing state of the just.

But immediately, the psalmist refers to those who do not enjoy such blessedness _ those who make their place among the "wicked," the "sinners" or the "scoffers." The NRSV translation h…