Contents
Approach Psalm 1:1–6 Synthesis Output Appendix

The work aims to reveal the content and meaning of the first psalm and show that Holy Scripture contains a developed and systematic theology with its own language and its own unified tradition. As a result of the study, it turned out that the Psalmist in the first psalm teaches prayer and offers the practice of assimilating God’s commandments.

The reconstruction of the theology of the Psalmist became possible thanks to the reading of the psalm not in the language of figurative symbolism, but in the additional language of dynamic symbolism, characteristic of the Hebrew language. The proposed method of reading the psalm corresponds to the way of understanding the law of the Lord, which the psalm itself teaches – to treat the word as an instrument directing the life of the soul. At the same time, the law of God for a person becomes a kind of tuning fork, according to which, like the strings in a psalter, all the forces of his soul are tuned. The Psalmist characterizes the depth of the impact of a word on the soul on three levels. First, agreement with the word and acceptance of it with the heart. Secondly, the assimilation of the accepted word in the soul, due to which new character traits arise. Thirdly, taking root in a new way of life is identified with a person’s acquisition of a new nature.

If the word accepted by a person is the law of the Lord, then his life is transformed in accordance with the Divine life, and approaching it is experienced as bliss. But if the accepted word is the advice of the unrighteous, then the life of such a person is upset and lost.

The Approach emphasizes the special role of the first psalm, serving as an introduction not only to the book of Psalms, but also to the practice of prayer itself and, thus, setting out the essence of prayer.

To reveal the Psalmist’s teaching on prayer, the Analysis examines the text of the psalm in the original language, in which verbs play an important role, and the content of the names used is filled with the meaning of those verbs from which these names came (dynamic symbolism).

It is on this path that it becomes possible in the Synthesis to recreate the doctrine of the intelligent and prayerful assimilation of the law of God, which directs the internal movements of the human soul.Based on the revealed theology of the Psalmist, in the Exit an attempt is made to turn to other texts of Holy Scripture. This approach made it possible to discover an important theme of Holy Scripture, namely the theology of the living power and transforming ability of the word of God, a theme that made it possible to feel the living unity of all Holy Scripture from anticipations in the Old Testament to their fulfillment in the New.

The Appendix analyzes the Greek text of the psalm from the Septuagint and shows that the Greek translation is an almost literal translation from the Hebrew. However, the Greek text expresses a completely different theology. This indicates the correctness of the analysis, which made it possible to detect different content in two seemingly similar texts.

Proof of the existence of the theology of Holy Scripture with its own special language opens up unique prospects for further work on its study and assimilation.

This is our God, and no one else can compare with Him. He found all the ways of wisdom and gave it to His servant Jacob and His beloved Israel. After that He appeared on earth and spoke among people. This is the book of God’s commandments and the law that endures forever. All who hold on to it will live, but those who leave it will die. Turn, Jacob, and take it, walk in the brightness of its light. Do not give your glory to another, and what is useful to you – to a foreign people. Happy are we, Israel, that we know what is pleasing to God. (From the Eve of the Nativity of Christ. Baruch 3.36–4.4)

Many secrets are hidden in the Holy Scriptures. One relates to the secrets of the next century and, perhaps, surpasses human powers. Others, on the contrary, relate to events of bygone eras and are difficult to distinguish for us, living in another world, speaking and thinking in a different language. But there is one passage of Scripture that deliberately arouses curiosity in the reader, showing him that something is hidden from him, that he does not know something. I mean the conversation of the Savior with Nicodemus, in which Jesus says such strange words to Nicodemus: “You are the teacher of Israel, and do you not know this?” These words suggest that every teacher should know the doctrine of being born again. They hint that this teaching has a prototype in the Old Testament and the teachers of Israel, who are to teach the most important things in the Law, must know this teaching. But where is this teaching presented? Where is this scripture that can be read and understood? There is every reason to believe that Jesus, in his conversation with Nicodemus, implicitly referred to the first psalm, in which the theology of birth from the word of God and growth in it is set out in the language of a parable. Arguments in favor of such an understanding are offered in this work.

In various commentaries on the Holy Scriptures, the first psalm is often called the introduction to the Psalter. But a closer examination reveals it as an introduction to prayer itself. The psalm not only calls for piety, righteousness, keeping the law and prayer, but teaches us how to do this. The role of the first psalm is in many ways similar to the first words of the “Prayer Book”, written in order to introduce a person into a state of prayer: “Rising from sleep, before any other thing, stand reverently, presenting yourself before the All-Seeing God, and, making the sign of the cross, say: “In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.” Then wait a little until all your feelings come to silence and your thoughts leave everything earthly, and then say the following prayers, without haste and with heartfelt attention…”