Have you ever noticed the division of the Psalms into Books (I-V)? The first Psalm in Book I begins with a beatitude (Psalm 1:1) and the last Psalm in Book I begins with a beatitude (Psalm 42:1).
This has the effect of “framing” Book One, i.e. signaling to us its emphasis. Some scholars go as far as suggesting has the effect of signaling that the Book One in the Psalter is “to be read as a guide to a “happy’ [i.e. blessed] life.”
Professor J. Clinton McCann, Jr., an Old Testament Scholar who has specialized in the Psalms, writes:
The occurrences of the beatitudes in Psalms 1-2, 40-41 … seems to be more than coincidental; indeed, it seems highly significant. In any case, the effect of this pattern is to provide a frame for Book I that is especially noticeable, all the more since the first and last psalms of the book begin with the beatitude. This framing device reinforces May’s conclusion that … Book I is to be read as a guide to a “happy” life. In other words, not only are Psalms 1 and 41 about happiness, but so are all the psalms in between (in The Book of Psalms: Composition and Reception, Flint (ed), 2005).
In a similar way, Psalms 1 and 2 are framed by a beatitude at the beginning (Psalm 1:1) and at the end (Psalm 2:13), forming a pared introduction to Book I of the Psalter.
So what are Psalm 1 and Psalm 2 about? How do they introduce the Psalter? What do they teach us about the life of “happiness” or blessedness?
