LSB #705 "The Man Is Ever Blessed"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Psalm 1; Psalm 119:16, 35; Psalm 92:12-14; Psalm 145:20

Psalm 1:  "1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.

"3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.  In all that he does, he prospers.  4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

"5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgement, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 6 for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish."

Psalm 119:16:  "I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word."

Psalm 119:35:  "Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it."

Psalm 92:12-14:  "12 The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.  13 They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God.  14 They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green"

Psalm 145:20:  "The LORD preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy."

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The text is public domain:

1 The man is ever blessed

Who shuns the sinners' ways,

Among their counsels never stands,

Nor takes the scorners' place.

2 But makes the Law of God

His study and delight

Amid the labors of the day

And watches of the night.

3 He like a tree shall thrive,

With waters near the root;

Fresh as the leaf his name shall live,

His works are heav'nly fruit.

4 Not so the wicked race,

They no such blessings find;

Their hopes shall fleet like empty chaff

Before the driving wind.

5 How will they bear to stand

Before the judgement seat

Where all the saints at Christ's right hand

In full assembly meet?

6 He knows and He approves

The way the righteous go;

But sinners and their works shall meet

A dreadful overthrow.

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This hymn is a paraphrase of Psalm 1; each verse of the hymn corresponds to the same numbered verse in the Psalm.  The other Psalm verses cited in the hymnal simply overlap with sentiments in Psalm 1.  The two verses from Psalm 119 overlap with the second verse (of Psalm 1 and of the hymn); Psalm 92:12-14 overlaps with the third verse; and Psalm 145:20 overlaps with the sixth verse.

"The Man Is Ever Blessed"

In church this week, one of the hymns was "The Man Is Ever Blessed" (LSB #705).  I noticed something about the rhyme scheme in verses 1 and 4.

Verse 1:

The man is ever blessed
Who shuns the sinners' ways,
Among their counsels never stands,
Nor takes the scorners' place,

Verse 4:

Not so the wicked race,
They no such blessings find;
Their hopes shall flee like empty chaff
Before the driving wind.

These are the only two verses (of six) where the two rhyming lines are both about the wicked (either directly or, in the case of the first verse, how the righteous man avoids the ways of the wicked).  Significantly, these lines have imperfect rhymes.  "Ways" doesn't really rhyme with "place," and while "find" and "wind" look like they would rhyme, they don't.

The rhymes here indicate the imperfection of the wicked.  The righteous have perfection through their faith in Christ's death for their sins, and - accordingly - the rhymes in the stanzas that describe them are perfect rhymes (in verse 2 "delight" rhymes with "night," and in verse 3 "root" rhymes with "fruit").  But the wicked are left with their imperfection.