Midras Mazmur 37:27: Midrash Tehillim

“Who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked” (Psalms 1:1). Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi said, “And since he didn’t walk with them, where did he stand [with them]? And since he didn’t stand [with them] where did he sit [with them]? And since he didn’t sit [with them] where did he scoff [as they did]? Rather, [this comes] to teach you that if he walked [with them,] his end will be to stand [with them], and if he stood [with them,] his end will be to scoff, and if he scoffed, Scripture speaks of him [when it says]: “If you are a scoffer, your bear it alone” (Proverbs 9:12) [i.e., you may have scoffed as a result of peer-pressure, but in the end, you have to bear the responsibility on your own.] This comes to teach us that a good deed leads to another good deed, and a transgression [leads to another transgression]. And since he neither walked, nor stood, nor sat [with the wicked], you might [come to think] that he would neither do good nor bad, but [simply] put his hand upon his mouth. [Therefore, the psalm continues] to teach us, “but his delight is in the Torah of God” (Psalms 1:2). Rabbi Berechia said, “What is the verse coming to tell us [when it says], “Don’t be overly wicked” (Ecclesiastes 7:1)? That [it’s perfectly fine if we’re only] a little bit wicked?! Rather, [it means] if you’ve been wicked [already], don’t add to [what you’ve done]. Rabbi Shimon bar Yocahi says, if a person sat and didn’t transgress [any laws,] he is rewarded as if he did a good deed. Rabbi Zeira said, that this [only applies in a case where an opportunity to sin] came to him and he was saved from it [by his own resilience and will-power]. As it is said, “Depart from evil and do good” (Psalms 34:15; 37:27) — depart from evil in order to do good; and similarly, it is said, “they have never fallen into iniquity, in His ways they have walked” (Psalms 119:3) [which implies that, merely by not having fallen into iniquity, they are counted as if they have walked in God’s ways]. A sage of the academy of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Karcha says that the twenty instances of the word אשרי [meaning blessed, or happy] in the book of Psalms correspond to the twenty instances of הוי [which is an expression of dismay] in the book of Isaiah. Rabbi [Yehuda Ha-Nassi] said, “I am perplexed [by this]! How could Rabbi Yehoshua teach us that אשרי is written twenty times? And I say [that it is written] twenty-two times. Why? Corresponding to the twenty-two letters [of the alphabet]. And about them [David] said, “May the words of my mouth [and the prayer of my heart be acceptable to you, Oh Lord, my rock and my redeemer]” (Psalms 19:15). They should be made [relevant] for the generations, and written for the generations, and inscribed for the generations. And those who read them shouldn’t be like those who read [words] in a book. Rather, they should read them and take reward [for reading] them, [like the reward one receives from learning the most difficult tractates of Mishna, such as] Negaim and Oholot. “May the words of my mouth [and the prayer of my heart] be acceptable.” “Oh, that I might dwell in your tent forever, [take refuge under Your protecting wings.]” (Psalms 61:5). [This verse uses a word for “forever” that can also mean “worlds.”] But could it enter your mind that David would have requested to reside in two worlds [in heaven and on earth]? Rather, this is what David said: May they [continue] to recall me [by reading my Psalms] in houses of prayer, and in study halls, [even after I have passed on to the next world, such that it should be] as if I were alive and well in two worlds.