Being Blessed

Bill Fitzhenry's Thoughts For Today…

Understanding important truths from the Bible…. 

Psalm 1

Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
² But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
³ He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.

⁴ The ungodly are not so,
But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
⁵ Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

⁶ For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the ungodly shall perish. 

The Psalms, all 150, are about the blessed one described in Psalm 1.  All of his joys, trials, discipline, and opposition come to him as “the blessed”.  No writer or experience in the Psalms can be understood separate from this fact. 

This person is described in four particulars: his objective character; his subjective commitment, his enduring fruitfulness; and the underlying cause for the whole of his life.

 

A.     His objective character is described in VS 1.  This person is separated from the normal conduct of the world around him.

1.      His education has a difference source.  The “counsel of the ungodly” does not determine his activity.  Throughout the Psalms and Proverbs this singular responsibility is consistently stated.  The walk of the believer is decidedly different to that of the world in which he lives.  For a Christian to live as a worldling is a contradiction and should not be taught as possible or accepted by the Church.

2.       There is a “way of sinners”.  The one who is blessed never is comfortable in it.  The writer of Proverbs in 4:14-19, describes this “way” in such plain terms that the believer has no excuse for being unfamiliar with it. 

Avoid it, do not travel on it;
Turn away from it and pass on.
¹⁶ For they do not sleep unless they have done evil;
And their sleep is taken away unless they make someone fall.
¹⁷ For they eat the bread of wickedness,
And drink the wine of violence.

¹⁸ But the path of the just is like the shining sun,
That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.
¹⁹ The way of the wicked is like darkness;
They do not know what makes them stumble

3.       The “seat of the scornful” seems to be a degree of separation that easily escapes us.  But this must at least be the complete rejection of the vain conversation of the wicked which is a failure of the Third Commandment.

The separation intended in VS 1 is objective and consistent. 

B.      His subjective commitment includes both his affection and his education.

1.       His affection is centered in the Holy Will of God communicated in the Commandments and the full communication of God which flows from the Law.  Psalm 119:97 “Oh, how I love Your law!  It is my meditation all the day.” has the same truth stated in the stoutest terms of affection.  It is a contradiction of terms to think there is a believer who has no concern for God’s law.  It is to say he spurns His provision, His protection, and His affection.

2.      His interest in God’s law is without interruption, it is “day and night”.

It is the greatest of God’s means of grace that we have the Scriptures so available.  The provision is unparalleled in history.  In government “the ignorance of the law is no excuse”.  The availability of Bibles in our country leaves a Christian without excuse for ignorance of God and his word.

 Therefore the believer has an enduring fruitfulness.  Psalm 1:3 is one of the least understood and poorest applied in all the Bible.  ³ He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. 

C.     This blessed one is given the environment, the certainty, the endurance, and the guarantee of production.  It is to fly in the face of truth to allow for a completely unproductive Kingdom citizen.  In the parable of the sower in Matthew 13, it is evident there are levels of fruitfulness, but the combination of the “good seed” and the fertile ground of God’s word guarantees fruitfulness. 

D.     The underlying reason for this “blessed one”, is stated in VS 6A.  The Lord “knows” or loves and provides for the righteous.  Psalm 65:4 describes this same person.  “Blessed is the man You choose, And cause to approach You, That he may dwell in Your courts.  We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Of Your holy temple.”

“The blessed man” is the one whom God has chosen to dwell before Him.

This is the precedent love of God which is the grounds and security of every believer.