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 judgment, 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.
Who is the truly happy man? What does he look like? How does he act? What does he do? What values characterize his life?
Human frailty is real. Sin is an ever-present in this world. Even when we have the best of intentions, we fall short of what we had hoped to accomplish. The disappointments of life often leave us so jaded that we start to believe that there is no such thing as happiness.
But God’s Word tells us that there is such a thing as a happy man. Psalms calls him the “blessed” man. The blessed man is the first person we are introduced to in the longest book of the Bible. The compiler of the Psalms places these verses at the beginning to tell us that the entire book of God songs is ultimately about the blessed man.
The blessed man is completely in tune with Yahweh and His law. He is so different as he walks through this world that he is not confused with the wicked men who can be found on every corner of every town.
The ultimate test of the blessed man is that he has staying power. He is not blown away like the chaff-here one minute and gone the next. He has deep roots that are nourished by God-given water. He prospers because God is continually feeding him.
Yahweh knows the blessed man. The Psalms go on to tell us that Yahweh calls him “Son.” The way of the blessed man is established by God, therefore it cannot fail. Every walk of life that is not in his way will come to nothing.
Questions to think about
- How are you establishing your life in the way of the blessed man?
- What is one attitude of Jesus that you want to claim as your own attitude today?
- Why is it important to consider the entirety of your life and not just today in order to know that you are established and known by God?
- How terrifying will it be on the day that the wicked perish and are blown away like chaff?