A Blessed Man

A Blessed Man

Scripture: Psalm 1:1-3; 106:3; Second Timothy 3:16-17; 4:3-4

As some of you know, my brother Barry and I started recording Bible study lessons that people can review at home as part of their personal Bible study time. One of the lessons that we recorded last month was on Psalm One which talks about a blessed man (or woman) as defined by their relationship with God and His Word. The message you will hear this morning was birthed out of that lesson so if you received the lesson that Barry and I did, parts of this will be a review for you. The title of my message this morning is “A Blessed Man.”

Martin Luther called the Psalms “a little Bible, and the summary of the Old Testament.” The overarching presentation of God is as King. Two corollaries to God as King in the Psalms are God as Creator and God as Redeemer, which run like a golden thread throughout the entire Psalm. Therefore, the book of Psalms give us one of the most complete and comprehensive revelations of the character of God in the entire Bible. If we want to know who God is, what He has done, and how we should respond to Him, the book of Psalms is one of the best places to start. Now the first two psalms introduce us to the main themes of the book: the life of holiness and happiness under the reign of the divine King and His Messiah. The first psalm gives us the purpose of the book: to provide a manual for meditating on the instruction of the Lord, so that we can experience the “blessed” life, a life of abundant holiness and happiness. The very first psalm makes it clear that the man who loves God and His word is a blessed man.

Psalm 1:1-3 says, “Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. 2But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in His law does he meditate day and night. 3And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he does shall prosper.”

The very first word in the book of Psalms is “blessed.” It is the Hebrew word “esher” and it means happy. The original word translated as “blessed” is plural which means that the person who chooses to walk with God versus not choosing to walk with God will live a life filled with “blessings.” So the first thing we need to see is that the blessing is not singular, it is the definition of the life of the person. Blessed will define the person based on their relationship with God. Then David tells us why the person will be blessed. They are blessed because, they “walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.” Before I go further, I want to give you some background on the three words: walk, stand, and sit. When David used the word “walks” it defines someone making a choice to not only do something, but to continue doing it. He is not speaking of a one and done; he is speaking of a lifestyle. So the person who chooses to walk in their flesh enjoys it and therefore they have no motivation to stop. Once they have walked for so long in this manner, the person begins to get hardened in the wicked lifestyle they are living. The joy they receive from a lifestyle characterized by sin is so fulfilling that they are hardened to any counsel that would require them to change. This hardness is defined as “standing in the way of sinners.” Finally the person becomes stubborn (obstinate), refusing to change, which is expressed by the figure of someone sitting. The process that David describes is one choosing to walk a certain way; getting so much enjoyment from walking that way that they make a firm stand to remain the way they are; to finally sitting, becoming unmovable. When someone sits, they are no longer willing to move. I want you to keep this “process” in mind as we examine what David says about the blessed person.

In verse one David says, “Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly.” The ungodly represent those individual who are actively living morally corrupt lives. These are individuals who love sin and have no desire to live righteously. So if you are wondering why a Christian would ever ask advice of this person, you might be surprised to find that it happens all the time. Remember, we do not value people by their relationship with God and their knowledge of the Word. We value them based on their experiences and expertise – based on what they can do for us. So Christians often ask advice of non-Christians because the non-Christian might have expertise in an area that they need help with. Also, we ask advice of family members and/or good friend who just might not be saved because they are family and good friends and we trust them. But, to walk in the counsel of the ungodly goes a step further than just asking for someone’s advice because they might be an expert in a certain area or because we trust them. Walking in the counsel of the ungodly actually means a person chooses to accept the counsel of an ungodly person versus the counsel of the Lord. It would be similar to you coming to me and asking my opinion on a matter after you read what the Bible said. You didn’t necessarily like or agree with what the Bible said so you sought out a second opinion – “MY” opinion. When you came to me and I told you something different from what the Bible said, you accepted my opinion because you liked it better and it was easier to do. Now do you want to know why? It’s because my counsel was more in line of what you wanted to hear. For example, you have a friend that offends you and you know the Bible says you need to forgive them. Because you do not want to forgive, you come to me and ask what I would do in your situation hoping that I would agree with your feelings. When I do, you latch on to my counsel and forget about what the Bible says because I understand your situation and agree that you should stay the course. This is a very dangerous position to be in.