Blessed By Design

Sermon Title: Blessed by Design

Psalms 1:1-3

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. (NKJV)

The 1 psalms speaks of Life’s two roads….

1. The life of the faithful person is contrasted with

2. The life of the faithless person.

Now what is faith?

Webster’s defines faith as:

1 a : allegiance to duty or a person : LOYALTY b (1) : fidelity to one’s promises (2) : sincerity of intentions

2 a (1) : belief and trust in and loyalty to God (2) : belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion b (1) : firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2) : complete trust

3 : something that is believed especially with strong conviction; especially : a system of religious beliefs

That’s fine and good, but I like what the bible say’s about faith in Hebrews 11:1 :” Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Now I don’t want you to get it twisted now, everybody aint blessed. Everybody aint walking with God… the only people on this planet that are blessed are His people. The ones He has chosen, in 1 Peter 2:9 9But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

Every one is not blessed. The Webster’s dictionary states that the word bless means, “Etymology: Middle English, from Old English blEtsian, from blOd blood; from the use of blood in consecration

1 : to hallow or consecrate by religious rite or word

2 : to hallow with the sign of the cross

3 : to invoke divine care for

4 a : PRAISE, GLORIFY b : to speak well of : APPROVE

5 : to confer prosperity or happiness upon

I want you to Know that the Psalmist was talking about the people of God, His Saints…

A Blessed man will follow the voice of the Lord… In Deuteronomy 28: 1 it say’s

1 "Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. 2And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God:

3"Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.

4"Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.

5"Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

6"Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

7"The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.

8"The LORD will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you.

9"The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways. 10Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you. 11And the LORD will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers to give you. 12The LORD will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. 13And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them. 14So you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right or the left, to go after other gods to serve them.