The Blessed Man

The Blessed Man

Psalm 112

Psalm 1 begins with the words “Blessed is the man.” What does it mean to be blessed?

The Hebrew word for “blessed” means “happy”. It is an interpersonal term focusing on one’s relationship with the Lord God Almighty. When we use the term “to be blessed by God”, we are referring to being “favored by God”. Do you want to be blessed by God? What kind of man does God bless and honor? Psalm 112 gives us six characteristics of the man who God blesses.

I. The Characteristics of the man who God blesses.

A. The man God blesses fears the Lord.

1. Psalm112:1a “Blessed is the man who fears the LORD.”

2. In Hebrew, the word is yara' In the Old Testament, it has a three-fold range of meaning:

a. Dread, terror

b. To stand in awe (in reference to a king)

c. To revere, to respect.

3. To fear the Lord means also to think holily and reverently concerning God, and to walk in His ways.

4. “Fearing God has two aspects. The first is reverence. It is a sacred awe of God's utter holiness. It involves the kind of respect and veneration that results in fear in the presence of such absolute majesty. The second aspect is fear of god's displeasure. Genuine faith acknowledges God's right to chasten, His right to punish, and His right to judge.” – John McArthur

5. Psalm 111:10 “The fear of Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

6. A lack of the fear of the Lord is indicate by :

a. A glib casualness towards God. Speaking in a flippant or frivolous manner about God? Treating Him like He’s just one of the boys. Or we carelessly profane His name by using euphemisms, where one word is substituted for another, like saying “jeeze”, “gees”, or “gee whiz”, which are euphemisms for Jesus’ name. -

b. A cavalier attitude toward sin. It is not uncommon today for even professing Christians to have a careless attitude toward sin.

• Romans 3:18 says that one key to men’s sinfulness is “There is no fear of God before their eyes”

• Proverbs 8:13 “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil”

7. Psalm 1:1 “"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"

8. Proverbs 16:6 – by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil

9. Someone has said, “The fear of the Lord: an inward attitude of humble reverence toward God that results in outward expression of Christlikeness.”

10. Psalm 115:13 “He will bless them that fear the Lord, both small and great.”

B. The man God blesses finds extreme pleasure in obeying God and His Word.

1. Psalm112:1b “…who DELIGHTS GREATLY in His commandments.”

2. It is not enough to fear God, we must also love him. While fear will deter us from evil; love will lead us to obedience. And the more a man fears and loves God, the more obedient will he be; till at last he will delight greatly in the commandments of his Maker.- Clarke

3. The man who God blesses obeys from the heart and not from coaxing, coercion or compulsion.

4. 2 Chronicles 16:9a “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.”

5. It is not having knowledge that will evidence you to be believers; the devil has knowledge—but lacks obedience, and that makes him a devil. The true obedience of faith is a cheerful obedience.

1. We need to ask ourselves, “Do I obey God on His first command or do I need a second or third? Do I obey cheerfully or with reluctance? Do I go slowly and half-heartedly or quickly and energetically about that which He asks me to do?

2. Cheerful obedience is the only acceptable obedience; he who obeys reluctantly is disobedient at heart, but he who takes pleasure in the command is truly loyal. - copied

C. The man God blesses is gracious

1. Psalm112:4 “Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness;

He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.”

2. The man God blesses is "gracious," that is, full of kindness to all around him. The man who God blesses is God's image bearer

3. In Psalm 111:4 we read “the Lord is gracious and full of compassion”

4. The man who God blesses emulates the god-like of graciousness.

5. Luke 6:27-35 “But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smites thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that takes away thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asks of thee; and of him that takes away thy goods ask them not again. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? For sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? For sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? For sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.”