The Blessed Man of Psalms

In my previous post on Psalms entitled "Blessed," I only covered what the blessed man did not do as part of his lifestyle.  It was a simple and basic look at Psalms 1:1 ...

"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful."

So now I will try to cover a little more of this important first Psalm with the question ... "Why is it that this man is so blessed?"  Obviously it has something to do with God's Word.  This blessed man doesn't live out his life following the counsel of the ungodly, but instead, according to the next verse, Psalms 1:2 ... 

"His delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His law doth he meditate day and night."

Ah, yes.  Here we are back under, "The Law."  No, I'm not taking you there.  Because of what Jesus did there's nothing for us to worry about as far as the Law is concerned.  Here is part of the great work Jesus did on the cross, according to what the Apostle Paul said Jesus did with the Law in Colossians 2:14 …

"Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross …"

When Jesus was nailed to the cross ... the Law was also nailed to the cross with Him.  His blood ran down the cross and blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us ... clearly meaning the Law.

Along the same lines, Paul writes to a different church in Galatians 3:13 …

"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us."

Evidently there were some in this church who didn't understand salvation through "Grace," and thought living the old way under the Law was better.  So Paul asks them this question in Galatians 4:21 ...

"Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?"  (I think Paul is trying to say to them, it's yelling at us … bondage!  Don't go back.)

And then Paul adds in Galatians 5:1 …

"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."

As I often do ... I have wandered off topic.  But if this blog is God's, then someone needed to read once again Paul's teaching on the freedom and liberty we have in Jesus compared to our works under the law which cannot save anyone.

So what are we talking about here ... "His delight is in the law of the Lord."

I like how this verse reads in the Amplified Bible ... "His delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law (the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God) he habitually meditates (ponders and studies) by day and night."    

The man spoken of here, does not view the law as a curse or condemnation, even though he is judged under it ... but rather he delights to be in it as the rule of his life.  Why is that?  The moral law of God, (the Ten Commandments) Paul even said is good, because without it we wouldn't know what sin is.  The law was a schoolmaster. 

So to this blessed man, God's moral law is his daily bread.  It's food to his soul.  But yet, in David's day, this  man most likely had only the Pentateuch, the first five books of Moses, the written Torah.  Even so ... it inspired him to serve God.

What becomes of this man?  What is his blessing? 

Psalms 1:3 ... "And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doth shall prosper."

Consider ... he will not be just a wild seed that fell to the ground and grew, he has been purposely planted by God next to a river, which to me alludes to the river of life; not just in the eternal, but in the here and now when we need it.  Droughts and pestilence will not effect your fruit or your work production.

And ... "his leaf shall not wither."  The Hebrew ties all this together because of his delight in God's Word.  For me ... I believe the "leaf" represents his faith, his belief and understanding of God's faithfulness to him. 

By the Psalmist saying it won't "wither" ... he means his trust in the Lord won't "wilt, fail him or dry up and fall from the tree."

This leaf is a description of the health and faith of the man who does not walk in the way of the ungodly. 

Lastly ... "whatsoever he doth shall prosper."  This is a literal statement that contains a general truth for all Godly men who follow the Word of God.  The Psalmist later in this book declares ... "My cup runneth over" ... proving this truth.   

The Apostle Paul also gives his young friend the same advise in 1st Timothy 4:8, "... Godliness is profitable unto all things ..."

Now that's a promise.  What more should we want or desire?  Do you want good things to come your way?  Delight yourself in the Lord.




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