For those of you who love literature in school, there isn't a better place to turn to find great literature than the Psalms. The Psalmists often used very beautiful imagery to get their point across.
But this isn't just poetry. The psalms are also very useful for life and wonderful to read. They're very personal writings—often showing the deepest emotions of the writers.
Defining a "Blessed Man"
Psalm 1 starts off this massive book of the Bible with a bang—showing what the "Blessed Man" looks like. By the way, this annotation has nothing to do with gender. The word "man" in verse 1 is the Hebrew word ish, which is used here to describe a representative example of a godly person—man or woman.
Will you pick apart this Psalm with me? Because I hold Psalm 1 dear to my heart.
Wise Not Wicked
“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; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.”
The first verses are somewhat self-explanatory. The person who doesn't take advice from wicked people and doesn't copy their behavior is certainly blessed. A godly person will delight in the truth of God's Word and think about it every day.
Sustained by God's Word
“He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.”
I grew up on a farm, so, to me, this is imagery is close to home. My family planted over 7,000 plants per year—by hand! Then we harvested produce from them. We had to irrigate the fields by running a hose past each plant in the field and allowing it to drip continuously each day.
Sometimes this would drain our well to the point that our drinking and toilet water were both brown with dirt! If we'd been near a stream, a creek, or a river, we could've had a much easier time watering our trees without worry of running out of water for ourselves.
So, in keeping with this imagery, those who delight in the law of the Lord are described as a tree planted by streams of water that yields fruit in season and doesn't wither. The tree is the "Blessed Man," the fruit is from the Holy Spirit, and the stream of water is the Bible.
Blessedly Prosperous
“In all that he does, he prospers.”
Right in the middle, the psalmist says a pretty cool truth here, but one that must be clarified first. He says, "in all that [the Blessed Man] does, he prospers." What a statement!
But this prosperity isn't without rhyme or reason or condition. Good things come because the "blessed" person delights in the law of God, and therefore actively seeks the things of God (Matthew 6:33). This is sometimes called living out your faith.
The "Blessed Man" prospers because, in meditating day and night on God's Word, a godly person learns to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness. When we delight in the Lord, He gives us the desires of our hearts (Psalm 37:4).
A Blessed Life is Just Different
“The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”
There's a striking contrast between the "blessed" life and the life of the wicked. A blessed person follows God's principles, grows as a person, and matures spiritually. A wicked person is unstable and can blow off course, off kilter, and off the right path so easily—like chaff in the wind.
Do you want to be like this "blessed" person? Are you delighting in God and in His Word? Are you meditating on His truth day and night? How can you choose to seek Him and find joy in God through His Word? May we all find blessing as we chase after God's righteousness.