Morning Manna | Psalms 1:1-3 | Blessed is the Man

Psalms 1:1-3

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. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 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 doeth shall prosper.

These verses tell us about what the Bible considers a blessed man. Our definition of blessed must be sculpted by the Scriptures and not by the society around us. Society would have us believe that a blessed man is a man who has everything he has ever wanted, who succeeds at everything he attempts, and who does what he wants when he wants. This is far from the definition of a Blessed man in the Scriptures. Pslam has a lot to say about the blessed man. Pslam 2:12 says, " Blessed are all they that put their trust in him." Pslam 32:1 says, 

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile." Perhaps you are the man who has everything and therefore believes that you are blessed, then you should inspect what the Bible calls blessed and realize there are greater riches than what we can gain in this lifetime, there are "durable riches" that last for all eternity. Perhaps you are the man who has very little in this life and has been tempted to believe you are despised. Sir/Madam if you meet these criteria then you are blessed more than the richest man or woman on earth. 

A Blessed man has some things he won't do, He won't walk in the counsel of the ungodly, neither will he stand in the way of sinners, nor will he sit in the seat of the scornful. There is a trinity of trinity in verse one. Of each of the three things mentioned, three things are mentioned in each one. In the first he mentions walking, counsel, and sinners; Then Standing, way, sinners; Lastly, Sitting, seat, and scornful. In this, we see the digression of ungodly men and the stages of sinfulness. What starts as a walk digresses to standing, then to sitting. We see it starts as counsel, then, what was advice has now become the way a man lives his life, then there is the seat, which speaks of holding an official position, like stark atheists who champion their cause against God and mock those who do not hold their position. Likewise, the term for the ungodly devolves to deeper levels of depravity, Ungodly is the term used for general sinfulness, the word used for sinners is of more force, and the term for Scornful describes a sinner that not only participates in sin but mocks at righteousness and can even mean teacher, this the most advanced level of sinful men.

The Blessed man never starts down the slippery slope of unrighteousness, The most blessed men I know have been the ones who have served the Lord from their youth. The blessed Man keeps his foot from turning to the left or right because once headed down the path of the unrighteous the path grows ever steeper and slicker. So what is it that keeps the Blessed man from this path of destruction? Verse 2 gives us that answer, "But his delight is in the Law of the Lord and in his law doth he meditate day and Night." It is the Word of God that keeps the Blessed man, not just the Word but his love and devotion to the Word of God. Something I've often thought about is what Word was being referred to here. David was the writer of this Psalm and when he said his delight was in the law of the Lord, he was speaking only of the first 5 books of the Bible. If he could be in love with just the first five and if the first five had the power to keep a man, how much more should we love and cherish the 66 books we have? David had a Bible that foreshadowed and promised a coming messiah, yet we have a Bible in which those promises have been fulfilled and in which many more "Mysteries" have been revealed. Oh, how we should love our Bibles! To delight means to take great joy in something, if we love it we will be in it often we will fill ourselves with it and it will keep us from the paths of sin, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path."

Lastly, the Lord paints a picture of the Blessed man with an illustration taken from nature. This man who hates sin and loves God's word will be like a tree. This tree's prosperity can all be attributed to one source, where it is planted. The tree would not be so mighty, prosperous, or fruitful if not for the river it was planted by. At my childhood home, there was a massive Oak tree planted right on the banks of the creek that snaked through our farm. This tree was greater than all the trees around it because it was closest to the creek. Its roots descended beneath the bed of the creek and had a constant never-ending supply of life. So it is with the man who lives closest to the Bible. He has a never-ending constant source of light, wisdom, Promise, Power, and life. The blessing of being a man is that unlike trees we can draw closer to the source, today why don't we dig a little deeper into the promises of God, walking a bit closer to the commands, blessed is the man who will do so.