Psalm 1:1–6 "The Blessed Life"
The King of Peace has come to us.
There is power in His word.
The King of Peace has come to us.
In the Hebrew Old Testament, there are two main words for “blessing.” One is barak, and the other is ’ashre. Barak describes the blessing that God gives sovereignly, unconditionally, regardless of human effort. But ’ashre is the blessing that comes when a person walks in obedience to God’s Word. Today, I want us to reflect on this ’ashre—the blessing that belongs to those who live according to God’s ways.
Psalm 1 begins: “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers.” Notice the downward pattern of sin. First, you walk in the counsel of the wicked. Then you stand in the way of sinners. Finally, you sit down among the scoffers.
Sin always begins with a whisper from the enemy. It sounds like wise advice, something useful, something good for you. You begin to follow. But soon, you are no longer following the Lord—you are standing with sinners. And then, before long, you are sitting with those who mock God.
But the psalm says: Blessed is the one who does not live this way. Instead, verse 2 says: “His delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.” The “law” here means God’s teaching, God’s covenant. The blessed person is the one who delights in God’s instruction so much that he thinks about it day and night. He holds tightly to his joyful relationship with God, not wanting anything to steal it away.
Verse 6 declares: “For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” The wicked are those of whom God says, “I do not know you.” And that is ruin. The righteous are those God says, “I know you.” And that is blessing.
We usually think of blessing as having health, wealth, and success. But the Bible says something very different. True blessing is this: “The Lord was with him, and he prospered.” The blessing is God’s presence. The blessing is God saying, “I know you. You are mine.”
So what is ruin? Ruin is not losing your money, or your health, or your job. True ruin is when God says, “I do not know you.” And what is blessing? Even if your life is broken, even if you are weak, even if your circumstances look poor—if God says, “I know you,” then you are blessed.
The psalm describes the blessed person as “a tree planted by streams of water.” In Israel, people would deliberately plant trees by the streams to create shade, so that the water would not dry up. The tree kept the stream alive. That is the picture. The blessed person is like a tree God has planted by His streams of grace. Roots go deep. Fruit comes in season. The stream never runs dry.
This is our calling. To be rooted in grace. To live in grace. To let God’s grace flow through us to places that are thirsty and dry. That is why God has planted us where we are—at home, in our church, in our workplace—so that His stream of grace would never run dry.
We are blessed people because of Jesus.
We are happy because the Lord knows us. We are planted by streams of living water. May our lives be like trees, carrying the grace of God to every place that needs it. May we live as truly blessed people!
