How blessed

Psalm 1 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

The Righteous and the Wicked Contrasted.

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
² But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
³ He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.

⁴ The wicked are not so,
But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
⁶ For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the wicked will perish.

Our culture and our society tend to focus on not only the individual’s rights, but also on each individual’s reality. Each person is encouraged to pursue what pleases them. They are allowed and even encouraged to base their identity on their feelings rather than on facts. In Matthew 5:13-16 Jesus says:  “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”  Sadly though, rather than being a light in the darkness of the world; rather than preserving what is good, even among believers today, it seems that many are more concerned with their rights than they are with righteousness.  The psalmist says:  How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.   Many today want the blessings of God, but few are willing to walk the path that the psalmist lays out. Few today delight in the law of the Lord and meditate on it day and night. They say instead that we are under grace and the law is no longer valid. In Matthew 5:17-19 Jesus says:   “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them. For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”  Jesus did not do away with the consequences of sin. By grace He fulfilled the consequences for us. He died so we can live. We cannot presume on grace though, choosing to live in sin. In John 14:15 Jesus says:  “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”  If we want to be blessed, we should meditate on the God’s law because we love Jesus. We should delight in and be obedient to God and His law.  

Look at the blessing of obedience to and love of God’s law. The psalmist says:  He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers. The blessing of obedience is more than that we receive good things. We are blessed in that we are firmly established in God; that we prosper in whatever we do and that we bear fruit. In John 15:4-11 Jesus says:  Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.  That is the blessing we have in Christ.

The wicked are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the wicked will perish.   It’s not God’s desire that the wicked would perish, yet many will. 2 Peter 3:9 says:  The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.  Grace is not that God has changed His mind about sin. By grace He gives us time to repent. John 3:16-21 says:  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”   How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.  How blessed is the one who believes; the one who loves light rather than darkness; the one who is firmly established in God.

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit. I am blessed.  Amen.