Blessed in the Blessed Man

Intro/Passage Reading

We’re going to talk about being “hashtag blessed” today. Anyone else use that hashtag back in day? Gotta love social media :)

Biblically-speaking, “blessed” essentially means “happy” or a “fullness of happiness.” We’re going to be talking about this from the context of Psalm 1. Kaylee will have this Psalm up on the screen in just a moment, but also feel free to flip there or click there yourself as well.

One very important factor we need to know about Psalm 1 is that it is right to actually see Psalm 1 AND Psalm 2 together as one poetic unit. If I were giving a full blown sermon, I would probably try to tackle both Psalm 1 and 2 together because of that reality. But since I’m trying to be pretty brief this evening, we’re going to focus primarily on Psalm 1…yet I’ll be sure to tie in a very important component from Psalm 2 as well.

So all this being said, let’s look together at Psalm 1. Would anyone like to read this for us this evening?

English Standard Version Psalm 1

1 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;

2  but his delight is in the law of the LORD,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

3  He is like a tree

planted by streams of water

that yields its fruit in its season,

and its leaf does not wither.

In all that he does, he prospers.

4  The wicked are not so,

but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

5  Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;

6  for the LORD knows the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked will perish.

Setting the Table

This short Psalm can basically be summarized as the way of the “blessed” or “righteous”......and the way of the “wicked.”

How many of you are familiar with this Psalm? It’s one of the more well-known ones for sure, especially with it being the 1st one. If you’ve spent any time reflecting on this Psalm in the past...or if it’s been preached to you in the past…or even as it was just read to you moments ago....what did you find yourself primarily reflecting on? What was the emphasis of the preaching you received? Where did your thoughts primarily take you? (Open it up to anyone who might be willing to share)

My hunch is that it might be something along these lines: “Strive to be that blessed man. Strive to be that blessed woman. Don’t be like the wicked! Spend more time reading your Bible…spend more time praying…step up your devotional game!

If that has been an emphasis, or where your thoughts took you, I want you to know that that’s a good thing. Those are good sentiments and good desires. But..may I suggest that this is actually secondary in regards to being the main point of this Psalm. And that there is a different, primary point...one that I believe will not only bring us comfort, but will also also help us in our striving as Christians.

Are We This Blessed Man?

Let’s look at the first 2 verses to start. This is the way of the blessed…the way of the righteous.

In verse 1, the Psalmists says this: “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”

Rhetorical Question: How have you been doing in this regard? What has been the pattern of your thinking, your feeling, your words and your actions? How are you measuring up?

In verse 2, the Psalmist goes on to say that not only does the blessed one avoid following the way of the wicked, the way of sinners, & the way of scoffers—but that ”his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.”

Rhetorical Question: How have you been doing in this regard? Has your way of life been marked by delighting in and meditating on the law of God? Delighting and meditating on His word? How are you measuring up?

When we reflect on these questions…when we reflect on our way of life…when we reflect on how we’re measuring up: it’s important that we have the proper template, or the proper standard in view. Are we measuring up according to the standards of men, or are we measuring up according to the standards of God?

If we set out to measure our way of life according to the standards of men, what do you think is going to happen? [question for answering]

Here are a few ways:

1) at times, we might be filled with shame when we perceive our unrighteousness or lesser righteousness in comparison to the greater righteousness of others. Or when we fall short of their standards or our own!

2) at times, we might be filled with pride when we perceive a greater righteousness in us compared to the unrighteousness or lesser righteousness of others. Or when they fall short of our standards!

3) when we measure our way of life according to the standards of men, we will always relativize the Law of God. We will dumb it down as if its achievable. We will always lower its true standard.

We mustn’t do this. We must always keep God’s holiness and His Law in its proper place. God Himself is perfect…God’s Law is perfect...and the righteous requirements of God’s Law is perfection.

The Apostle James says this in James 2:5 : “Whoever keeps the whole law, but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.”

This is why in Romans, Paul can quote Psalm 53 by saying that “no one does good, not even one,”...and elsewhere he can say that “no one is righteous” and that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

So in light of this reality...when we set our eyes back on the first few verses of this Psalm…in and of ourselves, are we this blessed one? In and of ourselves, are we this righteous one?

Cursed On Our Own

Hopefully you can see that, in and of ourselves, we are not. We are far from it. When we consider the weight of God’s perfect Law, we are crushed by it because of our utter inadequacy to keep it.

In and of ourselves, when considering the spotless standard of God’s Law, we realize that on a daily basis, we walk in the council of the wicked. We stand in the way of sinners. We sit in the seat of scoffers. We do not perfectly delight in the law of the Lord. We do not perfectly meditate on His law day and night.

In and of ourselves, we stand in the congregation of the wicked rather that in the congregation of the righteous. No matter how hard we try to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, in and of ourselves we are not #blessed. We are #cursed. We are unable to “stand in the judgment” on our own merit. In and of ourselves, we are “destined to perish” because of our wicked way.

Blessed in the Blessed Man

But here is the wonderful news for us to remember. Earlier, I told you that Psalm 1 and Psalm 2 actually go together. If we were to spend time walking through this 2nd Psalm, we would see that there is this “Anointed Son of God” that is being written about. And though King David is certainly in view, it’s obvious that the 2nd Psalm is ultimately pointing to the Greater David…to the Messiah that was to come…to Jesus Christ.

And at the end of Psalm 2, in verse 12 it says this:: “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him”. Did you catch that? “Blessed” are all who take refuge in Him. Blessed are all who take refuge in this Anointed Son of God. Blessed are all who take refuge in Jesus Christ.

So here’s the good news: if we agree with God about our sinfulness and that we are truly wicked in and of ourselves…that we have no righteousness whatsoever to bring to the table....and we trust & receive Christ and His righteous work in our place…we are NO LONGER left to be in and of ourselves. We are in Christ. Our place of refuge is “in Him.” By God’s grace alone, through faith alone, we have been united to Jesus Christ. He is the truly Blessed Man of Psalm 1.

For He never walked in the counsel of the wicked on this earth.

He never stood in the way of sinners.

He never sat in the seat of scoffers.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water.

The only way that we are truly #blessed, is by taking refuge in the Blessed Man. Union with Jesus Christ. Listen to these words from the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 1:3: “Blessed be the God and Father our our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places...”

Every spiritual blessing is in Christ. It is found nowhere else.

So being united to Him, here is the reality for us as believers:

We have been set free from the bondage and penalty of our sin. Jesus paid the price. We have been brought out from underneath the crushing weight of God’s perfect law. Jesus kept the perfect Law for us, and has counted us with His righteousness.

Because we have been united to Christ, This means that it’s as if we ourselves never walked in the counsel of the wicked....as if we ourselves never stood in the way of sinners...as if we ourselves never sat in the seat of scoffers.

We ARE “like a tree planted by streams of water,” because Jesus Christ is the Vine, and we are the branches. We “stand in the congregation of the righteous” and “we will stand in the judgment” because Christ Himself is our representative…He is our righteousness.

Now, in light of this wonderful news, we can revisit Psalm 1 and look at it from the secondary perspective that we talked about earlier.

Because we are already blessed “in Christ”…because we’ve been united to Him...and because nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Him...from our resting place of refuge in Christ:

-let us strive “not to walk in the counsel of the wicked”

-let us strive “not to stand in the way of sinners.”

-let us strive “not to sit in the seat of scoffers.”

-let us strive “to delight in the Law of the Lord and meditate on it day and night”

Because our sinful flesh that still remains, and because of the temptations that are everywhere, this striving is going to be difficult at times. Yet this striving is not a burden for us. Jesus has said that His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. This striving isn’t for our merit. It’s for our good…it’s for the good of our neighbor, and it’s an opportunity for us to please our Heavenly Father and to bring Him glory. So may this be our joy and our delight.

Closing Story

I want to close by sharing a short story that was told years ago by a man named Harry Ironside. Ironside was a pastor of Moody Church in Chicago in the 1930’s & 40’s. He told a story of a man named Joseph Flax who has visited Palestine many years ago.  

Mr. Flax had an opportunity to address a gathering of Jews and Arabs and took for the subject of his address the first Psalm. He read it and then he asked the question: "Who is this blessed man of whom the Psalmist speaks? This man never walked in the counsel of the wicked or stood in the way of sinners or sat in the seat of mockers. He was an absolutely sinless man." Nobody spoke. So Flax said: "Was he our great father Abraham?" One old man said, "No, it cannot be Abraham. He denied his wife and told a lie about her." "Well, how about the lawgiver Moses?" "No", someone said. "It cannot be Moses. He killed a man, and he lost his temper by the waters of Meribah." Flax suggested David. It was not David. [we know of David’s failures!] There was silence for a long while. Then an elderly Jew arose and said, "My brothers, I have a little book here; it is called the New Testament. I have been reading it; and if I could believe this book, if I could be sure that it is true, I would say that the man of the first Psalm was Jesus of Nazareth."

Amen, He is indeed that man. Let’s pray together.