The Blessed Man

Introduction

OT points us to Christ and we will see that as we go through some of the Psalms this summer.

Introduction

It has been said

He who collected the Psalms into one volume, whether Ezra or some other person, appears to have placed this Psalm at the beginning by way of preface, in which he inculcates upon all the godly the duty of meditating upon the law of God.

The sum and substance of the whole is, that they are blessed who apply their hearts to the pursuit of heavenly wisdom; whereas the profane despisers of God, although for a time they may reckon themselves happy, shall at length have a most miserable end.

In many ways this is a doorway into the Psalter, an exhortation or an invitation as one enters the psalter to take the road of blessing.

Here in this Psalm we have the pith and quintessence of Christianity. This is a sure guide to blessing.

Here is this powerful psalm we have the famous two way motif.

There is the way of life and the way of death that is laid out before us and of course the implied exhortation is to make sure that you take the way of life and not the way of death.

There are ultimately only two ways and these two ways are presented to us in this psalm.

Already in the introduction we find something that goes against our culture.

Culture tells us that there are multiply ways and we have no right to tell someone what is the right way and what is the wrong way

Well this Psalm is clear, there are basically two ways, the way of blessing and the way of anti-blessing.

There is a way that leads to blessing, that is to happiness, to joy, to life, and then there is the way that leads to death.

You know it has been said many times before that every man is seeking happiness.

I believe that is true

Blaise Pascal put it shockingly well when he said this, Every man is seeking happiness even the man who hangs himself.

I think that is true.

Think about our world today and what do we see, we see people seeking happiness, seeking relief from emotional pain or despair and they are doing it in a hundred different ways.

Some in socially acceptable ways like big bank accounts and more and more stuff

Some in more socially unacceptable ways like drug abuse

But the desire is to find joy, to find happiness or as the psalmist puts it here, blessedness

The psalm begins, Blessed is the man

Blessed could be

Verses 1-3 begin

Blessed could be

Oh the happiness of the man!

This reminds us of the beatitudes

In the greek OT this is the word makarios which is the same word that begins the beatitues in

Blessed are the poor in spirit

This word can be translated Happy!

In Matthew we learn that happiness is found in a way that contradicts the wisdom of the world

Happy are the poor is spirit; the world says that happiness comes from confidence in oneself, much self-esteem; Scripture says happiness is found one you come to the end of confidence in your self

those who mourn over their sin; the world says you need to be you Scripture says, if we are sinners who don’t need to celebrate our sin but be broken over it to mourn over our sinful hearts, not celebrate them

those who are meek, gentleness, putting others ahead of oneself; world says we need to be aggressive, it is a dog eat dog world

those who hunger and thirst after righteousness; the world questions if righteousness is even a thing

those who are merciful

those who are pure in heart; oh how the world tries to pollute our hearts with tv, social media, and this is what is to make us happy

those who are peacemakers

those who are persecuted for righteousness sake

The point to be made here is simple; true blessedness, true happiness is something that the world does not understand; yet God has revealed where blessedness can be found

I. The Blessed Man

The first thing that I want to point out is that this blessedness is had by someone who is a man

We hear of godly men, godly women who are used by the Lord greatly and we might be tempted to think that they were unlike us, they had or have the same nature as ours and if they are different than us it is only by the grace of God in Christ Jesus

But listen brothers and sisters, blessedness can be known by men and women who have weaknesses, who have sins that they struggle to put to death everyday, they have besetting sins

They are tempted, they have difficult seasons, they have trying seasons, they have sickness

They live in the world with all of the same temptations as us all hearing the songs of the age hearing the so called wisdom of the age and yet in the midst of all of that distraction and in the midst of all of that difficulty he or she still finds true blessedness

And notice this blessedness is not only reserved for the culturally elite, it is not only reserved for the wealthy; it is not the elite man, the wealthy man, the blue-blooded man but for the man

But there is one thing that we are told about this person at the end of the psalm,

Notice v.6; the Lord knows the way of the righteous

This way of blessing can only be known by the righteous.

Of course blessing was know by the Righteous One our Lord Jesus Christ, but brothers and sisters we are invited into this blessing as well but the only way we can know it is in the Righteous One, Christ Jesus our Lord.

How is it that any of us are righteous? good works? being religious? going to church?

We are righteous before God by grace through faith in Christ alone

Right?

The righteous are those who have cried out with the hymn writer, nothing in my hand I bring simply to Thy cross I cling

We are clothed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ when we come to Him by faith trusting in His redeeming work on our behalf

But the Lord also begins to change us from within so that we are living righteously, we are declared righteous by faith in Jesus but we are also changed so that we hunger and thirst for righteousness, we begin to pursue godly living

True blessing, true happiness, true joy can only be known by those who are righteous

Is that you?

II. What the Blessed man avoids

And here in we see that happiness or blessing comes to the man who delights in the Word of God

As we begin thinking about this psalm

All men want to be happy Blaise Pascal

The sad truth is that most seek happiness in all the wrong places.

May our hearts be open to hear and follow God's Word as we learn the way of happiness and ultimately the way of life.

I. The Character of the godly man or the blessed man (v.1)

1. He does not walk with the wicked, he does not walk in the counsel of the wicked

The wicked has so many different ways to get their counsel to us today. With phones, tvs, computers, tablets all of these devices are avenues for the world to speak into our lives, to give us counsel.

We must be careful!

And listen, the wicked, the ungodly may not look the way you picture wickedness or ungodliness

They may not be a drunk, they may not be a thief, a womanizer

The wicked the ungodly are those who live as practical atheists, they do not give God any part of their lives

They may be a nice person yet they live day to day concerned with what the world thinks, what is the in thing, how can it get others to think well of me and not pursuing the Lord and doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord

Brothers and sisters, satan and the world do not necessarily want to destroy you with outward sins that so visibly destroy your life, no they would be content with the heart that just forgets about God and lives life in the way that seems best to you.

2. He does not stand in the path of sinners

Sinners live for the pleasure of their sin, it will not be every sin but every sinner has his sin

But true blessing does not come from this path

The way of the sinner may promise much but the promises are empty, it does not lead to joy, to blessing

Sinners live for the pleasure of their sin, it will not be every sin but every sinner has his sin

Warning of how we are so easily lead astray by others

Practical advice to young people

If you stand in the way of sinners, if you are hanging around with sinners then you will be effected

1 Corinthians 15:33 ESV

Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

3. Does not sit in the seat of scoffers

One thing that we can see is that this man has his heart turned toward the world and the things of the world.

He is willing to listen to worldly advice, he makes himself comfortable around sin and is not offended.

Brothers and sisters as I was thinking through this the last few days I thought of how careful we must be in our day.

If there was a warning in the day of the psalmist who lived among the covenant people of God who honored the law how much more careful should we be living among the world in a day when there is open hatred for God and His Word where there is clear rebellion against God and an encouragement to ignore the scriptures.

The world says in our day that we can love and marry anyone and we should not feel guilty about it and yet God says that love and physical intimacy should be between one man and one woman within the covenant of marriage.

The world says that you need to think positive and feel good about yourself that you need to have good self esteem and yet the scriptures call you not to self esteem but to Christ esteem

That joy and happiness is not found in yourself and pursuing the american dream but joy and happiness is found in dying to self and living to Christ.

Notice the downward spiral here

ungodly has his counsel

don't worry about religion, repentance, prayer, the Bible just do your best and everything will be okay in the end

sinner has his sin

usually not all just some the drunkard hates the child abuser, the coveter hates the drunkard and so on but they all are slave to sin

scorner has his seat

he has sat in this world and brought all religions and moral feeling to an end, he mocks at sin and his conscience is seared

If we would be blessed brother and sister, there is much to be avoided in this world.

III. What the blessed man pursues

1. His delight is the Word of God.

God's Word is not a drudgery. He does not leave it on the self to collect dust

Spurgeon: Some who call themselves Christians have enough dust on their Bibles to take their finger and write the word "damned" on it.

2. He meditates upon God's Word

Instead of neglecting the Bible, He mediates on the Bible. Instead of listening to the counsel of the world he wants to hear from God's Word.

In the last resort, the principal wisdom of the psalm can be reduced to the prosperity and happiness of the righteous depending upon their finding delight in God's Word.

But how is such delight to be found?

In practical terms, it is achieved by constant meditation upon God's Word. In His Word our Creator gives us guidance showing us the meaning of creation.

Life is lived in futility if its fundamental purpose is never discovered. It is the meaning of human existence which is enshrined in God's Word and the discovery of that meaning flows from meditation upon this Word.

When one takes God's Word in and meditates upon that Word he finds it sweet like David says

103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! ( ESV)

Therefore brothers and sisters

2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation-- ( ESV)

3. The Bible keeps him from sin

9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.

10 With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!

11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

12 Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes!

13 With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth.

14 In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches.

15 I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.

16 I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word. ( ESV)

notice v.14 and 16

God's Word leads to our delight to our comfort,

The righteous know that there is more delight in the Word of God than in the riches of the world

IV. What the blessed man is like

1. He is like a planted tree

Not just any tree, not a wild tree, but a planted tree.

Difference between a wild tree and a planted tree. A planted tree has a planter, one who has his eye on the tree, that has picked the best place to plant the tree, who cares for the tree, who prunes the tree, who fertilizes the tree

He is not one who has been left to himself, instead he is cared for

Notice:

He is planted in a desirable place (the righteous have by God’s grace been planted in Christ)

7 "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD.

8 He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit."

( ESV)

This is not so with the ungodly

6 He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. ( ESV)

2. He is a fruitful tree

fruit is evidence of life

The fruit of the Spirit, righteousness, praise, offerings

3. He is prosperous

He is rich with the things that money cannot buy

As you think back over the character, the comfort, the condition of this man it is all evidence of God's grace.

He hates sin and the world and is not lead astray but the wisdom of the world: this is grace

He delights in God's Word: this is grace

He is not a wild tree that grew up but a tree that has been planted in a fruitful spot so that there is blessing upon him: that is all of grace

V. The contrast and condemnation of the ungodly (vv.4-6)

These verses are the black cloth and grace is the diamond.

1. v.4

Not so with all the above

They are like chaff, empty, worthless, and blown away (talk about the winnowing)

12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." ( ESV)

2. v.5

They will not stand in the judgement, they will try to hide

15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains,

16 calling to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,

17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?" ( ESV)

sinners may mix in with the righteous today but not in heaven

22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.

23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it,

25 and its gates will never be shut by day-- and there will be no night there.

26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.

27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. ( ESV)

3. v.6

God knows our ways, may not seem like it but

When thro fiery trials thy pathway shall lie, my grace all sufficient shall be thy supply,

the flame shall not hurt thee I only design they dross to consume and thy gold to refine

the sould that on jesus hath leaned for repose I will not I will not desert to his foes

that soul tho all hell should endeavor to shake I'll never no never no never forsake

How firm a foundation

10 But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold. ( ESV)

He knows all but carefully watches His in a special way

19 But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity." ( ESV)

the ungodly and his way will perish

like words written on the sand

Conclusion

Blessing is for the righteous, those who are in Christ

13 "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.

Christians by God’s grace let us help one another to continue to believe that joy, happiness, blessing comes from being in Christ and walking as Christ walked.

14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

15 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. ( ESV)

It is easy for us to fall into unbelief and when we do our behavior is effected by that.

24 "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.

Let us believe v.1 and 2 and help one another

26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it." ( ESV)

blessing is not found in the way of the world

May we build on the rock of God's Word

but in delighting in, meditating upon, and walking in obedience to the Word