Psalm 1 (King James Version)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.
4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6 For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
This scripture, Psalm 1, should be very familiar. Most saints can quote it in full or at the very least in part (with the exception of the newest believers among us). Almost all of us can recall verse three, the part which goes: “...and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water.” Even though this is a very little/short psalm, it is full of spiritual nutrition. Because it is so rich, we will deal with this psalm in sections, in most cases a verse at a time.
1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
Verse one is the linchpin or the foundation, of the entire psalm. By giving us reciprocal information, we learn some of what it takes to be blessed. This verse of the psalm contrasts those who are blessed against those who are not. It specifically identifies three persons with their associated behaviors, which are to be avoided if we wish to be blessed. As we can see Psalm 1:1 has four parts:
- Blessed is the man ...
- that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly...
- To declare (something or someone) holy, consecrated, hallowed, (sanctified); render holy by means of religious rites (ii)
- To ask for or to receive or to be endowed with a divine favor
- To make happy or prosperous (i); confer prosperity or happiness
- To think (oneself) happy; congratulate (oneself)
- To praise or glorify, to bless the Lord
- To make the sign of the cross over or upon (i); make the sign of the cross over someone in order to call on God for protection; consecrate (ii)
- To keep or protect from harm (i)
- To give a benediction to (i)
- (1) Ephesians 5:26 and 1 Thessalonians 5:23 say that with the Word, God has completely sanctified us. Through His Word, he has consecrated, hallowed, and declared as us Holy.
* The whole of creation came into being by the declarations of God. From Genisis 1, we can see that what God declares - IS! God does not change... The way that he operated in the beginning is the way that He continues to operate, and the way that he expects us to operate. [Malachi 3:6] The things which God says are always true and cannot but help but come to past or into existence. [Isaiah 55:11] Therefore because God has already declared us holy, it is a accomplished fact, however it is up to us to walk in this reality of this truth. [Leviticus 20:7, 1 Peter 1:15, 1 Peter 1:16, 1 Peter 2:9] - (2 & 3) God has empowered us to prosper and therefore to be happy (blessed).
* [1 Kings 10:8, Job 5:17, Psalm 146:5, Proverbs 3:13, Proverbs 16:20] - In some instances it is by His own will, in others it is because we ask it.
* Being blessed is an interesting dichotomy: To a certain degree our blessedness is dependant on behaviors or actions; i.e.: we ask for salvation; those who are saved may intercede in our behalf; or we explicitly asked to be blessed. Contrariwise, we do not do those things which will defer, derail or or cause us to be defrauded of our blessings…But it is also by the divine grace of God... It is His good pleasure to give us the kingdom [Luke 12:32]; it is through Grace that we are saved.
* 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 – as with Jabez, we too must ask God to bless us. Then we must expectantly receive God’s blessing. It should not be within our spiritual repertoire to even consider that God has not heard us, nor that He has not or will not granted our request. [John 14:13, John 16:23]
* God tells us to ask for all that we need or desire and to come boldly before his throne to receive [Luke 11:9, Matthew 7:7-11], in fact, God wants to bless us more than we can imagine [Psalm 5:12, 2 Chronicles 25:9, Ephesians 3:20, Luke 12:32, 2 Chronicles 16:9, 2 Chronicles 16:9, Deuteronomy 8:18]
* God calls us His children. As children of God, as with the children of any parent, we should expect our parents to do all that they can for - us as long as it is to our benefit. Naturally speaking we could say "daddy, I need "XXX" and expect our loving natural parent to supply that need. Well the natural order is a pale comparison to the spiritual. Our heavenly Father is anxious to bless us, He has no less compassion or love for us than any natural parent. [Matthew 7:8-10, Malachi 3:10] - (4) Happy = blessed, therefore we should think of ourselves as blessed.
* Because God has changed who we are, we must begin to see ourselves and to think of ourselves, as He does. We must have an internalized sense of ourselves as being what the Word of God defines us as. This spiritually based sense of self-esteem is not built on vanity or in pride, it is not based in works, or self-righteousness, but rather, it is firmly built on the Word of God. [Romans 12:3]
* If we conform [transform, reshape/remodel] (our minds) according to Romans 12:2 we will no longer see ourselves as failures or as inadequate to any task or call. We will not see anything beyond our ability to accomplish in Christ if God has called us to do it. [Romans 8:37]
* Likewise, we when we see ourselves according to the Word, and as God does, then we will have a constant expectancy of success and prosperity… we will assume that the resources of heaven (including the heavenly hosts) are at our disposal to accomplish everything that we are called to do. [Malachi 3:10, Hebrews 1:14]
*Proverbs 10:22, Proverbs 23:7, 1 John 3:2, In him, in whom, in Christ , 1 Peter 2:9 - (5) Repeatedly we are admonished to magnify, praise, give thanks unto, glorify, or bless the Lord. Psalm 34:1 puts it most aptly: "I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.”
*Psalm 63:4, Psalm 145:2, Psalm 34:1
*Furthermore, the Word goes on to tell us in Romans 1:20-22 that when we are ungrateful and do not glorify God, we are subject to a penalty – the grace, the insight of God can be stripped away. - (6 & 7) Throughout the Word, God has been identified as our protection. He has been described as a rock, a shield, a shelter, and a tower, to name but a few. We are told that even His wings and his shadow are protection for His children.
*1 Samuel 2:2, Genesis 15:1, Deuteronomy 33:29, 2 Samuel 22:3, 2 Samuel 22:36, Psalm 3:3, Psalm 5:12, Psalm 18:2, Psalm 28:7, Psalm 28:7, Exodus 15:3, 2 Samuel 22:2, Proverbs 18:10, Psalm 91:1, Psalm 91:4 - The freedictionary.com defines a benediction as a “An invocation of divine blessing, usually at the end of a church service.”… In the Bible, we see folks giving a blessing/benediction to others. Most notably, Melchizedek – when he blessed Abraham as well as the Patriarchs – when they gave a benediction to their children at the end of their lives (or the end of their earthly service).
*Genesis 14:18-19, Genesis 27, Hebrews 11:20 , Genesis 47:7, Hebrews 11:21
As I've said at the beginning just based on these definitions alone, and without any corroborating scriptures we could shout right there. But everything that these dictionaries stated, the bible, the Living, unadulterated Word of God confirms, so we would be remiss not to praise God for blessing us!
Father, We thank you that you Love us. Father we thank you that you’ve blessed us. That you’ve said we are blessed in Abraham, that we are blessed in Chris! Father we know that nothing we ever did or ever will do could deserve your abundant grace and mercy, yet you’ve given it to us anyway. Thank you Father; we praise you Father; We shall continually extol your mighty name among the nation until you call us home by way of a hole in the ground or a hole in the sky! Father we ask this day a blessing of you … we ask in complete faith and confidence that you would rapidly, thoroughly, and completely renew our minds Lord. Renew them so that we see You as you truly are. And so we see ourselves as you’ve made us in Christ Jesus: Blessed, Sanctified, Holy, Empowered to Prosper, Happy and Divinely Protected. We ask father, that you search us, and should you find within us anything which will derail or defer the blessing, or if there circumstances orchestrated by Satan to defraud us of THE BLESSING, that you show us Lord and we will repent and do all that you direct so that we may walk in the fullness of your blessing! We thank you Father that because your Word is true… that everything that we do is blessed, every where that we go is blessed, every thing that we touched is blessed because we are blessed (it is our permanent state of being) and we bring the blessing you’ve bestowed on us and in us with us!
In Jesus’ Name, to the Glory of God the Father, we count this done!
And it is so! Amen & Amen!
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