Encouragement From The Psalms

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.
                                              Psalm 1:1-2 NASB

I believe that deep down all of us want a blessed life. Nobody desires a life that falls apart. As author James Bryan Smith states," I have never met a person whose goal was to ruin his or her life." Yet, we have all had times in our lives where we have made choices where life began to fall apart from that choice or choices. Hopefully we learn from our mistakes. Hopefully instead of experiencing a life as a result of wrong choices we can experience a blessed life.

The word blessed means more than just being happy. Happiness so often has to do with our circumstances. If our circumstances are favorable we are happy. When they are not, we aren't happy. The word blessed can sound very religious,or even pious. Some translations may even say happy. But as I stated earlier happy refers to a temporary condition based on external conditions. I like the phrase "well off."Bryan James Smith uses this phrase when talking about the beatitudes. So Psalm 1 could start off, "How well off is the man..."

I like the phrase "well off" because it doesn't imply a life of no troubles. Some people think that if you follow Jesus with your life you won't have any problems. No, you still have problems even when you are obeying Jesus. There is no such life as a life with no problems. But while you are obeying Jesus with your life you are  still "blessed" or "well off" even in the midst of troubles.

The Psalms have many references to someone being blessed, or how to be blessed, or living blessed. The first verse of the Book of Psalms starts off in the negative by telling us what not to do so that we can experience a blessed life.

       1. Does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
       2. Nor stand in the path of sinners
       3. Nor sit in the seat of scoffers

The first directive seems simple enough. The ways of the world often stand in contrast to the "kingdom". It hard enough at times to follow the kingdom ways when you are a follower of Jesus, but downright impossible when you are not. So the writer of this Psalm is telling us not to get counsel from anyone who is not following Jesus. Now obviously this does not mean in every area of life. There are wise doctors, lawyers and other people who do not follow Jesus with their lives but they still can advise well in their areas of expertise. But when it comes to making "kingdom " decisions you will need the counsel of others who are in the kingdom. One example would be that if someone does you wrong, someone may tell you to retaliate back. But this does not follow kingdom principles. So listening to that advice will hurt you in the long run. So be careful who you get your advice from when it comes to living for God.

The other two directives have more to do with who it is you are hanging out with. Now, we don't stop hanging out with people just because they don't follow Jesus. But the advice the writer is giving has more to do with the fact that  we begin to act like the people we hang out with all the time. If we aren't careful their action will begin to rub off on us. If we hang out with people who mock others all the time, we will probably begin to mock others all the time.

So the writer of this Psalm is telling us that if we hang out with the right people we are blessed. If we don't follow the counsel of those who tell us not to follow God's ways, we are blessed.

Now this Psalm tells us that what we are to do, is to delight in God's Word. We are also to meditate on it. This does not mean that we do like the eastern religions when it comes to meditating. It means we dwell on what we have read, we think about it throughout the day. You can write a verse down on a notecard and keep it with you and look at it at different times in the day when you have a chance. You can store it in your phone. There are many ways you can dwell on God's word throughout the day.

As we read the Bible and then dwell on it we will begin to live it out when the right situation comes along. That is what the Psalmist is telling us. That is why it is so important to read, and then dwell on God's word. Because it will lead into action. As we begin to do what God says we will begin to experience a blessed life.

Troy