Psalm 1: Who Does the Lord Bless?

Psalm 1:1-2.. "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; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night."

Who does the Lord bless? Surely this is a great question for us this morning, a question that I believe is often on many of our hearts. All of us surely desire blessing from the Lord, but how do we get it? How do we obtain God's hand of favor, his gifts, and his goodness? Pslam 1 answers this question for us quite clearly.

Firstly, David tells us what a person that the Lord blesses does not look like. He tells us that the Lord blesses the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, stands in the way of sinners, or sits in the seat of scoffers. These terms could certainly be picked apart and analyzed to find a greater beauty, but the main idea is this: the Lord does not bless those who walk in sin, short and simple.

Secondly, David tells us what a person that bless the Lord does look like. He tell us that the Lord blesses the man who delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on it day and night. The Lord promises to prosper and bless those who look to his law, obey his law, love his law, and even meditate upon his law. In short, the Lord blesses those who obey him, and he does not bless those who disobey him.

Perhaps you're thinking what I'm thinking this morning: where's the hidden truth here? The Lord blesses those who obey him, and he punishes those who do not. Duh! Surely I should have watched Netflix this morning instead of reading this devotional. Although Netflix is often tempting above God's truth, we must realize that even this simple truth is absolutely foundational to our faith. We serve a God who blesses those who do his will, and punishes those who do not do his will. You know what that's called? Justice. Yes, beloved, we serve a just God who brings his favor on those who do good and his judgment and wrath on those who do evil. And the beauty of it all is that without his Holy Spirit living within us by his grace, we would not be able to obey him, and thus we would not be blessed, but rather judges. Therefore, this text before us this morning is extremely important because it shows us God's justice in his blessing of the righteous and punishment of the unrighteousness. There is no other way in which God operates besides his justice. This is a great foundation of our faith: knowing that God will always do what is just, even if that means that he has to punish his own son in order to save us.

So let us first ask ourselves this morning: am I the type of person God blesses? Do I do his will, or do I disobey him? Surely we will reap what we sow. Secondly, let us ask ourselves: do we delight in the justice of God? God is a just God who does not commit any injustice. Have we praised him for this? Have we loved him for his justice? Have we worshiped him for being the only perfect and righteous judge over all humanity? Amen.