Psalm 1- A Blessed Life

Part 3- What should we “delight in”?

In part 1 of this series, I focused on the first line of Psalm 1:1, “Blessed is the man” (person). I talked about what it means to be blessed in a spiritual sense. We are blessed when we are in Christ, and have put our faith and trust in Him. When we do this, we have an assurance that cannot be matched by any other feeling. We have the blessed assurance of a home with God someday. We also need to understand that we won’t be blessed if we are not putting Jesus first in our hearts and lives. We won’t have that blessed assurance that comes from knowing that we have our hearts and our priorities in the right order. Ultimately, the reason that we are blessed is because we know that our future is set in heaven with God, as long as we are a member of His body, remain faithful to Him, and keep Him number one in our lives. In part 2, I focused on the rest of Psalm 1:1 which focuses on what to stay away from. I discussed the subtlety of sin, and how it can creep into our lives in a slow progression until we are completely away from God. The verse takes us through the progression of a person walking in the counsel of the ungodly, standing in the path of sinners, and finally, sitting in the seat of the scornful. It is a dangerous and destructive progression…..a downward spiral, as we might call it today. In part 3, we will begin to focus on the positive!! What things should we dwell on in order to lead a blessed life? 

In the next verse, the writer begins to relate to us the actions of a person who is blessed. We were told what not to do in verse one, and now we are told what to do in verse two. Psalms 1:2a reads, “But his delight is in the law of the Lord…… (Psalm 1:2 NKJV)  What does the word delight mean? In Hebrew, it means hepes. Hepes means delight, pleasure, desire, or longing. It can also mean to be inclined to or have an inclination towards something, which means “a person’s natural tendency”. (Blue Letter Bible, dictionary.com) With that being said, what does the word delight mean in our lives? Are we naturally inclined to bend towards God’s word and law? I would have to say from my own personal experience that as humans we are not always naturally inclined to obey God, especially when we are young and immature as Christians. I’m not going to lie, the world used to be my natural inclination. And believe me, I am still a work in progress in this. And….everyone is different. Some are more inclined to follow God than others. Some of us (me) are stubborn. Some of us (again, me) have to go through some hard times before we begin to really look into God’s Word, and see just how delightful it is. Don’t get me wrong, I believed it, but I didn’t appreciate what it could do for my life. Sadly, there are some who never see it as anything other than a book written by men. And there are some who want to twist it to make it say what they want it to say to fit their own life, or simply ignore the parts that convict them of sin. When I came to truly realize that God has given me the words of eternal life in this amazing book called the Bible, I began to delight in it. At that point, I wanted to learn more and more. Eventually, my desire to learn turned into a desire to share what I have learned with others. At this point, it is my natural inclination to bend towards His word, like a plant growing and bending toward the sun. I firmly believe that we can grow into this inclination if we are in God’s word the way that we need to be. We can grow to delight in His Word. I did, and you can also. Delighting in God and His Word ties in with so many other emotions and behaviors. 

In Psalm 40:8, David says, “I delight to do your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart.” This verse ties in well with Psalm 1:2, because if we “delight in the law of the Lord”, then we will desire to do God’s will. It all goes hand in hand. Psalm 37:4 reads, “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.” Is this saying that God will give us material things if we delight in Him? No, not at all, because our desires of our heart should be our salvation and the salvation of others who are lost. Our desires should be spiritual, because that is all that matters when we leave this physical world. The desire of my heart is to be with God, and for my loved ones to be with God. But not only them, my desire is for everyone to obey God so that they can be with Him. If I am a true Christian, then that should be my desire. 

In Psalm 112:1, the Bible says, “Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments.” So in this verse, a blessed man not only delights in the Lord’s commandments, but he also fears the Lord. If we delight in the Lord, we will fear Him. The word fear in this verse comes from the Hebrew word yare which means to revere or respect. Proverbs 9:10 says this, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom….” What is it called when we come to a knowledge of how powerful and awesome that God truly is? Friends, that is fear.  How do we act on that fear? That fear causes us to use that knowledge that we have learned about God to make the decision to commit our lives to Him. How do we commit our lives to Him? We commit to Him through repenting of our sins, confessing Jesus’ name before others, and being baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (See the scripture references at the bottom of this post.) At this point, we have used our knowledge of God to make an informed, smart decision. Isn’t this the definition of wisdom? Using the knowledge we have gained to make decisions for our own good? Knowledge is useless if we don’t use it. What happens next? Well….we continue to “delight” in God Word. This will lead to more knowledge, more wisdom, and a life filled with blessings that only God can give us. It will also lead us to want to help others gain this knowledge and wisdom, which is God’s ultimate purpose for us. Another Hebrew word for fear is, pachad, which means dread, terror, or a sudden alarm. We see this word used in 1 Chronicles 14:17 when it says that “the fame of David went out into all lands, and the Lord brought the fear of him (David) upon all nations.” This was not a respectful or reverent fear that all the nations around them had for David. This was a fear for their physical lives. If we have the proper delight for God’s Word, we will fear (yare) God in the manner that we should. It won’t be a trembling in a corner kind of fear (pachad). It will be a wonderful, awesome feeling of reverence and respect that only comes from being a faithful Christian.

What do we delight in? There are many things in my life that I delight in…..my husband, my children, my grandchild, my extended family, my best friends, etc. I truly enjoy being with and talking to my family and friends. I am now an empty nester! So when my grown children come around, I am for sure delighted! They just don’t even comprehend how happy it makes me to spend time with them. And when I hold my grandson…..I am in a place of happiness that is hard to explain. It’s amazing how much joy our children and grandchildren bring us. But….where does my true fulfillment and satisfaction come from? Aside from the people in my life, I enjoy good music. I am definitely a music enthusiast. I love sports…..mainly basketball and tennis. I enjoy reading a good book. But….as much as I enjoy all those things….where do I find true delight? This verse says that a blessed person delights in “the law of the Lord”. To someone who is not a Christian or not a mature Christian, this might sound fairly boring. Why would I delight in laws? Why would I delight in someone telling me what I can and can’t do? But to us as Christians, it makes perfect sense. We are appreciative of God’s laws because we know they are for our own good. We know that we cannot direct our own steps. (Jeremiah 10:23)  Psalms 37:23 says this, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, And He delights in his way.” The only way that we can be truly good is if we allow the Lord to guide our steps, and when that happens…..delight goes both ways. God delights in us as we delight in Him. We know that He has given us His law so that we can go to heaven someday. Let’s not forget that God doesn’t want anyone to be lost. (2 Peter 3:9) And…..since God’s law is God’s word, and God’s word is the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is God, then when we are delighting in God’s law, we are also delighting in God Himself, and in His Son Jesus who is also God. I know….mind blowing isn’t it! 

To sum everything up, delight is about desire. We have to delight in God’s Word, and have a desire to please Him. These go hand in hand. That desire has to be number one in our lives above everything else. I know that I fall short every day. I miss the mark often. But I am trying to build my knowledge and wisdom by being in God’s Word. Being in His Word so much more over the last couple of years has finally made me see what God wants from me. He wants my heart. He wants my love. He wants my commitment to His purpose. He wants to delight in me. Why did I wait so long to really work at it? I know that I let the world get in the way. I let my low self-image get in my way. God doesn’t see us the way that we see ourselves. Oh if we could only look at ourselves through God’s eyes, and see the delight that He has for each of us. I encourage you to get in His Word. Find your way of studying that works for you. If you haven’t found your way yet, it is time to start to “delight” in your wonderful, compassionate, merciful God and Father who loves you so very much. 

Have you started your “blessed” life in Christ yet? If you need help understanding how to be saved, please reach out. I can help you or put you in contact with someone who can help you.

God’s Plan of Salvation

Below is the plan that God has set forth in His Word, for mankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven. 

We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17) 

Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16) 

Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32) 

Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19) 

Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)

Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)

Sources

biblegateway.com

blueletterbible.org