The Blessed Life
Drawing from Psalm 1, Bibianna reflects on what Scripture has to say about the blessed life with its implications on present choices and future outcomes.
Are you happy?
That might be a weird and random question to ask but I’ve thought about this question periodically over the years. It has at times, kept me up and prompted an existential crisis. “What am I doing with my life compared to my peers?” “What else should I be doing with my life now and in the future?”
What would you say you need to be happy? Does being a Christian change anything?
I have wrestled with this and our sermon series in Isaiah has been helpful in reminding me of eternal realities to live out of. Psalm 1 is also a helpful psalm to anchor and shape our views about the happy, good and blessed life. Like many parts of the Bible, we can see clearly God’s definition of “blessed”. Blessedness comes from knowing, loving and obeying God through His word. Throughout this psalm, it presents clearly two distinct ways to live. There is no grey area or any doubt that there is an in-between way. As Christians then, this separation from the world — to be in it but not of it — continually marks our life.
Choose obedience
The blessed one chooses to act by faith. Psalm 1:1-2 shows us the life of the blessed, contrasted with the life of the wicked around him. What the blessed man does and does not do is described for us. The blessed man does not:
walk in the counsel of the wicked
stand in the way of sinners
sit in the seat of scoffers
Instead, he:
delights in the law of the LORD
meditates on the law day and night.
“Walk”, “stand”, “sit”, “delights”: and “meditate” are verbs. These are intentional actions and doesn’t happen accidentally, passively or coincidentally. This man chooses to not associate with the wicked and chooses to enjoy and cling onto the law of the Lord daily. His affections are also involved here and it is not just rote learning. Obedience is active and involves our whole being, including our affections. There are two ways to live, and it is an active choice.
Obedience is active and involves our whole being, including our affections.
Practically, it means making this choice daily, often in the ordinary things of life. We are constantly surrounded by many voices from the world and people around us telling us how to live our lives. Ultimately, do we take counsel from God’s word? How does God’s word shape the way we think about our finances, relationships, parenting, how we live and how we die? What are our thoughts filled with? Psalm 1:1-2 challenges and encourages us to choose obedience.
Fruitfulness in the present
This choice results in two outcomes. Firstly, we are presented with contrasting fruitfulness in the present. Psalm 1:3 gives us a picture of a tree that is secure and flourishing. This tree doesn’t have to worry about water, as it has a constant supply of water. The tree yields fruit in the right season, and does not die but prospers. It is a picture of health and the blessed man seems to be unfazed by changing circumstances. This stands in stark contrast to Psalm 1:4 that shows us that the wicked are fleeting like chaff.
To the world, obedience and investing in the things of God may not seem like it will yield fruit but eyes of faith do see the true fruitfulness that arises!
In a world with constant destablising changes, the picture of a tree that is flourishing by streams of water is a wonderfully encouraging and appealing one. It isn’t a picture of stoicism, but rather, shows us how drawing deeply from the right source enables us to thrive. Jeremiah 17:7-8 has a similar picture of the one who trusts in the Lord. To the world, obedience and investing in the things of God may not seem like it will yield fruit but eyes of faith do see the true fruitfulness that arises!
Salvation in the future
Secondly, the psalm closes out with contrasting outcomes in the future. The choices of the wicked have eternal consequences, resulting in judgment. His way will perish in the hands of the LORD (Ps 1:5). In contrast, the Lord knows the way of the righteous (Ps 1:6). The two ways to live affect our lives now and also our future. There is a way of blessing, life and flourishing, and another one that leads to death. Our series in Isaiah has also walked us through the portions of Scripture that speak of judgment against disobedience, wickedness, evil and a life without God. Jesus in Matthew 7:13–14 speaks of two gates – the narrow and wide – and calls us to enter by the narrow gate: “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. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
There are two ways to live, and our daily choices matter, because it signals our end.
Choosing to obey today
Instinctively, the choice is clear! And as the opening psalm of this book, it reminds us that God’s word is meant to be delighted in, because it leads to life. The world may think that choosing God’s word is “death” as we die to our desires. But this tells us that true blessing, blessing that lasts, comes in knowing God and His ways. Like Mary in Luke 10:24, we are to choose the good portion which will not be taken away from us. Choosing God by faith in Christ is unshakeable. In Christ, we have an everlasting source of water, that quenches our thirst.
There is an unshakeable confidence, that inspired hymns with lines such as this in “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”:
That word above all earthly powers,
No thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours
Through Him who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go,
This mortal life also;
The body they may kill:
God’s truth abideth still,
His Kingdom is forever.
This is also echoed in a more modern hymn, “My Worth is Not in What I Own”:
As summer flowers we fade and die
Fame, youth and beauty hurry by
But life eternal calls to us
At the cross
I will not boast in wealth or might
Or human wisdom’s fleeting light
But I will boast in knowing Christ
At the cross
There are so many times that I do struggle to obey or am tempted to disobey God. But God has also graciously provided many in the church that have modelled for me what it means to choose the path that leads to life instead of the one that leads to destruction. Some have chosen to remain steadfast in their faith, trusting in God through deep pain, suffering and even their doubt. Others of you have modelled faithfulness in reading and delighting in God’s word. When the world tempts me to pursue her ideals of the good life, I see in you, my fellow church members, the blessedness of knowing and loving Jesus, who first loved us. We need each other to remind us to continue to cling to God’s word and choose obedience.
May our lives be marked by obedience and fruitfulness, and the true blessing that comes from knowing God through HIs word.