This Person Is Blessed - Is It You? {Psalm 1:1}

Look closer at Psalm 1:1 this week. Consider the path you’re on. Are you blessed as you walk it?

This is week 1 of our memory journey through Psalm 1.

Psalm 1 begins like Jesus did with the Sermon on the Mount:

Blessed is the man… (Psalm 1:1)
Blessed are the…. (Matthew 5:3)

And as Jesus describes in the Beatitudes, so the Psalmist (likely David) describes a way of life in Psalm 1 that brings joy. God delights in blessing those who follow Him.

There are two Hebrew words translated as “blessed” in the Old Testament.

a verb, barak (#1288), which means “to kneel, to bless”
a noun, esher (#835), which means “happiness”

Esher is the word used in Psalm 1. Its root is ashar (#833), which means “to be straight.”

Verse 1 tells us who the happy man is NOT. The blessed man does not veer away from the godly path. He avoids the twists and truths that tire us, frustrate us, and use our resources to lead us nowhere good.

He walks straight.

The ERV translation puts it like this:

Great blessings belong to those who don’t listen to evil advice, who don’t live like sinners, and who don’t join those who make fun of God.
Psalm 1:1 (ERV)

If we want to stay refreshed this week, let’s stay on the straighter path. Avoid distractions that pull us away from our purpose. Stay focused on things above that are more satisfying on a deep soul level.

The path will still have obstacles, and we’ll still feel pain along the way, but as Jesus concludes about the blessed ones in the Beatitudes in Matthew 5, the person on this path can rejoice and be glad (Matthew 5:12).

Next week we’ll look at verse 2 to see what the blessed man does instead of walking the crooked path.