A Brief Commentary on Psalm 1:1
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,…
While the world chases circumstantially-rooted happiness, we ought to be pursuing the blessing of God. To have our Creator pleased with our existence – rejoicing in the substance of our life – this is the rock-solid foundation of fulfillment and peace.
To be blessed is to stand strong. To be blessed is to know that all is well despite difficulty and heartache because we have invited God into every facet of our life.
To be blessed is to be wholeheartedly engaged in living because the Holy Spirit speaks and moves continually in our hearts and minds.
To be blessed is quite the opposite of being bored, being drained, being lonely, or fighting to keep our head above water.
To be blessed is to live vibrantly, with hope as a backdrop that never dissipates because Jesus Christ has risen from the dead and conquered the sin that used to bind us and the death that used to overshadow us.
As mentioned at the outset, worldly happiness sits juxtaposed with this state of Christian blessedness. Worldly happiness derives from a mindset of materialism. For people enslaved in the pursuit of happiness, the world is very small, and yet mysteriously elusive.
Therefore, the Psalmist says we ought not to live according to the counsel of the wicked. The mindset of ungodliness tells us we must seek many things to be happy: entertainment no matter the cost to our morality or pursuit of intellect; fast-paced living in order to keep up with what is expected no matter the cost to health or sanity; gadgets, appliances, and vehicles no matter the cost to a reasonable financial plan or the amount of time needed for maintenance; a youthful look no matter the price tag or investment of valuable energy and resource; incomes that keep us on par with others’ standards no matter the cost to relationships and emotional stability. And the greatest cost of this chasing of happiness is that it steals from us our commitment – our true relationship – with God Himself.
Happiness cannot be found by human effort. Rather, blessedness is bestowed by God as our heart turns genuinely and unabashedly to Him in a world gone mad. The man or woman is truly blessed who stays alert to discern worldly thinking from biblical thinking. The person on whom the favor of the Maker of the Universe rests is the one who measures every thought and motivation against the Word of the Lord. The blessed person is secure and full of hope not because of fleeting circumstances, but because of walking moment by moment with unchangeable, unshakeable, unfailing Jesus.
See to it that you are blessed of God and not merely happy. See to it that you make His approval your aim. For, the blessed person will remain, while the wicked in pursuit of worldly happiness is soon destroyed in his or her own way.