Blessed is the Man: A Meditation on Psalm 1 and Mark 4

There is no lack of both secular and religious opinion on how to be blessed.  Usually these systems or programs are broken down into pursuits of wealth, prosperity, fame, intellect, power, prestige, sex appeal, or some derivation of the same.  Blessing, to the minds of many people as demonstrated by their authors and their spending patterns, reflect a very self centered understanding.  For far too many, the idea of being blessed is to live in opulence or satiety in this world, devoid of cares and calamities.  And while blessing from a Biblical perspective certainly includes physical applications, a purely self centered and materialistic understanding of blessing is woefully short of what God describes in His Word.

Blessed is the man who 

walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,

nor standeth in the way of sinners, 

nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

But his delight is in the Law of the LORD,

and in His Law doth he meditate day and night.

The blessed man, from God's perspective, is the one who chooses the path of His Word over the sinful proclivities of the world.  He turns from the counsel of the ungodly, not allowing those who reject God and His Word to shape his thinking.  He doesn't stand among sinners, refusing to throw his lot in with those who have rejected the Law of God.  He doesn't take his seat among the scornful, and does not lend his voice or support to those who blaspheme what is good and true.  But rather, he delights in God's Word, meditating upon it throughout every day, so that God's Word in its fulness becomes his own word reverberating through him.  The blessed man is not defined by his wealth, prosperity, health, charisma, political power or social standing, but rather by his fellowship with God through faith in His Word.

Such fellowship seems such a small and insignificant thing by the measures of this world.  Living by the Word of God might give you, for a time, a more comfortable life (the Proverbs and other wisdom literature are full of general principles by which to live better) but of course, it might also make of you a persecuted martyr.  While the principles of Scripture may in fact bring a better life in this world, our own sinful inability to live perfectly by the Law of God means that we're not guaranteed any promise of earthly prosperity thereby-- in fact, we know that to fail in even one aspect of the Law even once, makes us culpable of the whole Law, worthy of immediate and eternal judgment.  By our own works of the Law, or by our own keeping of the Word of God, no one is worthy of a prosperous life in this world or the next.  Any prosperity or blessing we receive from God is not by the merit of our successfully keeping His Word, but rather by His grace and mercy extended to us through the merit and works of Jesus Christ.

But of what consequence is this fellowship or this Word of God?  If I cannot depend on it to bring me fortune and favor, why should I count it for anything?  It is a Word that speaks Law and Gospel, righteousness, faith, and repentance.  In the face of grand scientific theories, proud political speeches, beautiful pontificating celebrities, of what consequence is this little Word of God, and the little fellowship of those who both hear and keep it?

Seen through the lens of our Gospel text in Mark 4, we see how little a thing the Kingdom of God appears when it comes to us.  He does not descend from glory to smash us into His Kingdom, but rather He comes to us through His simple, small, yet penetrating Word.  He holds up the mirror of His Law, revealing to us what is true righteousness while showing us the depth of our fall into sin.  He holds up the Cross of His Only Begotten Son to show us the price He has paid to forgive us our sins, and the saving love He offers to us freely by His grace.  Such a small thing in the eyes of the world that it seems foolishness to the intellectual, and a stumbling block to the self-righteous.  But to those who are being saved by His grace through faith in His Name, it is the power of God unto eternal life.  This little seed of His Word, sown in the world by the power of His Holy Spirit while the world looks on with scorn, is the Seed which will grow into a Kingdom beyond human measure and comprehension-- a Kingdom which shelters all who seek it in humble faith and repentance, giving unto them life and peace and joy everlasting.

While the treasures, pleasures, and accolades of this world are passing away, together with all their painted glamor like a sad and aging strumpet, the Kingdom of our God endures holy and pure forever.  The fellowship of God through His Word, the one holy church knit together by His one Spirit, His one faith, His one baptism, is the one fellowship of life and beauty that shall never end.  Though small and insignificant in the eyes of a dying world, it is grand beyond reckoning to the eyes of those who abide within it.

Blessed indeed is the man who prefers the pure and simple fellowship of God Almighty to the doomed and tortured fellowship of the wicked.  For those who abide in the fellowship of God's grace through faith in Jesus and His Word, be their life in this world one of pleasantries or sorrows, riches or poverty, have a life of wonders which shall never cease, and a font of joy which shall never be exhausted.

If the Word of God has lost its luster to you, o Christian, look once again upon the greatness of its treasure, and hear your Lord speak to you His words of incalculable worth:  your sins be forgiven, and eternal life and peace and joy be yours for Christ's sake.

If you have never known this Word of God, nor this fellowship which His people hold so dear, I invite you to survey the countless trifles of this passing life, and open your eyes to treasures surpassing every human comprehension.  Let go the trinkets whose luster fades so quickly in the noonday sun, and receive the true and imperishable riches of the God who loves and made you:  Christ Jesus, your forgiveness, life, and salvation-- your faith which sees beyond this world, your hope more sure than a thousand suns, your love more deep than the expanses of the cosmos.

Amen.