Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
Psalm 1:1-2
Remarkably, the Book of Psalms opens with “Blessed.” For happiness is the life of the righteous, the experience of those whose sin has been forgiven!
The way “blessed” is used in the passage is “happiness.” The Psalmist in the first two verses of Psalm 1 tells us why we do not walk in the counsel of the wicked, stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of the scoffers. The forgiven ones are the happy people. In other words, the happy people have no interest in the vile taste of the wicked, sinners, and scoffers for they have tasted the honey drenching joy of the forgiveness of sin.
What Psalm 1:1 is not saying is that our blessing comes from our own effort of not walking, standing, and sitting like a wicked man; rather, we do not do them because Jesus had died for us so that we may be forgiven and thus, obtain Jesus’ righteousness.
When we have Christ’s righteousness, we will naturally delight in the Law of God (verse 2) for Jesus is the Law. Only the unrighteous spurns the Law for the Law condemns them.
As Christians, we can identify these verses with our own experiences of walking, standing, and sitting in wickedness. Although not perfectly, we will certainly and progressively find less and less joy in these activities. Our happiness does not come from not doing those things but from the joy of being forgiven. The joyful ones will slowly cease to find any sweetness in those negatives for we have tasted God’s goodness.
How do you find happiness? In Jesus Christ alone. Do not lose sight of the Source of happiness.