your life one of a constant stream of blessednesses? Back in 1660 a man, by the name of John Trapp, wrote, “The Psalm ist sayeth more about true happiness in this short Psalm than any one of the philosophers or all of them put together: they did not beat the bush God has here put the bird into our hands.” Here in this first verse of Psalm One is a description of the man who is filled with blessednesses. Frequently we can best define something by explaining what it is not, rather than by suggesting what it is. While some people may not like negatives, keep in mind that it’s only the live fish which swim up against the current. The dead ones merely float down river with the stream of the times. What would happen if we turned this around to the positive. We might say, “Blessed is the man who walks in the counsel of the godly, who stands in the way of be lievers, who sits in the seat of those who are truly born again.” That’s not good enough. While he does walk in the counsel of the godly, he could also, at the same time, be walking in the counsel of the ungodly. There are too many Christians today who are trying this and as a result they ex perience frustration. You can’t have a soul for God and a soul for the world at the same time, expecting to find contentment. This man does not have anything to do whatsoever with those who are ungodly, unrighteous, and wicked. Blessed is that man! Actually, in Hebrew, the words “the man” come out in the emphatic aspect of speech. It’s not a case of just any man; it’s. that man, the one among thousands. As you think about it, how many of
INTRODUCTION N ext to the 23 rd P salm , perhaps the first chapter is the best known and most often quoted. It has been called “The Preface Psalm.” That’s because we find in these six pungent verses a brief outline of the entire book. No wonder it’s also known -as “the Psalm of Psalms.” Martin Luther even described it as “The Little Bible.” He rightly felt that it gives us all of the doctrinal truths, these cardinal issues, which are to be found throughout the broad expanse of Scripture. The first Psalm is the only book in the Bible which begins with the blessing of the Lord. Now, it’s true that there are many portions of Scripture which speak of the Lord’s blessing upon people, such as the Sermon on the Mount. In addition, many of the epistles include a spe cial word of blessing right at the very start in the salutation (Eph. 1:3). This word blessed means sim ply to be contented and satisfied. John D. Rockefeller was once asked by an interviewer, “When is it that a man has enough money?” The wise and perceptive answer was simply, “When he has a little bit more.” How many people do you know who are really contented? This first word blessed in the orig inal actually is given in the plural. It speaks not just simply of being blessed, although that’s a part of it. It fully refers to blessednesses of the individual who has truly yielded all that he is and all that he has to the Lord Jesus Christ. If this isn’t true with you, then you’ll not be content ed or satisfied. Do you find a bless ing here and a blessing there, or is 6
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