When do you feel happy? or are you now happy? what makes you happy? Some people might say that they are happy when they get present, some other might say when they miss people that they miss a lot, for some maybe when they play game/sports, or when they travel for holiday. Here in Psalm 1 we will see what the Bible says how we can be truly happy.
[1] 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;
[2] but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
[3] He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
[4] The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
[5] Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
[6] for the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
(Psalm 1 ESV)
Now when we read those verses above, we don’t actually see the word happy, do we? But the word “blessed” there comes from the word “esher” which has the idea of happiness or contentment or fulfilled; and “esher” comes from the root word in hebrew “ashar” which means “to be straight” or “to be right”. So when the Psalmist says “Blessed is the man”, we could understand it that the psalmist says “how happy is the the man who is right with God” or “how fulfilled is the righteous man”. Now this indicates the answer to the question “when are you happy” above biblically, and the answer is on the next verse (verse 2).
But the psalmist says in negative way first, that this man will not be content, or won’t feel fulfilled if he walks in the council of the wicked, nor stands in the way of the sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. We just won’t have the true happiness if what we think, how we behave or what we do, or where our hearts belong is according to the evil way. We will be fulfilled or content and thus will receive the true happiness when (verse 2) we have delight in the law of the LORD. This is the answer to be truly happy. The psalmist then continues that to have delight or desire or longing for the law of the LORD means that one will meditate His law day and night, as the proof that one is truly has delight in His law. The word meditate here is interesting, and unlike what probably some people might think of, this word meditate does not mean to sit idly and think nothing, it is the otherwise, it comes from the hebrew word “hagah” which has a sense like a lion growling over his prey. The lion will constantly looking to his prey with such desire, catching and devouring his prey. This is the word used for meditate. It is an active (not passive) word. The righteous man ponders the word of God. Many of us lack because we only read and do not meditate. It is not only reading that does us good; but the soul inwardly feeding on it, and digesting it.
I really like tech gadget, whatever it is, and to give you an example for one that is familiar to you all will be mobile phone. I follow the tech news and update on this smart phone, especially when i want to buy one for myself, do you know what i do? I will look up and google around finding what is the best phone that people might say - and of course if you type for example “best smartphone 2014” it will come up with different results, one might say that it is iphone 5s, the other might say it is nexus 5, the other might say samsung galaxy s5, etc But most of them will be around similar phone. Then i do more investigation, i compare the specs between the phone, then i compare what is the distinctive difference between the os: android vs ios, features, how the backend stuff works generally, the concept, etc. I check the budget, and reviews. I read pages and pages of document about such technology. And you know sometimes reviewer put 3 out of 5 star for example - it does not stop me there.. i actually read the comments because i want to know whether what people say as bad is really affecting me or does it really make any sense because i know about IT as well so i could determine in a way whether that’s just a user issues or not. Next is where to buy? i check ebay, gumtree, etc. I do lot of research and it can take me couple of days before i actually buy the phone to make sure i got the best price, and the best phone. Even when i don’t intend to buy one, when it comes to gadget i do some research similar to this but not that intensive. You know, as i wrote this article and flash back all the effort of what i did for this tech gadget thing, it really takes time - but i never had any problem with that, i didn’t feel obligated to do it, it is really not because of any compulsion, but i just like it. I realise it has probably become one of my hobbies, i desire it, i enjoy it, and i meditate it. Have you ever had such experience? things that you really like, something that you often think about when you sit in your car, or reading / browsing when you had your dinner, or doing it whenever you had a break. That something is your desire as it overwhelms your life. But the Bible says our utmost desire should be in the law of the Lord (or from the word of God). You should read, think, doing it, have passion on it, running towards it, dream about it, and living it.
The psalmist then gives us a picture of what it is like to be a happy man. It says it is like a tree - the man is like a tree, but not any tree. It is like a tree planted by a stream of water. The tree is a metaphor of the man, and the water is the word of God. The man (tree) will constantly living, and digesting, sucking up, inhaling (active word - not passive) this word of God (water), and when it does the man (tree) will bear its fruit in its season. The tree will be a strong tree that has a deep root. Then the psalmist compares with the wicked which is like a chaff that the winds drive away. Chaff is the stuff around a grain of wheat.that needs to be removed before you can eat the wheat. When this psalm was written, people would throw grain into the air and, because chaff is so light, the wind would blow the chaff away and the wheat grain would fall in a pile close to the person who threw it. Then the grain without the chaff on it was collected to make bread. The writer says that wicked people are like chaff that can easily be blown away. It is quite a difference, isn’t it? the righteous is like that strong tree, while the wicked is like a chaff that is easy to be blown away - therefore the wicked will not stand (verse 5). It won’t last.
The conclusion to this passage, has a profound encouragement for us believer, that God knows our way, He knows our heart. The righteous can have peace because a loving God in heaven knows their way, and will protect and preserve them. The law of God is a reflection to God’s character itself, God gave His law to His people so that His people know him intimately - and therefore to desire in the law of the LORD means that a happy man is the one that has desire in Him, in knowing His character, and have an intimate relationship with Him our Father, our Savior, and our comforter, the source of our strength. To desire God meaning that we constantly trying to live up our life to please Him. So which one are we? Let us pray that God helps us, and change our heart this time onwards to have passion for Him. Ask God sincerely to give us that longing if our heart is cold, for He knows, and He will preserve us. Thanks and glory be to God because He fulfilled our life.
Amen,
Paul Hartono
[1] 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;
[2] but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
[3] He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
[4] The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
[5] Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
[6] for the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
(Psalm 1 ESV)
Now when we read those verses above, we don’t actually see the word happy, do we? But the word “blessed” there comes from the word “esher” which has the idea of happiness or contentment or fulfilled; and “esher” comes from the root word in hebrew “ashar” which means “to be straight” or “to be right”. So when the Psalmist says “Blessed is the man”, we could understand it that the psalmist says “how happy is the the man who is right with God” or “how fulfilled is the righteous man”. Now this indicates the answer to the question “when are you happy” above biblically, and the answer is on the next verse (verse 2).
But the psalmist says in negative way first, that this man will not be content, or won’t feel fulfilled if he walks in the council of the wicked, nor stands in the way of the sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. We just won’t have the true happiness if what we think, how we behave or what we do, or where our hearts belong is according to the evil way. We will be fulfilled or content and thus will receive the true happiness when (verse 2) we have delight in the law of the LORD. This is the answer to be truly happy. The psalmist then continues that to have delight or desire or longing for the law of the LORD means that one will meditate His law day and night, as the proof that one is truly has delight in His law. The word meditate here is interesting, and unlike what probably some people might think of, this word meditate does not mean to sit idly and think nothing, it is the otherwise, it comes from the hebrew word “hagah” which has a sense like a lion growling over his prey. The lion will constantly looking to his prey with such desire, catching and devouring his prey. This is the word used for meditate. It is an active (not passive) word. The righteous man ponders the word of God. Many of us lack because we only read and do not meditate. It is not only reading that does us good; but the soul inwardly feeding on it, and digesting it.
I really like tech gadget, whatever it is, and to give you an example for one that is familiar to you all will be mobile phone. I follow the tech news and update on this smart phone, especially when i want to buy one for myself, do you know what i do? I will look up and google around finding what is the best phone that people might say - and of course if you type for example “best smartphone 2014” it will come up with different results, one might say that it is iphone 5s, the other might say it is nexus 5, the other might say samsung galaxy s5, etc But most of them will be around similar phone. Then i do more investigation, i compare the specs between the phone, then i compare what is the distinctive difference between the os: android vs ios, features, how the backend stuff works generally, the concept, etc. I check the budget, and reviews. I read pages and pages of document about such technology. And you know sometimes reviewer put 3 out of 5 star for example - it does not stop me there.. i actually read the comments because i want to know whether what people say as bad is really affecting me or does it really make any sense because i know about IT as well so i could determine in a way whether that’s just a user issues or not. Next is where to buy? i check ebay, gumtree, etc. I do lot of research and it can take me couple of days before i actually buy the phone to make sure i got the best price, and the best phone. Even when i don’t intend to buy one, when it comes to gadget i do some research similar to this but not that intensive. You know, as i wrote this article and flash back all the effort of what i did for this tech gadget thing, it really takes time - but i never had any problem with that, i didn’t feel obligated to do it, it is really not because of any compulsion, but i just like it. I realise it has probably become one of my hobbies, i desire it, i enjoy it, and i meditate it. Have you ever had such experience? things that you really like, something that you often think about when you sit in your car, or reading / browsing when you had your dinner, or doing it whenever you had a break. That something is your desire as it overwhelms your life. But the Bible says our utmost desire should be in the law of the Lord (or from the word of God). You should read, think, doing it, have passion on it, running towards it, dream about it, and living it.
The psalmist then gives us a picture of what it is like to be a happy man. It says it is like a tree - the man is like a tree, but not any tree. It is like a tree planted by a stream of water. The tree is a metaphor of the man, and the water is the word of God. The man (tree) will constantly living, and digesting, sucking up, inhaling (active word - not passive) this word of God (water), and when it does the man (tree) will bear its fruit in its season. The tree will be a strong tree that has a deep root. Then the psalmist compares with the wicked which is like a chaff that the winds drive away. Chaff is the stuff around a grain of wheat.that needs to be removed before you can eat the wheat. When this psalm was written, people would throw grain into the air and, because chaff is so light, the wind would blow the chaff away and the wheat grain would fall in a pile close to the person who threw it. Then the grain without the chaff on it was collected to make bread. The writer says that wicked people are like chaff that can easily be blown away. It is quite a difference, isn’t it? the righteous is like that strong tree, while the wicked is like a chaff that is easy to be blown away - therefore the wicked will not stand (verse 5). It won’t last.
The conclusion to this passage, has a profound encouragement for us believer, that God knows our way, He knows our heart. The righteous can have peace because a loving God in heaven knows their way, and will protect and preserve them. The law of God is a reflection to God’s character itself, God gave His law to His people so that His people know him intimately - and therefore to desire in the law of the LORD means that a happy man is the one that has desire in Him, in knowing His character, and have an intimate relationship with Him our Father, our Savior, and our comforter, the source of our strength. To desire God meaning that we constantly trying to live up our life to please Him. So which one are we? Let us pray that God helps us, and change our heart this time onwards to have passion for Him. Ask God sincerely to give us that longing if our heart is cold, for He knows, and He will preserve us. Thanks and glory be to God because He fulfilled our life.
Amen,
Paul Hartono
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