The Blessed Man

"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not whither; and whatever he does shall prosper." -Psalm 1:1-3

Blessed is an interesting word. Most of the time we use it to describe the state of life we are in when we have many material things or when things are going well for us. This first Psalm doesn't describe the man who is blessed in this way.
The man who is blessed is the man who, first of all, does not do wicked things. He doesn't walk through his life in the 'wisdom' of the ungodly'. He doesn't stand (abide, dwell) in the path of sinners and he doesn't sit in the dwelling of the scornful. This man steers clear of all things that are contrary to the Word of God.
The man who is blessed is the man that delights in the law of God. He thinks about it and ponders its meaning day and night. This man is totally stable. He is rooted and grounded in what he believes (Colossians 2:6-7). He is like a tree planted close to the rivers. This summer, my dad, my brother, and I took a trip to Boston to watch the Redsox play the Yankees. On the way back from the game, we walked through a park in Boston. In this park there was a small river (or large stream, whichever you prefer). Along the banks of the river were some very large trees. The base of the trunks of these trees were so healthy that the roots literally began two feet above ground and grew down into the ground from there. I'm sure that those roots extended deep into the soil.
The blessed man is a fruitful man. As he delights in the law of God, he sees the effects of it in his life. The righteousness that he reads in the Word is lived out in his life. God makes this man prosper in whatever he does.
Are you a blessed man? Do you measure your blessedness by what you have or by how much you delight in God's law. Read the Word and you will be blessed.