BLESSED LIKE A TREE

HEBREW HONEYCOMB

BLESSED LIKE A TREE

William Andrew Dillard

“Blessed is the man that walketh 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. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.” So penned are the precious words of Psalm One in the KJV. A few notes of observation are in order. Think with me!
Here, the word “Blessed” in the ancient Hebrew language is simply to go or walk straight; hence, in extension the happiness and peace resultant from a straight or righteous walk. “He shall be like a tree….” Not just any tree, but a tree deeply rooted by rivers of living water; a tree that is continuously fruitful. What comes out from him (his work, as limbs or leaves on a tree) will not come to naught or fade away. Moreover, whatsoever he does (in the straight walk) shall prosper. What requisites does such a man have who is of this state and demeanor? The Psalmist answers: He governs his steps. He does not walk in the advice of the wicked ones, and he is not numbered among those who miss the mark of God’s intentions. Neither does he sit or abide in the dwelling place of the bad-mouthers. Conversely, this blessed man has his moments of genuine happiness in the Word of God, and in it he meditates (is engrossed in it day and night to the point of muttering to himself expressions of joy).
Surely, it was with much meditation on this very Psalm that the songwriter penned and set to music “I Shall Not Be Moved.” Observation plainly shows that life on earth can be as a shipwreck, or the devastation of a hurricane or the misery of the humanly unloved, and self abusers. On the other hand, it may be blessed as a fruitful tree planted by rivers of living water. What is the point of difference? Read the Psalm again and know that it is repentance and dedication through faith in Christ Jesus: His person, His works, and His Word. People of the Word are people of great faith!

Cursed or Blessed?

 

Jeremiah 17:5-8

“Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is,” Jeremiah 17:7.

I will readily admit that I am not much of a gardener. Horticulture is not my area of expertise. But I do try. This past summer I planted some nice shrubs in my backyard and expected them to grow and thrive. There was only one problem. Plants need water and good soil to grow. The east Texas summers where I live can be pretty brutal and my lovely plants turned brown and died. They were cursed. I do not know if it was the brutal Texas drought or the poor skill of the gardener, but those shrubs never stood a chance!

In today’s passage we are told that a man who places his trust in people and not in God is cursed. He is like the plant that is placed in the desert, much like my shrubs, utterly hopeless. To be cursed means that a person is constantly affected with adversity. Like a plant in the desert, the brutal relentlessness of the curse will eventually destroy.

But blessed is the man who places his trust in the Lord!

To be blessed is the opposite of cursed. We see that a blessed man is like the tree that is planted near waters (verse 8). To be blessed is to live a life that is jam-packed with good stuff. God is the One who gets to define what that good stuff is, and as much as we would like to pick and chose our blessings, it is not determined by our desires. But you can rest assured that it is still good stuff.

 

JUST ASKING

Would you consider yourself blessed or cursed?

Nathan Rogers

Blessed Forgiveness

Romans 4:5-8
“Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered,” Romans 4:7.

What a wonderful God we serve! Even though we are prone to sin, He has made it possible for us to receive forgiveness each time we confess it to Him. This should cause us to love Him even more, especially, when we know that the righteous, loving, Heavenly Father is fully aware of our shortcomings, failures, faults and our most secret sins. He forgives us because of Jesus.
When God looks at saved sinners, He sees the blood of Christ. (Rev. 1:5). On Calvary, Jesus shed His blood and later sprinkled it on the mercy seat in Heaven. For this reason alone we should be eternally grateful. We are the blessed benefactors of that forgiveness. Our sins, which are many, are covered by His cleansing blood (1 John 1:7). No false god offered to bleed and die for its people much less forgive the guiltiest of them, but the God of all gods and the King of kings did that for you and me!
The awesomeness of this sacrifice brings into view a few questions each person must answer. Have you been forgiven? Where will you spend eternity? In Heaven, as a blessed, redeemed child of the King or in hell forever knowing you will never go to Heaven?

Reflection
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin (Rom. 4:8).
Beverly Barnett

HEBREWS – Undefiled

 

tāmiym

 

Psa_119:1 also stands out as a verse that speaks of being blessed: “Blessed are the undefiled in the way.” The Hebrew here for undefiled is tāmiym (H8549), an adjective that speaks of being “blameless, complete, and without blemish.”

 

In more than half its OT occurrences, tāmiym describes an animal to be sacrificed to the Lord, whether a ram, a bull, or a lamb, since such animals were required to be “without blemish” (e.g., Exo_29:1; Lev_4:3; Lev_14:10). It is also used to refer to time, as in a “whole” day (Jos_10:13), a “complete” seven Sabbaths (i.e., “weeks,” Lev_23:15), and a “full” year (Lev_25:30). When used in a moral sense, as it is here, tāmiym speaks of truth, integrity, virtue, uprightness, and righteousness. It appears, for example in Psa_18:23, where the psalmist again declares, “I was also upright before [God], and I kept myself from mine iniquity.” Solomon echoes this principle in Pro_11:5 : “The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way: but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness.” (See also Jos_24:14, “sincerity”, and Pro_2:21, “perfect”).

 

Added to this word is the word way (derek, February 23), once again a marked-out pattern of life. True bliss and contentment, then, come when our pattern of life is characterized by unblemished behavior. How ironic (and tragic) that the world looks for happiness in the exact opposite, pursuing it in lawlessness and just living their own way, but they will never find it there. Every young person should be challenged with this principle. They might think they will be happy by doing what they want, but they will not. Hopefully, they will not have to find out the hard way that true contentment, bliss, meaning, purpose, and peace will come by a life of unblemished behavior, a lifestyle that is characterized by purity. Charles Spurgeon put it well when he wrote in his classic The Treasury of David: “Doubtless, the more complete our sanctification the more intense our blessedness.” In other words, and let us mark this down: The holier we live, the more content we will be.

 

Scriptures for Study: Who is spoken of as being undefiled (“perfect”) in Gen_6:9; Gen_17:1? In Psa_15:1-5, what other traits characterize those who will abide with God (“uprightly” is tāmiym)?

 

 

 

HEBREW – Blessed

 

’ešer

 

The very first word we read in the book of Psalms is blessed. The Hebrew here is ’ešer (H835), a masculine noun meaning a person’s state of bliss. It’s never used of God, rather always of people, and is exclamatory in emphasis, as in “O the bliss of . . .” Most of its forty-four appearances are appropriately in the poetry of Psalms and Proverbs.

 

It is extremely significant that the Septuagint translates ’ešer using the Greek makarios, which our Lord used nine times in the Beatitudes (Mat_5:3-11). Many Bible teachers say this word just means “happy,” which is always circumstantial. It actually speaks of the far deeper idea of an inward contentedness not affected by circumstances (Php_4:11-13).

 

Of the many occurrences of ’ešer, one that immediately strikes us is Psa_1:1 : “Blessed is the man,” where the unknown psalmist distinguishes two lifestyles (February 23), one that is blessed and one that is not. We find in Psa_1:1-3 three realities that produce genuine bliss and contentment:

 

First, a path that is holy. In three distinct statements, the psalmist outlines holiness. The holy person first does not stroll with the “ungodly” (rāšā‘, H7563) people. He doesn’t associate with, listen to, or join those who are guilty before God and transgressors of His Law. Second, the holy person does not stand with sinners. Way is derek (February 23), a marked-out pattern of life, and “standeth” is ‘āmaḏ (H5975), which figuratively indicates living somewhere, standing, remaining there (e.g., Exo_8:22, dwell). The holy life, then, is one that does not remain in sin (1Jn_3:9, where “commit” is present tense, to “continually habitually commit sin”). Third, the holy person does not sit with the “scornful” (liys, H3887) person, that is, one who boasts, scoffs, mocks, and derides, as in showing or expressing utter contempt, in this case for the things of God.

 

Second, blessedness comes from a passion for Scripture. The blissful and contented person is one who takes delight (February 29) in God’s Word and his meditation (January 6) on it is the rule of life and his daily priority.

 

Third, blessedness comes from a prosperity dependent upon God. The image of sitting by a river is a graphic one, picturing nourishment, growth, fruitfulness, and much more. While “prosperity teachers” promise monetary riches, true prosperity is found in the spiritual riches we have in Christ (Eph_1:3-23).

 

Scriptures for Study: Read the following verses, noting what else brings bliss and true contentedness: Psa_2:12; Psa_32:1-2; Psa_112:1; Psa_119:1-2; Psa_127:4-5; Pro_3:13 (“happy”); Pro_8:32.

 

 

 

The LORD Our Righteousness (2)

 

Yāhweh Sidqēnû

 

Yesterday we studied the compound Jehovah-S.idqēnû, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, in Jer_23:5-6. Based on this name of God, the beloved Scottish preacher, pastor, and poet Robert Murray M’Cheyne (1813–43), who was also a Hebrew scholar, wrote the wonderful hymn, “I Once Was a Stranger,” (which can be sung to the melody of “My Jesus, I Love Thee” by Adoniram Gordon). It is a truly blessed piece of work:

 

I once was a stranger to grace and to God,
I knew not my danger, and felt not my load;
Though friends spoke in rapture of Christ on the tree,
Jehovah Tsidkenu was nothing to me.

 

I oft read with pleasure, to sooth or engage,
Isaiah’s wild measure and John’s simple page;
But e’en when they pictured the blood-sprinkled tree
Jehovah Tsidkenu seemed nothing to me.

 

Like tears from the daughters of Zion that roll,
I wept when the waters went over His soul;
Yet thought not that my sins had nailed to the tree
Jehovah Tsidkenu—’twas nothing to me.

 

When free grace awoke me, by light from on high,
Then legal fears shook me, I trembled to die;
No refuge, no safety in self could I see—
Jehovah Tsidkenu my Saviour must be.

 

My terrors all vanished before the sweet name;
My guilty fears banished, with boldness I came
To drink at the fountain, life-giving and free—
Jehovah Tsidkenu is all things to me.

 

Jehovah Tsidkenu! my treasure and boast,
Jehovah Tsidkenu! I ne’er can be lost;
In thee I shall conquer by flood and by field,
My cable, my anchor, my breast-plate and shield!

 

Even treading the valley, the shadow of death,
This “watchword” shall rally my faltering breath;
For while from life’s fever my God sets me free,
Jehovah Tsidkenu, my death song shall be.

 

Scriptures for Study: What is the assurance and promise of Isa_41:10? Where does God lead us, according to Psa_23:3?

 

 

 

Blessed Peace

The greatest peace
I’ve ever known
I found in troubled times
For when I put my trust in God
He eased my troubled mind.

Dolores Karides

BLESSED ASSURANCE

“Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. O what a foretaste of Glory divine.”

We have sang this hymn many times and on this the first day of the year, I have this assurance that has been given me through Jesus Christ my LORD.

Heb 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

We are assured when we have pure heart cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. A pure heart will draw us closer to our Savior and we will strive to please Him. My new year has led me to change some study habits and practices and with the strength and help of the LORD I am assured that achievement is possible.

Act 17:31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

I am assured that injustice will not go unpunished. There is a day of judgment that has been appointed. I must teach and preach against wickedness but not all wicked will be judged during my time on earth. There is a day where judgment comes on the wicked that have rejected the crucified Savior.

Col 2:1 For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh;
2 That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;
3 In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
4 And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words.

I have an assurance of understanding. Now I know in part and have wonderful discussions with many different people about scripture. Some I may know here but one day I will sit at the feet of the Master Teacher and learn all and praise His name and glorify Him.

With the assurance of God through His Son, I know I am saved and secure and death will transport me into the presence of my Redeemer.