Blessed is the one whose joy is in God’s Word!

Candy is common on Valentine’s Day. Candy is common, but true love is not as common. You will not have a happy Valentine’s Day if you walk by your friend, classmate or coworker without saying, “Happy Valentine’s Day” or at least say, “Hey, did you see that Super Bowl commercial?” Or if you stand by when your spouse clearly needs help with the kids. Or if you sit staring at your phone when a living breathing human being is across from you. The only way to call it a happy, or even blessed, Valentine’s Day is if there is true love.

Paul knew true love. Though he moved around a lot and never married, he knew true love because he knew the love of God. In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul wrote, 7 … in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” You might be thinking God does not sound very loving if he allowed Paul to be tormented by a messenger of evil. However, God knew Paul’s heart and how he was tempted toward pride because of the great things God had revealed to him. So, God kept Paul weak, so that he would always rely on God’s grace for his own sake and for the sake of everyone to which he ministered. God’s love is not always the quick happiness that a piece of candy might bring, but his love is the lasting joy of being saved us from your sins, this wicked world, death and the devil.

Psalm 1 describes the life of a person like Paul who is blessed because of God’s love. Psalm 1 begins with the word “blessed.” The word is not used in the context of wishing or praying that someone would be blessed. Instead, it is acknowledging or celebrating the person as blessed already. The reason this person is blessed is then described as 1 … “one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers.” This verse is not describing a person who avoids all the wicked, sinners and mockers. This is not a command to create separate communities, cities, states or nations where the blessed believers live. Instead, this verse describes the opposite. This describes believers who are living with unbelievers. The description is of believers who live with unbelievers but avoid their sinful ways. The danger you face as a believer is not living among sinners because you are still a sinful person as well. The danger is that you start to accept sin as something you are content to be around or can indulge in from time to time or even call acceptable. You will not continue to be blessed or a believer if you grow so comfortable with sin that you no longer walk away at the first sight of temptation but sit right down to join in sin. The final danger of sin is described in Psalm 1:4, “Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.” When any kind of grain is harvested, there are small kernels that need to be separated from the chaff. The kernel is the part that is eaten, but the chaff is thrown out or burned. If you turn away from God to pursue sin without repentance, then you will be treated like chaff, thrown out and burned up in hell.

 Those who escape destruction find joy in something other than sin. Psalm 1 continues to describe the blessed as those 2 … “whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.” The law of the Lord is used throughout the Psalms to point to specific laws or commands, and God’s Word in general, including the gospel. You are the blessed. God’s word gives you joy because it reveals who God is to you. Even in the Psalms we learn about the one true God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who created, saved and set us apart has his special people. Psalm 139 praises God for creating us, 13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. Psalm 22 gives great details of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross that saved the world from sin centuries before it happened, 1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? … 3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises… 16 Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet… 18 They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment. And in Psalm 118 we hear of the world rejecting Jesus, but with his rejection and death came his resurrection and the proof that our eternal life is based completely upon him, 22 The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; 23 the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. Psalm 51 gives the Holy Spirit the credit as the one who creates and strengthens our faith filling us with joy and eagerness as we wait for heaven, 10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. You are called blessed because God has done everything to make you blessed. God’s Word is what we hold on to until the end of our lives and face Judgment Day as we read in Psalm 1, 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. 6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction. You will stand singing God’s praise on Judgment Day because God has saved you.

Your joy must come from the Word of God whose message centers on Jesus. In Luke 6, Jesus said, 22 “Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. 23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.” Then he said, 26 “Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.” Jesus divides between those seeking man’s approval and prosperity, which are like the false prophets, the liars and deceivers from the Old Testament, and those who suffer rejection, exclusion and insults because of the Son of Man, their Savior. Jeremiah was a true prophet of God, who suffered because he preached against the sinfulness of the people and pointed them away from trusting in the world to trusting in God. We hear some of his message from Jeremiah 17, 5 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord… 7 But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.’” Those who trust in man, who turn from God and pursue sin, face disappoint in their lives as they quickly devour one public figure, social issue, sovereign nation, etc. for the next, never being satisfied. Instead, you trust in the Lord. Your joy is consistent because Jesus is consistent.

The Word of God makes you prosper. Psalm 1 describes the prosperity of those whose roots are planted deep in the constantly flowing Word of God, 3 “That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.” Your life prospers and produces fruit when it is rooted in the Word of God. Psalm 1 describes the blessed, the life of a believer, in three ways. First, the blessed resist sin. Continue to be saddened by sin because you know it leads to hell. Do not be entertained by gossip, hatred, lies, sexual immorality, greed, etc. on screen or in person. Second, the blessed love and meditate on God’s Word. You would never say to your date or your spouse on Valentine’s Day, “I would rather watch tv or look at my phone than spend my time with you.” God wrote you a love letter. Spend time with him in his Word. He will fill you with joy, and he will prepare you for the lies of the world. Prepare yourself with the Word of God before you encounter the hatred of the world for Christians. Meditate on what God says and know your response to the cursing coworker, the sleeping around friend, the drugs, alcohol abuse, evolution, etc. Third, the blessed produce fruit. You are a tree that resists drought because your roots are constantly pulling from the water of God’s Word. In Galatians 5, we find the details of fruitfulness, 22 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control.” As a tree planted in the Word of God, you will be a blessing to your family, your parents, children, spouse, to your coworkers, classmates, neighbors, society, nation, following on social media, even to strangers. Psalm 1 repeatedly contrasts the blessed with the wicked like a song. These truths are repeated throughout all the Psalms and the whole Bible. Because of God’s true love for you, you are called blessed.

Candy is common on Valentine’s Day, but true love is not as common. A candy wrapper is like chaff, the wrapper of a piece of grain, it has no lasting purpose, so it is thrown out and burned up. That is the way of the wicked. Then, there is the apple. An apple comes from a tree. Trees produce fruit each year. Trees are not thrown out and burned down after producing one season of fruit. Trees produce year after year; they prosper. This is what God’s Word does for you. It has connected you to the source of life. Your God has created, saved and set you apart as his own because of his grace and love for you. With your roots planted in God’s Word, you have true love and you will prosper. In the Psalms, in Jeremiah, throughout the Bible and from Jesus we hear, blessed is the one whose joy is in God’s Word. Amen.