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.” —Psalm 1:1-2 NKJV


By H. A. Ironside (Lord Is Near, 1988)

This blessed man is God’s ideal of what man ought to be in this scene. It finds its perfect fulfillment in the holy behavior of the Lord Jesus Christ, who ever did the things that pleased the Father. We, in our measure, are called to walk as He walked (1 Jn. 2:6), according to the example He has left us (1 Pet. 2:21). To do this we must be regenerated (Ti. 3:5). It is a life of holy separation from all evil that is in view. The blessed man is careful to avoid any participation with the ungodly so far as their attitude toward divine things is concerned. His piety does not consist in a negative attitude toward evil alone, but in the positive enjoyment of what is good. The Word of God is precious to him and is his spiritual food, assimilated [absorbed mentally] by meditation (Jer. 15:16).

Perennially fresh and always fruitful, the blessed man is likened to a tree whose roots go down to the water streams, ever drawing up that which tends to growth and enrichment, so that he is a witness for God to all who know him, as they see how richly grace is working in his soul.