Could there be a secret to having more of God’s blessings?  Psalm 1 has the answer and it’s probably not what you might think!  Stick around and you’ll be delighted to discover its easy and amazing secret!

To get the most out of any good secret, it’s probably good to have just a bit of background.  Likewise, Psalm 1 does not dive in and immediately tell us WHO IS BLESSED, but instead uses increasing progressive contrasts to first show us WHO IS NOT BLESSED.

Let’s read the first verse where it says, “Blessed is the 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” (Psalm 1:1).  Now imagine someone who starts walking next to sin, who then moves deeper into sin as they deliberately stand right in its path hoping to get in on the action, who then moves into even deeper darkness as someone now sitting in sin, as one of the mockers.  These people are not blessed.

Notice also how the very first word, “blessed” – is something every person wants.  Here, blessed means something beyond being fortunate, happy, or delighted.  Instead, being blessed is like having a cup of abundance that NEVER STOPS OVERFLOWING.  Who doesn’t want a lifetime of never-ending joy, peace and victory?

With all this background in mind, verse two switches’ gears with a total contrast.  The text is easy enough to read, but there is a hidden power behind these words that we are going to quickly discover.  Here is what verse two says: “Blessed is the one whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law, day and night (Psalm 1:2).

This pattern of contrasting sinners against faithful followers is used throughout the Psalms and the Bible.  But it is just too easy to gloss over words like these, and never capture the power inside them.  That’s why Jesus told so many stories, and why this true story will help you see what this Psalm is saying.

I have a Christian friend who grew up in Afghanistan.  One day without warning, he was arrested at the Pakistan border where he was handcuffed, blindfolded, and brought to a Pakistani prison.  There, he was beaten, stripped naked and tied to a table while they flogged his feet.  After hours of torture, my friend was dragged through the prison gallows where he saw dead men hanging.  Then he was thrown into a large concrete walled room that held several hundred Muslim prisoners.  Even though his feet were in extraordinary pain, his entire focus was on how utterly alone he was.

He was an obvious foreigner, and angry, staring eyes glared at him.  Even worse, my friend didn’t know if anyone outside the prison knew where he was.  The prison was terribly cold at night and horribly hot during the day.  All these men shared one pit that they used as a toilet, and for three long months no one, not even one person, talked with my friend.   Can we even imagine that kind of isolation and fear?

Then one day, out of nowhere, the guards grabbed and handcuffed him again as all the prisoners watched.  The guards hit him and roughed him up before leading him back to the gallows area, only to scare him. . . But then came the surprise. . . as they brought him to the prison entrance, unlocked his cuffs and let him go free.

My friend, certain he was about to be hung, staggered away, hardly able to walk before finally collapsing. . . weeping, then sobbing. As the days and weeks passed, his emotions swelled into praise to God for setting him free. And all he could do was hum and sing and cry with God, delighted to be free.

And this is exactly where Psalm 1 says we who are truly blessed, are at today.  We can be DELIGHTED that we are set free, praise God.  We are set free from the bondage of sin. Set free from the penalty of hell.  Set free from prison and fear.  Set free by the grace of God Almighty.  Set free by the Word of God.  Set free by the Word who became flesh.

Is there any wonder why Psalm 1 says the blessed are those who delight in Jesus!?   After all, Jesus is the living Word of God.  He is the living culmination of the law of the Lord.

There is absolutely no doubt that Psalm 1, written a thousand years before Jesus was born, is talking about Jesus!   It is saying, blessed are you when you DELIGHT in Jesus and you meditate on him and hum his song in your heart all the time!

There are some people who always seem to be humming a tune.  It’s like they have a sweet and delightful smile on their face that never goes away – like a calm breeze.  I think the best way to describe it might be like holding hands with your very best friend.  IT’S WHERE YOU’RE TOGETHER WITH GOD, HUMMING HIS SONG, BECAUSE YOU WANT TO.

When we try to imagine the hell my friend was saved from when he was set free in Pakistan, it helps us understand the true hell that we, too, have been saved from.  Just knowing this makes it hard to stop singing, humming and praising Jesus throughout our day.

AND THIS IS THE SECRET TO BEING TRULY BLESSED!

There is so much power inside Psalm 1.  Blessed are those who delight in Jesus, and day and night are filled with his abundance.  They will be the ones with smiles on their faces, with warmth in their hearts, and with love inside their words.  Words like “thank you, God” and “praise Jesus.”   Can we even imagine a more blessed way to be?!