“Blessed is everyone that fears the Lord; that walks in His ways. 2. For you shall eat the labor of your hands, happy will you be, and it shall be well with you.”
If I live as long as Methuselah, I will never be able to garner all of the wisdom contained in the Psalms. This article, like most of them, is the result of my daily Bible reading. What I saw in this text was instructions on how to live a blessed life. First, I need to define what the word “blessed” means. Without boring you with a word study, I will share with you what I have seen that it means after years of Bible reading. It means to be happy and to be happy is to be fulfilled. Being fulfilled does not mean that we have everything that we want, or for that matter, everything that we need. It means that God/Jesus brings ultimate satisfaction to our lives, regardless of the circumstances. The two verses written above, describe how we can have that fulfillment. “Blessed is everyone that fears the Lord” means that the blessed person has reverence for God. A blessed life will always have to include a worshipful reverence for God. People who do not believe in Him, and who do not accept His reality. cannot live a blessed life in the biblical sense. When one knows God as the Bible describes Him, all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present, in other words, sovereign, he or she has to fall at His feet in reverence for Him. In short, a fulfilled life begins and ends with a reverent relationship with God. “Blessed is everyone….that walks in His ways” means that the blessed person is living a holy life. Wow! That word “holy” looks awfully pretentious, and based on today’s standards, I guess it does seem that way, but it is a good Bible word. It does not mean that one is self-righteous. It means that one is living honestly before God and seeking God’s forgiveness when that is needed. A person who is “walking in God’s way” should be cherished and valued. A person who is truly living this life will be loving and trustworthy. The ultimate compliment that I give a person is that I would buy a used car from him or her. That would be true of this person. Does this in some measure describe your life? Do you love God? Do you love people? Do you seek to live the right kind of life based on the Bible? Are you trustworthy? These are good questions to ask ourselves, and we need to ask them honestly and react honestly when God convicts us. “And it shall be well with you” means that the blessed person is tangibly blessed by God. As written earlier, this does not mean that the blessed person has everything that he or she wants or needs. It means that the blessed person is walking in close fellowship with God, loving Jesus, following the leadership of the Holy Spirt, and is really attempting to live a good life. It means that one lives with a clear conscience and is in favor with God. The blessed person does not live in fear in this life, nor does he or she fear death. Like everyone else, the blessed person will occasionally be afraid, but he or she will not live in fear. The blessed person will certainly not be perfect, but he or she will be forgiven, because he or she will be convicted and ask for forgiveness. The bottom line is that each of us needs to pause and ask ourselves if we are truly blessed people based on Psalm 128:1-2. Bro. Joe
1 Comment
Margaret M Jones
3/28/2016 04:06:48 pm
I am truly blessed
Reply
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
All
Archives
September 2021
|