The Blessed State of the Righteous
“Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who delights greatly in His commandments. His descendants will be mighty on earth; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches will be in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.
Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness; He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous. A good man deals graciously and lends; he will guide his affairs with discretion. Surely he will never be shaken; the righteous will be in everlasting remembrance.
He will not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD. His heart is established;
he will not be afraid, until he sees his desire upon his enemies. He has dispersed abroad, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn will be exalted with honor.
The wicked will see it and be grieved; he will gnash his teeth and melt away; the desire of the wicked shall perish.”
“Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who delights greatly in His commandments. His descendants will be mighty on earth; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches will be in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.” We are entering a new year, but your reaction might be “So what! 2023 was brutal, and I’m not looking forward to anything better in 2024.” If you think like this, you are already blighting your future, as well as that of your family. Do you want to be blessed? Do you want your descendants to be mighty, to be blessed, and to be wealthy and righteous forever? Then praise the Lord and fear Him, delighting greatly in His commandments.
“Fine,” you say, “but what does that stuff mean anyway? Praising the Lord means that we thank Him for everything in our lives, the good and the bad. When we thank God for the bad stuff, we release it to Him so He can turn it around and redeem it.
Years ago, there was an American cartoonist named Al Capp who created a character who ran around with a rain cloud over his head because nothing but disasters happened to him. Sometimes we might feel a lot like that little guy. Praising God helps lift us out of the doldrums and frees us up to see God’s goodness around us.
What does it mean to fear the Lord? Here the term fear actually means to respect God and to revere Him. How can we delight ourselves in God’s commandments? First, we must study God’s Word; we can’t enjoy something that we don’t know. God’s commandments have been given to guide us and to keep us from messing up. The more we learn about God’s commandments, the more we appreciate them and the wiser they prove to be.
“Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness; He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous. A good man deals graciously and lends; he will guide his affairs with discretion. Surely he will never be shaken; the righteous will be in everlasting remembrance.” The more we study God’s Word and learn about it, the more guidance we will have for our lives and the more peace we will enjoy. God will help us to deal graciously and generously so that those around us will remember us gratefully.
“He will not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD. His heart is established;
he will not be afraid, until he sees his desire upon his enemies. He has dispersed abroad, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn will be exalted with honor.” When we are trusting God and studying His Word, we have no need to fear, for God will establish us. As we give to the poor, God will bless us with more abundance so that we can do even more. But we must start by sharing whatever we have.
“The wicked will see it and be grieved; he will gnash his teeth and melt away; the desire of the wicked shall perish.” We don’t have to worry about dealing with the wicked. God knows human hearts and God is perfectly capable of handling any amount of wickedness. No matter how successful a tyrant might appear, eventually God will deal with him.
APPLICATION: As we enter this new year, we face choices. Will we continue to be depressed and negative, or will we move into the new year and trust God? We can bless or blight ourselves and our families by our outlook. This is the time to choose to trust God, to study His Word, and to give God first place in our lives. After all, what do we have to lose?
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to love You, to study Your Word, and to seek Your guidance. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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