The Wednesday Word ~ 14 December, 2022 A.D.

 Jesus, The Blessed Man!

by D G Miles McKee

 

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” -Psalms 1:1 [KJV]

I was very much impressed when I read of Joseph Flacks, a Bible scholar of an earlier generation, recall his visit to Jerusalem. When in that ancient city, he was given the opportunity of addressing a gathering of Jewish men all of whom were presumably unconverted. For his text, Mr. Flacks took Psalm One. After reading the first verse he changed the tenses and read the same verse as follows, “Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of the scornful.”

He said to them, “Now, my brethren, who is this blessed man of whom the psalmist speaks? Notice, this blessed man is a man who never walked in the counsel of the ungodly, he never stood in the way of sinners, and he never sat in the seat of the scornful.  He was an absolutely sinless man. Who is this blessed man?”

When no one answered, Joseph Flacks said, “Shall we say he is our great Father Abraham? Is it Father Abraham that the psalmist is speaking of here?”

One old Jewish man said, “No, no, it cannot be Abraham, for he denied his wife and lied about her.”

“Ah,” said Joseph Flacks, “it does not fit, does it? Abraham, although he was the father of the faithful, yet he was a sinner who needed to be justified by faith. But, my brethren, this refers to somebody; who is this man? Could it be our great lawgiver, Moses?”

“No, no,” they said, “it cannot be Moses. He killed a man and hid him in the sand.” Another added, “And he lost his temper by the water of Meribah.”

“Well,” Joseph Flacks said, “my brethren, who is it? There is a man in this psalm whom the Spirit of God is bringing before us.  Could it be our great King David, the sweet psalmist of Israel, who perhaps wrote this Psalm?”

“No, no,” they cried, “David cannot be the blessed man for He committed adultery and had Uriah murdered.”

“Well,” he said, “who is it; to whom do these words refer?”

They were quiet for some little time and then one Jewish man arose and said, “My brethren, I have a little book here; it is called the New Testament. I have been reading it. If I believed this book, if I could be sure that it is true, I would say that the man of the first Psalm was Jesus of Nazareth.”

Another man got right up and said, “My brethren, the man of the First Psalm is Jesus of Nazareth. He is the only one who ever went through this world who never walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners.”

Then the man told how he had been brought to believe in Christ.  Although he had hidden that fact in the past, he now openly confessed his faith.

Yes indeed, Jesus the Christ is the blessed man of Psalm 1.  Our Saviour is completely sinless and therefore, entirely qualified to redeem us.

And that’s the Gospel Truth!