Do You Enjoy God? (Part One)

We define the word enjoy as:

  1. To have a good time
  2. To have for one’s use or benefit
  3. To take pleasure or satisfaction in

Based on the above definitions, I enjoy many things in daily life.

  • A tasty meal or snack.
  • A walk in nature.
  • The afterglow of a beautiful sunset.
  • Reading a good book.
  • Time with friends around a firepit.
  • Completing an important project.
  • And so on.

But how do these definitions apply to God?

  • What does it look like to have a good time with God?
  • How is God useful and beneficial to us?
  • Is there a uniqueness to the pleasure or satisfaction found with God?

We will answer these questions by studying Psalm 1.

1 Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
       nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
    but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
    He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
       that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
       In all that he does, he prospers.
    The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
    Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
    for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish. [1]

What leaps out first from this Psalm that instructs us on how to enjoy God?

Consider the first word, blessed, which in Hebrew can also be translated as happy.

Blessed or happy is who? 

Some translations use the word “one”, “person”, or even “those” instead of “man” to avoid gender offense in today’s worldview.

However, in the original Hebrew language, the singular noun used is literally “man”. 

The blessed or happy man does not walk, stand, or sit with whom according to verse one?

Did you notice that the wicked, sinners, and scoffers are all plural nouns in contrast with the singular noun of the blessed or happy man? What is the significance of this contrast implying?

Have you ever felt alone in your life in the temptations you face to remain strong against the grain of a worldview that is ignorant of God or antagonistic towards God?

Walking

The “wicked”, as described throughout scripture, are those who are rebelling against God. Part of their rebellion is to call out to others to join them in their way of life. This is their “counsel” or “advice”.

A blessed or happy man, according to Psalm 1, refuses to walk the path of rebellion by not listening to their counsel.

Standing

Unlike walking by something, standing implies aligning oneself with either a person, idea, or organization. Standing with sinners, in Psalm 1, is to align oneself with a way of life that is against God’s instructions.

Refusing to align oneself with sinful behavior is the blessed or happy man’s regular practice.

Sitting

We relate the significance of sitting to the status of authority. Consider a judge in an American courtroom. Typically, the people attending court stand before the judge enters the room and only sit after the judge sits. This is a formality that communicates the judge presiding over the court proceedings has the authority to render judgment.

One who scoffs at something is rendering a negative judgment against something. In Psalm 1, the scoffing is against God.

But again, the blessed or happy man refuses to sit with those who scoff against God.

Note how the progression of listening to wicked advice leads to aligning oneself with sinning, followed by scoffing against God. 

It is not an accident that the psalm equates walking with listening, standing with aligning, and sitting with scoffing. 

This progression gives a great visualization of becoming miserably enslaved by evil.

Now that we know what the blessed or happy man does not do, what does he do instead? 

Review verse two.

but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night. [2]

We define delight as taking great pleasure or giving keen enjoyment.

What is the blessed or happy man delighting in, according to verse two?

What is the law of the Lord?

Keeping in context with verse one, the law of the Lord refers to receiving the counsel, control, and authority as found in the word of the Lord as opposed to the wicked, sinners, or scoffers.

Verse two further reveals the best way to stay grounded in the law of the Lord is to meditate on the Lord’s law or instructions, day and night. Consistent time spent reading, studying, speaking, and pondering scripture brings blessedness or happiness to the man in Psalm 1.

Consider the Lord’s instructions to Israel in Deut 6:4-9.

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. [3]

How does Deut 6:4-9 support Psalm 1:2?

Instead of relying on other humans to guide us in our daily lifestyle, scripture reminds us that when we choose to listen to the Lord’s counsel, align ourselves with His ways, and submit to His judgments, we will enjoy God. 

Identify some ways you find yourself pressured to stray from the Lord’s counsel, ways, and judgments.

Based on Psalm 1:1-2, is there anything you need to change in your daily lifestyle that will strengthen your enjoyment of God?

How did this study encourage you today?

Blessings,

Barbara Lynn

PS. The next post will be in two weeks so I can spend some time with my family celebrating our memories of my Aunt Marlyce, who recently passed from this life to be with the Lord. 


[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ps 1:1–6.

[2] The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Ps 1:2.

[3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Dt 6:4–9.

4 Replies to “Do You Enjoy God? (Part One)”

  1. Thank you, Barbara! I especially enjoyed this lesson! It reminded me of the lesson I taught to first graders this morning at church. We talked about the importance of not going along with the crowd in doing wrong; but instead, thinking about what God would have us do, and following His instructions from the Bible.
    “Think Right—Do Right—Feel Right!” was the message.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *