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Friend, ashrei: the blessed life!

Psalms 1:1-3  Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2  But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. 3  He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.

As we continue to explore the Kingdom and the implications of Kingdom life, I want to begin this new series on the Sermon on the Mount with a single word -- because sometimes one word changes everything. Before we take a deeper look at Yeshua’s (Jesus’) primary message and the life of the Kingdom He came to reveal, we must first understand its Hebraic roots. Long before Yeshua taught on the mountain, the foundation for understanding the blessed life had already been laid in the Psalms. That foundation begins with ashrei.

Psalm 1 opens with Ashrei ha’ish -- “Blessed is the man.” But the Hebrew word, ashrei, carries far more weight than our English word “blessed” often conveys. It is not merely happiness. Happiness is often tied to what is happening around us. It rises and falls with circumstances, comfort, approval, success, and whether life seems to be going according to plan. Ashrei goes deeper. It speaks of settled joy, deep well-being, and the spiritual flourishing of a life rightly aligned with God. It is not a feeling dependent on outward conditions. It is the condition of a soul governed by the Lord.

Psalm 1 does not describe a man whose life is easy. It describes a man whose life is rooted. He does not walk in the counsel of the wicked. He does not stand in the path of sinners. He does not sit in the seat of the scornful. His delight is in the instruction of the Lord -- in His Word -- and on that instruction he meditates day and night. Notice that the psalmist describes what this man has turned away from before he describes what this man delights in. Alignment begins with refusal. Blessing begins not by accumulating more, but by turning from what cannot sustain the soul.

The psalmist gives us an image worth sitting with: “He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water.” A tree does not survive a dry season because it controls the weather. It survives because its roots have reached water the drought cannot touch. The heat comes. The wind comes. The long, rainless stretches come. But a tree planted near the source does not wither. It bears fruit in its season, and its leaf does not fade. That is the deeper implication of ashrei. The blessed person is not the one who escapes every storm. The blessed person is the one whose roots are deeper than the storm can reach.

This is why Psalm 1 must stand at the beginning of our study. It reorients everything we think we know about blessing. If the counsel of the world governs us, we may appear successful for a season, but we become like the chaff the psalmist describes -- weightless, directionless, scattered by the first wind that finds us. But if the instruction of the Lord governs us, if His Word is not merely something we consult but something we delight in, we become planted. We become fruitful. We become steady.

Ashrei is not shallow happiness. It is the deep joy of a life anchored in God. It is the flourishing of a soul that has found its source. It is the quiet and immovable strength of a person who has chosen the way of the Lord and will not be moved from it. Before we can hear the words of Yeshua rightly, Scripture must first reshape the very category through which we receive them. The blessed life is not built on outward ease, public approval, or the achievement of our own designs. It is rooted in the Lord Himself. And that means the journey does not begin with chasing blessings. It begins with becoming planted.

Friend, hear this: you were not made to drift with the counsel of this age; you were made to be planted in the Lord. Let your roots go deep into His Word, His ways, and His presence, where no storm can reach and no season can rob you of life. Stand in His counsel, delight in His instruction, and become like the tree of Psalm 1 -- steady, fruitful, and alive because your source is deeper than your circumstances. The Kingdom is not revealed through drifting people, but through planted ones; and as your life becomes rooted in Him, His Kingdom will begin to break forth through you.

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George & Baht Rivka (Maryland)