“Blessed is the Man” Part 4 (Under the Juniper Tree S8E7)

December 4, 2018

Obligation
- Man wants to be blessed.
  - Some what it but want to do the least amount of work possible.
  - “God, I will do nothing but you do everything.”
- I think the problem lies within another beatitude (Psalm 112:1).
  - The idea of fear is “revere.”
  - Delight gives the idea of “pleased with/inclined to”
  - I’m not just delighted in the commands of God but GREATLY inclined.
  - That’s the big problem with the world today – the world refuses to revere God and delight in His law.
- The word blessed points out an obligation when you examine the verses.
  - A man is blessed when he performs a certain action and something is done for the man who is blessed.
  - If we want to be blessed, we have an obligation to do God’s will.
  - Leroy Brownlow makes an interesting statement concerning this word and the psalms: “Happiness is largely do to our own making; and if we would make it, there are conditions to meet, both negative and positive. This is understandable, for man cannot follow the contrastive course without refraining from the destructive one.”

Ramification
- There are ramifications for our doing or refusing to meet the characteristics found in these beatitudes.
- There are physical ramifications.
  - Matt. 5:4 – If I don’t mourn over my sins, I cannot find comfort. – but if I do mourn over them – I can.
  - Psalm 1:1-3 – What if I allow myself to take the steps leading toward wickedness? What if I do not?
- There are spiritual ramifications.
  - These beatitudes speak of the person God wants us to be?
  - What if I refuse to show mercy? Mercy is only shown to those who show it.