Forming an Image of Blessedness with the Psalms

The first word of the Psalm 1 captures well the intended purpose of the Book of Psalms: blessedness. To be blessed literally means “a state of well-being”; to flourish; to prosper. It’s what we might call “the good life.” This is what all people desire—we want to flourish. Martin Luther noted this: “The search for personal blessedness is common to all men. There is no one who does not desire to fare well or hate to fare badly.” Similarly, Robert Harris declared, “The end whereto all men are carried, and whereat they aim, is happiness.” Thomas Watson agrees: “Blessedness is the desire of all men,” and he defines blessedness as that which “lies in the fruition of the chief good.” And Spurgeon would later remark, “It is an old saying, and possibly a true one, that every man is seeking after happiness.” Yet blessedness is not, as the word “happiness” might connote today, merely a feeling. Rather, as John Blanchard notes, “When the Bible…