Straight Talk

Praise the LORD! How blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in His commandments. Psalm 112:1 NASB

Blessed – Congratulations! You who follow God’s instructions are blessed. Of course, that doesn’t mean you have all the measures of success in this world. The psalmist might go on to say that those men who fear God and follow Him experience power, wealth, riches and fame, but his optimistic view doesn’t seem to always be the case. We have plenty of examples of God-fearing men whose lives appear to be anything but blessed. Perhaps we need to revise what we think “blessed” (‘ashre) means.

The verbal root of the group of words is ʾāšar. It actually means, “to go straight, to walk.” Notice what Victor Hamilton says about this:

The verb occurs in the Qal only in Prov 9:6, “go / walk in the way of understanding.” In the Piel it is used eleven times with several nuances of which the most prominent is “to bless, called blessed”: Gen 30:13; Mal 3:12, 15; Job 29:11; Ps 72:17; Prov 31:28; Song 6:9; similarly in two cases in the Pual, Ps 41:2 [H 3]; Prov 3:18. The relationship, if any, between Qal “to go” and Piel “to bless” is not apparent. ^[1]

Hamilton points out that this word for bless is not attributed to God. When God is involved, the verb is barak, not ʾāšar. Why? Because ʾāšar is “a word of envious desire, ‘to be envied with desire is the man who trusts in the Lord.’ God is not man and therefore there are no grounds for aspiring to his state even in a wishful way.”^[2] In addition, ʾāšar requires that a man do something to experience this state of happiness. That’s the critical element in Psalm 112. In order to experience the state of bliss, this man must “fear” the Lord. Of course, there is a lot involved in the verb yare’ as well, but it starts with this: showing due respect and awe before the Creator of all. In Hebrew thinking, showing due respect and awe is not simply a matter of genuflecting. Fearing YHVH means obeying His instructions, following His ways and modeling His actions. The psalmist parallels yare’ with ḥāpēṣ (delight), a word expressing great emotional desire. In other words, the combination of yare’ and ḥāpēṣ indicates that this man has “fallen in love with God,” and can’t imagine life without this attachment. Since his love for God permeates every part of his existence, this experience alone is the blessed reward. All the rest, if it should occur, is icing on the cake.

The psalmist offers a compelling and condemning proclamation in one breath. Have you fallen in love with God? Are you swept up in emotional reverie when you consider Him? Do you find that you pursue God for His sake? Then you are indeed a man of ʾašrê. And if not, then perhaps you’re missing one of life’s greatest blessings.

Topical Index: ʾašrê, happiness, blessing, ʾāšar, yare’, fear, ḥāpēṣ, delight, desire, Psalm 112:1

^[1] Hamilton, V. P. (1999). 183 אָשַׁר. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke, Ed.) (electronic ed.) (80). Chicago: Moody Press.

^[2] Ibid.