Psalm one said so, part V
For all the blessed man's efforts in living a righteous life (Psalm 1:1) and reading the Bible day and night (Psalm 1:2), there is not even a hint that his good works are what win him approval in the sight of God.
To begin with, the nature of ‘blessing’ in the Bible is that it comes not from ourselves but from God. He is the one who will ensure that the blessed man “is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.” (Psalm 1:3) Think about how much a tree contributes to its own watering and you get the idea.
But note also how the Psalm concludes. After all this talk of meditating on God's law, you might expect that the blessing takes the form of knowing God better. No doubt this is so. But the Psalmist flips this idea completely on its head, and points out that rather, the blessing consists not so much in knowing God as being known by him.
For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
Paul offers a similar thought-flip in 1 Corinthians 8:1-3: “Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that ‘all of us possess knowledge.’ This ‘knowledge’ puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.”
We delight in the Bible, God's law, not so much because in it we know God, as because in it, he knows us!