The human author of this psalm is unknown, but the real author is God. Paul tells us “all Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right”. 2 Timothy 3:16 (NLT). If we knew the human author, we might think “this person can say these things because he had everything he could want so this can’t apply to me”. But by not knowing the human author, we can be sure that what God promises in these verses applies to all believers.
Someone might think “this is Old Testament so these words apply to the Jews only; this doesn’t apply to Christians”. But again, Paul tells us “in the same way, ‘Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith’. The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God. What’s more, the Scripture looked forward to this time when God would declare the Gentiles to be righteous because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when He said, ‘all nations will be blessed through you’. So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith”. Galatians 3:6-9 (NLT).
So what are the blessings that God gives us? First, there is joy. Joy is a result of our having hope there is something better and beyond this life. Read 1 Corinthians 15:11-21. Some people without hope tend to seek escape through drugs, alcohol or sex. Again, in 1 Corinthians 15:32, Paul says “and if there is no resurrection, ‘let’s feast and drink, for tomorrow we die’!”
Second, God says we are like trees planted along a riverbank having stability in our lives. It isn’t that we have no troubles in life, but we weather the storms, we produce fruit, and we prosper in all we do. Yes, we have setbacks from time to time, but those are only temporary depending on how we react to our circumstances. James 1:2-7 tells us how to deal with “troubles of any kind”.
Third, God says you can tell these people by two specific traits. One, they are careful about who their close friends are and who they look to for advice. Two, they delight in reading God’s word and thinking about its meaning. These are not excuses to be rude to people or not be involved in other activities of life. But they are directions for priorities, treasures for our hearts. As Jesus said, “wherever your treasures are there is where your heart will be”.