The first word of the Book of Psalms in our English translations is not to be hurried over. The term "blessed" is a key word in the larger scope of Scripture, and is a way of expressing the highest goal of human aspiration.
Not infrequently it is paraphrased as "happy" - "Happy is the man..." While that expresses the pleasantness of the blessed state, it hardly does full justice to the idea intended. "Blessing" and "blessed" are words that appear early in our Bibles. After creating the birds and fish and other sea creature, God "blessed" them and appointed them to increase in number and fill the water in the seas (Genesis 1:22). After creating man in his own image, male and female, he similarly "blessed them..." and told them to be fruitful, increase in number, and rule over the zoological creation (1:28). The seventh (sabbath) day is also blessed (2:3).
The theme continues through patriarchal history and on into the life of the nation Israel. Those who fear God and walk in his ways are "blessed", while to the contrary, those who forsake him and rebel against his rule are "cursed." Jesus spoke of the "blessedness" of the poor in spirit and so on in what we call The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12), and the Book of Revelation presents us with its own cluster of them as well ("blessed" are those who die in the Lord, "blessed" are those who participate in the marriage feast of the Lamb etc. - Rev. 14:13; 19:9). In all these cases, the state referred to is the result of God's experienced favour. Blessing is not simply a condition of the mind and heart on its own. It is a state that flows from receiving the grace of God.
The Aaronic blessing - the blessing with which priests in Israel were to dismiss the worshipping congregation - offers help here. The different lines the priests were to recite are an example of Hebrew parallelism. "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace" (Numb. 6:24-26). Here the idea of the Lord "blessing" his people is enriched by the images of God making his "face shine" upon them, and "turning his face" toward them." It implies the ideas of the Lord "keeping" us, being "gracious" to us, and giving us his "peace." These are all distinct actions and fruits of actions. In short, "blessedness" is a state that follows God's out-poured love and grace upon us.
Back to the psalm. In beginning, "Blessed is the man" we are introduced to the conditions associated with experiencing God's favour and the blessing that results from that. That's what makes this Psalm such a fitting beginning tot he collection as a whole. It pinpoints the true goal of human aspiration - to be "blessed" by God - and defines the way to experiencing it.
The Bible is not concerned so much with our being "happy" or "fulfilled" viewed as mere human experiences. Rather, it is concerned with our being "blessed" - being in a state in which we enjoy the face of God shining upon us. In that state we will be truly happy.
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