Blessed is the Man; Psalm 1

Text: Psalm 1                                                                     6/1/08 a.m.

Thesis: The Lord’s ways and watchful eye are good.

 

Intro: Today we begin what I hope and pray bears a great harvest of happiness in your life, in the life of your family, and in the life of this church family.

Today we will begin memorizing Scripture together as a church. As you see from the banners hanging behind me and the tab in the bulletin we are going to memorize Psalm 1.

We’ll take one verse a week over the next 6 weeks. These verses are simple enough for our children to memorize yet deep enough for the most mature to benefit from the work.

And let’s be realistic. Memorizing Scripture is wonderfully helpful, spiritually encouraging, deeply rewarding and a challenge over the long haul.

But that’s what we are here for am I right? We’re not here to be plants that spring up over night but because of poor roots or the temptations of life do not bear fruit.

I’m here and I believe you are here because you want to be like a tree planted by streams of water bearing its fruit in season.

You and I want to walk with God. We want to live for Christ. We want to be found in him and know the power of his resurrection.

We want joy. This morning I want to show you the depth of this Psalm and over the next 6 weeks I pray our hard work of meditating on God’s word bears much fruit.

Read Psalm 1

I) Blessed is the man who doesn’t and who does

a)      First, what does it mean to be blessed?

i)        To be blessed means to live life God’s way and enjoy the rewards that God gives.

ii)      This word blessed is in the plural so it can also be read, “O the blessedness of the man who doesn’t do that and instead does this.”

iii)    This is the person who finds lasting joy.

iv)    This is the man, woman, boy, or girl who experiences the blessings of the beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount.

v)      To be blessed is to be satisfied with all that Christ is for you while God provides all that you need to live for Him. Blessings have more to do with joy and fruitfulness in the Kingdom than material wealth.

vi)    From verses one and two it becomes clear that the person who wants to walk with God and taste his eternal joy must avoid certain things and pursue certain things.

vii)  Let’s look first at what must be avoided.

b)      A person that God blesses is a person who turns from sin.

i)        Read verse 1

ii)      Do not walk in the counsel of the wicked. Don’t listen to the things that will lead you away from God.

iii)    Psalm 7:14 says, the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies.

iv)    It’s the teenager who convinces his buddy to beat up a homeless man while his buddy puts it on you-tube.

v)      It’s the business person who is convinced he can cook the books and not get caught.

vi)    The counsel of the wicked is that stinkin thinkin that leads a person away from God.

vii)  The mind is where every joy-stealing act of disobedience starts. So, don’t pattern your life according to the foolishness of wicked people.

viii)              Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked or stands in the way of sinners.

ix)    Don’t put yourself in a position to be influenced by people who disobey God.

x)      If the first phrase is meant to guard our minds from the philosophy of the wicked then this phrase is meant to guard our lives from sinful people.

xi)    This does not mean we should never be around sinners. If that were so evangelism wouldn’t happen?

xii)  1 Corinthians 5 gives some clarity, I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— ¹⁰ not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. ¹¹ But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one.

xiii)            We should be influencing the sexually immoral, greedy, swindlers, and idolaters to walk in our way. They should not be influencing us or convincing us to walk in their ways.

xiv)            Now here’s the last thing to avoid. Do not sit in the seat of scoffers. A scoffer is someone who mocks God.

xv)  A scoffer looks at God, sees God’s way, and says, “that ain’t nothing.”

xvi)            To sit in someone’s seat is to be just like them; it is to be one of them. When you go to a watch a football game you want to sit on your team’s side. You want to support them. You want to be one of them.

xvii)          Do not sit in the seat of those who think God is stupid, the bible is ridiculous, and Jesus is a joke.

xviii)        Do not be one of them.

c)      Be a person that looks to the Lord

i)        Blessed is the man who delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on the law of the Lord day and night.

ii)      Being filled with joy and fruitfulness is a product of devoting yourself to knowing God and his ways.

iii)    No one is filled with joy and fruitfulness simply because God blesses them.

iv)    God blesses us with joy and fruitfulness as we seek after Him.

v)      One way to seek after God is to delight in his law.

vi)    It is to appreciate God and his wisdom by seeking Him and following what He has to say.

vii)  Blessed is the person who gets pleasure God’s way instead of seeking pleasure like the wicked, sinful, and scornful.

viii)            This one is blessed because his pleasure will last.

ix)    God’s law is his instruction. It can refer specifically to the Pentateuch, the first 5 books of the bible, called the books of the law.

x)      Or the law can refer to all of God’s teaching. For us, this side of the cross, our delight must be in all of Scripture; all of God’s instruction.

xi)    And delighting in Scripture is not some sick love for black ink on white pages.

xii)  Delighting in Scripture is cherishing God’s instruction because you know where that instruction leads.

xiii)            When you know where you want to go and when you know Scripture will guide you there then it makes sense that you will meditate on it.

xiv)            To meditate on God’s law is to have it vibrate through you like the deep bass of a massive subwoofer; it affects you to the core.

xv)  And meditating is thinking about what Scripture says concerning God and what God says about life.

xvi)            The blessed man is the man who memorizes and thinks about God’s instructions all the time.

xvii)          Oh but children say memorizing scripture is too hard. The young say they are too busy. The old say they just can’t remember anything anymore.

xviii)        Everyone in every stage of life has an excuse for the pain they inflict on themselves.

xix)            Do you want God’s blessing? Do you want joy and fruitfulness? Get into God’s word and get it into you.

xx)  Strength, joy, and fruitfulness are gained in proportion to study, memorization, and meditation on Scripture.

II) So, the person God blesses is like a strong and fruitful tree

a)      You must commit yourself to memorizing Scripture and becoming an oak that stands through trials. (Read verse 3)

i)        If you walk with the wicked, stand with sinners, and sit with scoffers you are cutting off your food-supply.

ii)      When you commit yourself to getting into the bible and getting the bible into you, you are connecting to your power supply.

iii)    The best place for a tree is in a location where it gets the nutrients it needs.  A tree flourishes by water.

iv)    You will flourish as a Christian when you plant yourself where you can be fed. Plug into a Sunday School small group bible study.

v)      Engage your mind during worship, think about what you are singing, and think about what is being said.

vi)    Read your bible in big chunks, study in small chunks, and memorize verses.

vii)  Become a well-fed tree that produces its fruit in its season. We get the picture here of faithfulness leading to fruitfulness.

viii)            Now, a tree is not all fruit all the time. There is the flower and then the fruit in its season.

ix)    So don’t be surprised when your life isn’t all fruit. Be surprised when it is all fruit. There are seasons of preparation and seasons of production.

x)      But all seasons work together to accomplish God’s will. Persevere in your season. Keep drinking up the nutrients in your season and you’ll bear fruit.

xi)    Know this, your leaf will not wither. Withering, shriveling, falling off, being shaken, and passing away are all ways of describing something that is instable or temporal.

xii)  Stability in life is a product of relying on and deeply drinking from the living waters of Scripture.

xiii)            That leads to prosperity. In all that he does, he prospers. Don’t you want that?

xiv)            Of course we want that. We want to live a blessed life, always growing, bearing fruit, and standing strong.

xv)  But how do you get there? Make scripture your delight and meditate on God’s instructions day and night.

xvi)            Jesus put it this way in John 15:7, If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

xvii)          If you turn from the foolishness of the world, cling to Christ by faith, and dig into Scripture it will change you. It will change you into a person who prays for the things that are God’s good pleasure.

xviii)        And you will receive them.

xix)            Prosperity is not a product of sending your money to a televangelist. Prosperity is a product of diligent daily study of God’s word and seeking to live according to it.

xx)  That’s the good news; joy and fruitfulness. That’s the blessing that drives our soul to stay close to Christ. Here’s the bad news

b)      The wicked are like chaff (Read verse 4)

i)        Compare a massive fruitful tree to chaff. Chaff is the left-overs after a wheat harvest.

ii)      The wheat is planted, sprouts, grows, and produces a head of grain. It is then harvested and processed.

iii)    The wheat is separated from the chaff by shaking or threshing it and then tossing all of it up together and letting the wind blow the chaff away.

iv)    This is the gut-check for us. Is our greatest delight the wisdom and temporal show of strength that comes from the world?

v)      For a time wheat looks good but it soon passes away. The wheat planted all around the tree has glory for a moment, but come back next year and the wheat is gone while the tree remains.

vi)    Will you sacrifice what is eternally satisfying and full of joy for what is temporary and fleeting?

vii)  Are we satisfied with quick fixes?

III) The best way to judge something is to consider it’s end because there is no fooling God (Read verses 5&6)

a)      The end of the wicked and the end of the righteous could not be any more different.

i)        Because the wicked are like chaff, without root and fruit, they will not stand in the judgment.

ii)      When the congregation of the righteous comes together there is no spot for the unrighteous. There is no standing room. There are no cheep seats.

iii)    The wicked are cast out. Their temporary pleasures and short-lived glories have run their course.

iv)    The once glorious house built upon the sand is washed away.

v)      We must build our houses on Christ. We must feed on all that He is for us which is revealed to us in Scripture.

vi)    We must rely on him to make us righteous. On our own we are all sinfully wicked and scornful.

vii)  We must be cleansed by Christ. Romans 3:21& 22 say, But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— ²² the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

viii)            Those who trust Christ and rely on him to make them pure and holy before God are those who are known by God.

ix)    Psalm 1:6 says, The Lord knows the way of the righteous. This does not mean that God is just aware of the existence of the righteous.

x)      Knowing means so much more than that. It means that God cares for, watches out for, is involved with, and protects the righteous.

xi)    If you trust Christ you are known by God. That means God cares for you, watches over you, will work in you, and will always protect you.

xii)  This is what makes the gospel of Jesus Christ so wonderful.

xiii)            We come to God with nothing good to give deserving only God’s full and powerful wrath.

xiv)  But because of God’s great love and Christ’s perfect righteousness we are cleansed, restored, and made whole.

xv)  God knows the way of the righteous thanks to the strong work of Jesus for us.

xvi)            The Lord will keep us for eternity.

b)      But the way of the wicked will perish

i)        The things of the world that look good and satisfying today will disappoint you tomorrow.

ii)      Our Christ-less dreams will one day come to nothing.

iii)    That is why we must daily remind ourselves to avoid the counsel of the wicked.

iv)    Oh it looks so good; that’s what makes it a temptation.

v)      But with biblically tuned eyes of faith we see through the temptation to its end and it’s end is to perish.

vi)    The end of people who do not feed on Truth is to perish.

vii)  But the end of people who feed on Truth is to stand firm like oaks, bear fruit in season, and last throughout the ages.

viii)            This is why you and I must pray daily that God’s wisdom and will be glorious and satisfying to us.

ix)    We need a heart change and constant exercise to remain spiritually healthy.

x)      We must memorize Scripture so we know what God’s wisdom and will are all about.

xi)    So we’re going to memorize Scripture together because we all need the accountability and encouragement of the people of God.

xii)  Pray for your concentration. Pray for increased dedication. Trust Christ and He will lead you to a place of fruitfulness.

xiii)            Plug in here at Mambrino, sacrifice with us, live joyfully with us, and bear fruit that lasts.

xiv)            Let’s pray, let’s work, and we’ll experience God’s blessings.