Sermon Tone Analysis

Welcome

Good morning!

We’re so glad you’re here, whether you are here in person or joining us online, thank you for joining us this morning.

If you have your Bible with you, please open up to Psalm 1 this morning.

If you have the YouVersion Bible app on your phone, you will find the sermon notes available under the menu then click on Events and you should see First Baptist Church of Pharr listed there.

We have some printed sermon notes available for you as well, if that is your preference.

Introduction

Last week we looked at Psalm 51 and talked about the fact that, we were born into sin and we were separated from God because of that sin.

God provided a way for us to be cleansed from our sin and walk with Christ as a new creation.

We find this through a relationship of trust in Jesus Christ.

This week we’re looking at God’s call for us to walk in righteousness

How does this relationship with Jesus Christ change us?

Paul told the Corinthians that something would be different in them when they have Christ.

This week we’re going to look at this blessing of righteousness...

[pray]

I. Be Blessed

This morning in Psalm 1, we see this concept of being blessed introduced and the righteous person compared with the wicked person.

Let’s look at this concept of blessing in verse 1...

How do we find this blessing that is mentioned in verse 1?

One of the things that we sometimes see when we are studying the psalms are the classic constructs that can be found in Hebrew Wisdom Literature.

We sometimes see an open and closing sandwich of an idea that wraps around another set of ideas.

We can see an example of this in Psalm 1 & Psalm 2.

We’ll be looking at Psalm 1 today and will begin to explore the content of Psalm 2, along with some other psalms next week.

Psalm 1 & Psalm 2 are bound together with this opening and closing idea of blessing (in English it might say “Happy” in Spanish it probably says “Bienaventurado”)...

There is a pairing of the Hebrew word esher in verse 1:1 and in verse 2:12.

Psalm 2 ends in this way, “All who take refuge in him are happy.”

[Psalm 2:12]

The word “happy” is “esher” in Hebrew...

אֶשֶׁר esher (80d); from 833; happiness, blessedness:—blessed(41), happy(4).

This idea of “happiness” is not the same happiness that we love and pursue so well in the modern age.

Today the word “happy” indicates “feeling or showing pleasure or contentment.”

This is a very relative term, that means the feeling of happiness changes in relation to our moods and with our emotions.

We might be happy about something one day and bored with it the next.

Most of us will recognize the words within our national Declaration of Independence—dated July 4, 1776—that declares the truths that we hold "to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

These words established our independence and proclaimed our belief that we have the right to pursue happiness.

However, these does not guarantee that right, and in establishing our form of national government, sets forth the government as a means of providing us with the ability to pursue this happiness.

However, I think we can safely draw the conclusion that government is not the source of our happiness either.

However, when it works according to the design, it should provide for our ability to pursue a way of life that provides for our needs.

We often find our happiness in other things.

We find happiness in family, friends, connections to other people.

I believe that “blessing” is something else...

This “blessing” that we hear about in the Bible has often been understood by explaining the benefits of the blessing: prosperity, power, even fertility.

However, the product or content of the blessing is not always the primary focus in scripture.

It is the relationship that is the basis of the benefit.

When we connect with God, we can be truly blessed.

The so-called “one” here is translated as “man” in other versions.

This is not saying that only men can be blessed.

This word in the original language could be translated “person” though it might also mean “man” in a generic sense.

Some readers connect this “one” to the Messiah by talking about the “righteous man.”

They are not wrong when we look at this psalm in a paired relationship with Psalm 2, which is clearly about the coronation of the Son.

We’ll look at the son as King next week.

This righteous man is blessed because of his relation to the Lord and his blessing can be found in the Word of the Lord.

When the married man says that he is blessed, it it because in the relationship that he has with his wife that he finds his blessing.

The same could be said of the parent who refers to their children as a blessing.

Principle: The blessing is defined by the relationship rather than the content of the blessing.

II.

Separated from the World

Psalm 1:1 gives us some Do Not Rules that will help us to evaluate our actions...

Do NOT Rules for Righteousness

1.

Does not walk in the counsel of the wicked

2. Does not stand in the path with sinners

3. Does not sit in the company of mockers

There is a progression of involvement here.

Walking refers to passing through a place that is not desirable.

Standing refers to spending time there.

Sitting means that one has decided to spend a significant amount of time there in spite of what is going on.

This does not mean that we refuse to hang out with sinners… Didn’t Jesus hang out with sinners?

This is more about engaging with them in their sin versus protecting our hearts from the sin that we can find all around us.

If we can resist this temptation to engage with the wicked an sinful lifestyle that our world embraces, we can be blessed.

In fact, if we can continue to take on the attributes of Christ, we can become more like him and receive his blessing.

If Christians start listening to the counsel (advice, plans) of the ungodly, they will soon be standing in their way of life, and finally will sit right down and agree with them.

Do THIS Rules for Righteousness

The actions described in these Do Not Rules lead toward wickedness, rather than righteousness.

What would these rules look like if they were stated in the positive rather than the negative?

1. Walk in the counsel of the righteous

2. Stand in the path with those who refuse to sin

3. Sit in the company of the blessed

And since the Righteous Man seeks his counsel in the instruction of God’s word, I cannot help but recall...

In this path of walking toward and dwelling in righteousness we can find blessings instead of curses.

In the words of wisdom of the father writing to his son...

III.

Delighted with the Word of the Lord

The sinner finds delight in pursuing their fleshly desires.

The Righteous One, finds his blessing in the word of the Lord.

He delights in the Lord’s instruction.

The word for “instruction” in the Old Testament can also be translated as “law.”

It is “torah” which were the holy scriptures that made up the Hebrew Bible.

This is the first five books of the Old Testament, also called the Pentateuch or the Books of Moses.

We see this kind of language throughout Psalms and the other books of the Bible.

Pastor Warren Wiersbe said this of the one who meditates on the Word of the Lord...

Their mind is controlled by the Word of God.

Because of this, they are led by the Spirit and walk in the Spirit.

Meditation is to the soul what “digestion” is to the body.

It means understanding the Word, “chewing on it,” and applying it to our lives, making it a part of the inner person

IV.

Find Nourishment in the Blessing

The tree in verse 3 finds its benefit in relationship to the stream that provides water and nutrients that supply its health and its growth.

The tree cannot bear any fruit without this relationship to the stream.

Without the stream, the tree is unhealthy and unproductive.

Verse 3 is really a one-verse parable.