Psalms chapter 1

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Intro:

Today we begin our study through the book of Psalms

So, I want to set it up, by sharing some information so that as we dive into it and walk through it over the next several weeks we have a better idea of what it’s all about in hopes that we may see its purpose and message clearly.

Now, the book of Psalms include in it, 150 chapters.

We won’t be spending 150 weeks breaking down every chapter

But it deserves our attention and time. And I hope that as we get into this and even on the other side of it we will grow an appreciation for this beautiful book

If you were new to this book of the Bible and began to read through it I would liken that to looking at these Legos like this

Lego’s on a tarp

You don’t know what these are supposed to make or even if they are supposed to make anything at all.

If you took your best shot at clumping them together you may do it by color

You may do it by shape

But unless you are some lego genius you would probably never build what this is intended to build and be able to see it all together in perfect completion.

Often, we view the Psalms like individual leggos

Maybe some being able to categorize based on the author

So all of these shaped this way are David

These are Solomon

These are Asaph

Maybe being able to categorize in genre

The green ones are messianic

The blue ones are lament

The red ones are imprecatory

But just like these legos the Psalms have a specific pattern, design, and purpose to them. That when viewed individually doesn’t allow us to get the full picture.

And we must believe that God didn’t haphazardly throw these poems and songs and prayers together without a purpose just like the designer of these leggos didn’t either

Each one has a specific purpose and design that ultimately fit together in a certain way to show us a much bigger and more beautiful picture than they ever could apart from one another

So, yes we will view most of these individually

But how do you put leggos together?

You put them together a the while looking at the final product

We will study the Psalms individually all the while keeping the final picture in mind

So, what is the main point? What the primary concern of the Psalms? Boiled down to 1 sentence this is what I would say

The Psalms are here to teach us how to live a life of praise to the Lord.

Now, that is just big blanket, overall idea

But that’s it. How do we praise, how do we worship, how do we exalt the Lord?

Whether that be through His blessings over us

Whether that be in life’s most difficult seasons

Whether that be when the Lord seems close and near

Whether that be when the Lord seems distant and away

How do we live a life of praise?

Let’s talk, place, person, purpose, pattern

Place - Where was this written? When was it written? So this book is written over hundreds of years probably close to a thousand years

Person - It has several different authors.

David (73)

Asaph (12)

Sons of Korah (11)

Heman and Ethan (2)

Solomon and Moses (3)

The rest are anonymous (49)

Purpose - Many of these Psalms were written to be sung and specifically to be sung by the choir that would gather in the temple of Jerusalem

Pattern - We see 5 major markers in the book of psalms with an introduction and a conclusion.

You can kind of think of Psalms as 5 different books put together to form 1 with an intro and conclusion

Chapter 1-2 serve as it’s intro

Chapters 3-41 book 1

chpt 42-72 book 2

c 73-89 book 3

c 90-106 book 4

c 107-145 book 5

then chapt 146-150 as its conclusion

so that is it’s pattern

And one other thing and then we will get into chapter 1 this morning

The Psalms are used by Jesus. He references them during His life, you have to imagined he memorized them, He probably sang them in the synagogue. So they are important

There is a messianic theme to them. They are drawing us in to our Savior

And they are a clear picture of a life with Jesus

What you will see is that a journey with Jesus isn’t always flowers and unicorns

Most often, in Psalms, a praise song is bookended with a prayer of anxiety, anger, or cries of desperation.

So, if you allow it, the Psalms will help you see how to praise Christ even when you don’t feel like it

How to not hide your emotions from Him, but also, how not to be driven by them. How to rightly allow them to draw you to Jesus

If you allow it, the Psalms can be a mirror for your soul.

Eugene Peterson "People look into mirrors to see how they look; they look into the Psalms to find out who they are. A mirror is an excellent way to learn about our appearance; the Psalms are the biblical way to discover ourselves. […] A mirror shows us the shape of our nose and the curve of our chin, things we otherwise know only through the reports of others. The Psalms show us the shape of our souls and the curve of our sin, realities deep within us, hidden and obscured, for which we need focus and names."

Psalm 1:1–6 NIV

1 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, 2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. 3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers. 4 Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. 6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

pray

The introduction to the whole of Psalms

This is a wisdom psalm written by an unknown author

It is a contrast between 2 different men

With 2 different approaches to life

2 different roads to travel

2 different destinies

and 2 different outcomes

It opens with a benediction

Blessed is the one

a phrase later mimicked by Jesus in the sermon on the mount

It can be translated as “oh the joyful acclamation of the gracious one who.”

If you want to be approved, praised, or commended by the Lord

do this....

And then it gives us a description or wisdom in how to do it

First in negative form and then in the positive

Negative from distraction - direction - destination

Don’t walk with the wicked

This is distraction. What are you allowing to draw you in?

The Psalmist is warning us here: Don’t listen to the wicked

Don’t allow sin to distract you

Because he knows that whatever it is that we follow, that we listen to, will inevitably shape who we become

Right, so be careful where you go, be wise about the people and things you are listening to, don’t walk in the counsel of the ungodly

This isn’t a call to be anti-worldy people it’s a call to be wise in who we are allowing to influence us

Because they may be distractions

Don’t stand with sinners

The way this is written in the original language conveys the idea of staying for a while. Hanging out with.

This is beyond what are we putting in, but what are those things that we are thinking about?

What direction are we headed?

The Psalmist is warning us here: don’t think like the wicked

And the term sinners here isn’t used in the general sense

It means those who habitually stand against God

Those who have no intention of ever imitating Christ and His way of life

So even further than the last point this takes it beyond just the people you listen to or take advice from

This is talking about the people you identify with, that you regularly associate yourself with that have power over you

The people you choose to associate with, to hang out with, to identify with are going to have a major impact on who you become. The direction of your life

And the Psalmist warns us that they will have an impact on whether or not you will be for God or against Him

So choose wisely who you associate with

Don’t sit with fools

“Don’t sit in the company of mockers”

The Psalmist is warning us here: Don’t act like the wicked

And notice the progression here

It’s if you listen to the wicked, you will think like the wicked

If you think like the wicked, you will act like the wicked

And if you act like the wicked, you are the wicked

You are against God

That’s the destination for you

And what happens to you?

Well, jump down to verses 4&5

Psalm 1:4–5 NIV

4 Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

Number 1 you are like chaff blown by the wind?

What is chaff you ask?

After every harvest they would take the grains of the fields and they would do what is called winnowing.

So essentially they would take piles of the grain and they wanted to seperate the good grain from all of the other stuff that could have gotten in there.

They would get there backs to the wind and they would pick it up and drop the grain

And because the grain was heavy it would fall straight down but all of the other stuff that they didn’t want would get blown away leaving what they really wanted

Derek Kinder says :“Chaff is the ultimate in what is rootless, weightless and useless”

This is how the psalmist describes the wicked

Then the Psalmist says, when it comes time to stand before God and give an account of your life the wicked will have nothing to stand on.

Now, on to the positive

This is the description of the righteous

You should be a person that loves God’s Word

You should delight in the Lord’s instruction

Exalting Jesus in Psalms 1–50 Say Yes to God’s Word (v. 2)

Spurgeon says, “ ‘The [instruction] of the Lord’ is the daily bread of the true believer”

You should be someone of His Word who constantly dives in it, rightly divides it, and who delights in it.

This is what it looks like to be righteous and for God

You should meditate on it day and night

You should seek God’s wisdom that is found in His Word and you should carefully and continually ponder and think on it

It should become a priority in your life

What we love we will spend time with, how much time do you spend in God’s Word and thinking about God’s Word

A righteous person would answer, a lot

A righteous person also lives in the will of God

What does that look like?

It is healthy, fruitful, and successful (Maybe not success the way you see, but in God’s eye.)

This is the opposite picture we had of the wicked

This isn’t useless

This isn’t meaningless

This is a life worth living

It means something

It matters!

This is joyful people because the life they live pleases God

And then the Psalm ends this way in vs 6

Psalm 1:6 NIV

6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Jesus often talks about 2 different ways

2 gates, 2 roads, 2 trees, 2 types of fruit, 2 houses, 2 foundations

And in every instance, one brings life and blessing

and the other death and sorrow

Vs. 6 gives us a very clear picture of how every life will end up.

and the outcome is determined by the road you follow

The ungodly or the righteous

The righteous road is God’s road and at the beginning of it stands Jesus with His hands pierced

He knows and cares personally and deeply and intimately for every traveler on it

He walks that road with us

No matter how bumpy it gets

No matter how difficult it gets

Jesus is with us

The other road is the road of our enemy that leads to destruction and eternal damnation

And it’s bigger, and it’s flashier, and it looks more fun, and all along the way are signs that are promising one thing

But ultimately it leads to a destination that we wouldn’t wish upon our worst enemies

Psalms chapter 1 paints a clear picture for us

2 different people

2 choices

2 lives

2 outcomes

Which one do you want to be?

Now, when we view this in the grand picture of what Psalms is trying to paint for us

So, remember, how do we live a life of praise to the Lord.

That the question.

Psalm chapter 1, which is the introduction to it all, so a big deal, would answer that with: the way that you live your life

We praise the Lord by the way we live our lives.

Are we more like the wicked and ungodly

Or are we following the way of the righteous?

Because it’s the righteous life that sings praises to Jesus