Finding Joy in the Lord's Word
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PSALM 1
The purpose of Scripture is...
To know the Living Word, Jesus Christ
Alistair Begg said, Jesus is:
- Predicted in the OT
- Revealed in the Gospels
- Preached in the Acts
- Explained in the Epistles
- Expected in Revelation
“Therefore let your own thoughts and feelings go, and think of the Scriptures as the loftiest and noblest of holy things, as the richest of mines,
which can never be worked out, so that you may find the wisdom of God that He lays before you in such foolish and simple guise, in order that He may quench all pride.
Here you will find the swaddling-clothes and the mangers in which Christ lies, and to which the angel points the shepherds.
Simple and little are the swaddling-clothes, but dear is the treasure, Christ, that lies in them.”
We ought to go to Scripture as the Shepherds, and Wise-men, went to see the glorious birth of the One True King. We go to the Word, and we find the finest of treasures.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;
17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
John 5.37-47
John 5:37–47
37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified about me. You people have never heard his voice nor seen his form at any time,38 nor do you have his word residing in you, because you do not believe the one whom he sent. 39 You study the scriptures thoroughly because you think in them you possess eternal life, and it is these same scriptures that testify about me, 40 but you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life.
41 “I do not accept praise from people,42 but I know you, that you do not have the love of God within you. 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me. If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe, if you accept praise from one another and don’t seek the praise that comes from the only God?
45 “Do not suppose that I will accuse you before the Father. The one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope.46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. 47 But if you do not believe what Moses wrote, how will you believe my words?”
All Scripture points to know the Living God, our Savior Jesus Christ. The Scriptures are our guide to find eternal life in Christ Jesus.
John 3:16
16 For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
The Scriptures speak to the very truth of God’s love for His creation and the Sacrifice He offered through His Son Jesus. Why? So, we can be in a right relationship with the Father.
Psalm 1
Psalm 1 is an introduction to the entire Psalter. Most scholars believe this introduction includes Psalm 2. They form an inclusio, a combined truth about Christ and those who belong to Him. And those who do not.
The Greek version of the Old Testament, known as the Septuagint, did not include subscriptions at the beginning of the the first two Psalms. Leading most to find it to be an introduction. While authorship is not 100% certain, most ascribe them to David.
The author of Psalm 1, introduces a familiar concept that echoes in the words of Jesus,
“How blessed is the man…”
This takes us to Matthew 5, and the “Blessed are…” speech
In similar fashion the Beatitudes, as they are so aptly named, show a contrast to those who are blessed and those who are not. The author noted the same in Psalm 1.
Matt. 5:12
12 “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
We see in Psalm 1 no similarity between the wicked and the righteous. There is no blessing for the wicked, only pain and eternal separation from the Father.
The Hebrew and Greek words for blessed can mean happy, however it is more than being happy, there is joy and solace in one who follows the way of Christ and does not follow after the wicked in the world.
Three Points of Blessing
You are blessed if you do not walk in the counsel of the wicked
- You do not listen to the advice (NET) or pseudo-wisdom of the wicked. Your truth, wisdom, and guidance should always be led by God’s Word of Truth.
o This is as it pertains to life, eternal security, love, etc.
o We are not talking about the advice you might need to fix something or directions or how to perform a task, hobby, or sport.
o Advice on morality and love and wisdom come from God alone.
o Do not turn to the world for counsel, for it is full of wickedness and their advice will not lead you to Christ. Anyone who does not know Christ cannot possibly serve you appropriately. Their goals are not to lead you to Christ, they are to lead you to the worlds ways or to look inward to your true-self, what you feel and believe you are; not who Christ says you are.
The internet, bookshelves, and social media are full of telling you who you ought to be or who you ought to be like. There is a Social Media crisis in our culture now and many are falling victim to being like their favorite social media star. Thy follow their trends and ways hoping to be as cool or popular as they are.
- Proverbs 4.10-15
Proverbs 4:10–15 (NASB95)
Hear, my son, and accept my sayings
And the years of your life will be many.
I have directed you in the way of wisdom;
I have led you in upright paths.
When you walk, your steps will not be impeded;
And if you run, you will not stumble.
Take hold of instruction; do not let go.
Guard her, for she is your life.
Do not enter the path of the wicked
And do not proceed in the way of evil men.
Avoid it, do not pass by it;
Turn away from it and pass on.
- Psalm 5.9
Psalm 5:9 (NASB95)
There is nothing reliable in what they say; Their inward part is destruction itself. Their throat is an open grave; They flatter with their tongue.
Three Points of Blessing:
2. You are blessed if you do not stand in the path of sinners
- Are you walking the way of the sinner? Are you on the path of destruction with them?
- The NET Bible notes this to associate with them in sinful behavior. You are on the same path as them.
- Psalm 119.104
Psalm 119:104 (NASB95)
From Your precepts I get understanding;
Therefore I hate every false way.
- Psalm 17.4
Psalm 17:4 (NASB95)
As for the deeds of men, by the word of Your lips
I have kept from the paths of the violent.
- Proverbs 3.5-6
Proverbs 3:5–6 (NASB95)
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.
If you trust in the Lord He will make your path straight.
Three Points of Blessing:
3. You are blessed if you do not sit in the seat of scoffers (mockers)
- Psalm 26:1-7
Psalm 26:1–7 (NASB95)
Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity,
And I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.
Examine me, O Lord, and try me;
Test my mind and my heart.
For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes,
And I have walked in Your truth.
I do not sit with deceitful men,
Nor will I go with pretenders.
I hate the assembly of evildoers,
And I will not sit with the wicked.
I shall wash my hands in innocence,
And I will go about Your altar, O Lord,
That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving
And declare all Your wonders.
David’s words express his innermost desire to serve the Living God. David said he declares all the wonders of God. His desire was to proclaim the only God and His ways.
The scoffers (mockers) reject wisdom and corrections and they love conflict.
- Romans 1.18-31
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing to be wise, they became fools,
23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.
25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural,
27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.
28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,
29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips,
30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,
31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful;
“Yet certainly the three complete phrases show three aspects, indeed three degrees, of departure from God, by portraying conformity to this world at three different levels: accepting its advice,
being party to its ways, and adopting the most fatal of its attitudes—for the scoffers, if not the most scandalous of sinners, are the farthest from repentance.” - Derek Kidner
“He willed not an earthly kingdom, with pride, which is well taken for “the seat of pestilence;” for that there is hardly any one who is free from the love of rule, and craves not human glory. For a “pestilence” is disease widely spread, and involving all or nearly all.
Yet “the seat of pestilence” may be more appropriately understood of hurtful doctrine; “whose word spreadeth as a canker.” The order too of the words must be considered: “went away, stood, sat.”
For he “went away,” when he drew back from God. He “stood,” when he took pleasure in sin. He “sat,” when, confirmed in his pride, he could not go back, unless set free by Him,
who neither “hath gone away in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of pestilence.”
Psalm 1.2 (Read)
The man who is blessed finds delight/joy in the Law of the Lord.
David listened to the old command by God and found joy in it. He knew the Law of Moses.
- Deut. 17.18-20
18 “Now it shall come about when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests.
19 “It shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes,
20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, to the right or the left, so that he and his sons may continue long in his kingdom in the midst of Israel.
God gave this command to Moses, and it was to be followed by all the kings who would lead His people.
This was said to Moses about 400 years prior to Saul as the first king. We know there were many kings who did not obey this command.
- Psalm 119.14-16
14 I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies,
As much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate on Your precepts
And regard Your ways.
16 I shall delight in Your statutes;
I shall not forget Your word.
Joshua was given the Law, written by Moses and he was to study day and night and pass it on. Joshua 1:8
8 “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.
- Psalm 25.4-5
4 Make me know Your ways, O Lord;
Teach me Your paths.
5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
For You I wait all the day.
David’s heart was to follow God’s way and not mans.
The one who delights in God’s Word meditates on it day and night. This is not a once-a-week prescription. True joy and blessing come from daily communing with God and living out His precepts.
It is not enough to show up on Sunday for your fill of Jesus. You must be actively engaged with Him and His Word in your life. You must be actively engaged with other believers to encourage them and be encouraged. You must be serving and loving all so they see the truth of Jesus Christ; there is no greater calling. I have already demonstrated what happens to those who do not. They partake in the actions of the wicked; they begin to follow the paths of unrighteousness. The truly repentant live out their faith daily.
How do you get there? By studying His Law and living it out. No where is Scripture does it say, just read it occasionally and you will get the gist of it. NO, meditate on it day and night.
Augustine said the “day and night” could have 2 meanings
1. Without ceasing
2. By day in joy and By night in tribulations
Psalm 1.3 (Read)
The word picture is clear. The one who delights in God’s Word and follows it precepts is like a tree planted by streams of water, living waters. Only the righteous are planted by the stream.
- Psalm 92.12-15
Psalm 92:12–15
The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree,
He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Planted in the house of the Lord,
They will flourish in the courts of our God.
They will still yield fruit in old age;
They shall be full of sap and very green,
To declare that the Lord is upright;
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
- Jeremiah 17.5-8
Jeremiah 17:5–8 (NASB95)
Thus says the Lord,
“Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind
And makes flesh his strength,
And whose heart turns away from the Lord.
“For he will be like a bush in the desert
And will not see when prosperity comes,
But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness,
A land of salt without inhabitant.
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord
And whose trust is the Lord.
“For he will be like a tree planted by the water,
That extends its roots by a stream
And will not fear when the heat comes;
But its leaves will be green,
And it will not be anxious in a year of drought
Nor cease to yield fruit.
Psalm 65.9
Psalm 65:9 (NASB95)
You visit the earth and cause it to overflow;
You greatly enrich it;
The stream of God is full of water;
You prepare their grain, for thus You prepare the earth.
John 7.37-38
John 7:37–38 (NASB95)
Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.
“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
Those who have called on Christ as their Savior, have received the Spirit and from them flow the living waters of Christ and His truth.
The one who finds joy in God’s Word prospers.
- This is not monetarily.
“So if a person meditates on God’s Word, his actions will be godly, and his God-controlled activities will prosper, that is, come to their divinely directed fulfillment.” - Ross Allen
o Their fruit will be abundant, and prosperous, and they may see the benefits of their fruit.
God is with the one who is blessed. Do not miss out on opportunities to be blessed by God by turning away from His Word and Truth. Follow the path that leads to eternal life.
Psalm 1.4 (Read)
The wicked are not like trees planted by streams of water. They are like chaff.
Chaff – Is the leftover from winnowing grain in the field. It was left to be burnt or blown away in the wind. It was unusable and worthless.
The wicked do not have water to nourish them, they are like dead trees which bear no fruit and which crumble easily.
Job 21.14-18
14 “They say to God, ‘Depart from us!
We do not even desire the knowledge of Your ways.
15 ‘Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him,
And what would we gain if we entreat Him?’
16 “Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand;
The counsel of the wicked is far from me.
17 “How often is the lamp of the wicked put out,
Or does their calamity fall on them?
Does God apportion destruction in His anger?
18 “Are they as straw before the wind,
And like chaff which the storm carries away?
Psalm 1.5 (Read)
There are 2 clauses noted here.
The wicked will not stand in the judgment.
Sinners will not be in the assembly of the righteous.
- This could be a judgement of the time or final judgement as is seen in Revelation.
- While the meaning is debated some, it is clear that those who are wicked cannot stand in judgment, they are thrown out based on their merits of wickedness. If final judgment, to the Lake of Fire.
- Sinners also cannot partake in the assembly of the righteous. Revelation makes a clear distinction in the scrolls which are read in the final judgment. One of those scrolls is the Book of Life, which only those who are righteous are written in it.
Ps. 89.5-7
Psalm 89:5–7 (NASB95)
The heavens will praise Your wonders, O Lord;
Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.
For who in the skies is comparable to the Lord?
Who among the sons of the mighty is like the Lord,
A God greatly feared in the council of the holy ones,
And awesome above all those who are around Him?
Only the Righteous declare His faithfulness and wonders
Ps. 19.1
Psalm 19:1 (NASB95)
The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
The wicked do not praise the God of wonders
Romans 1.32
Romans 1:32 (NASB95)
and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.
They ultimately reject God
Psalm 1.6 (Read)
2 Tim. 2.19
19 Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.”
The Lord knows His sheep, He knows them by name.
- John 10.14
14 “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me,
- Nahum 1.7
Nahum 1:7 (NASB95)
The Lord is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble, And He knows those who take refuge in Him.
- Psalm 37.1-7
Psalm 37:1–7 (NASB95)
Do not fret because of evildoers,
Be not envious toward wrongdoers.
For they will wither quickly like the grass
And fade like the green herb.
Trust in the Lord and do good;
Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
Delight yourself in the Lord;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
He will bring forth your righteousness as the light
And your judgment as the noonday.
Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.
- Psalm 9.5-6
Psalm 9:5–6 (NASB95)
You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked; You have blotted out their name forever and ever. The enemy has come to an end in perpetual ruins, And You have uprooted the cities; The very memory of them has perished.
Psalm 11:6–7 (NASB95)
Upon the wicked He will rain snares; Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup. For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness; The upright will behold His face.
The Lord knows the heart of the each person. The text is clear, there are only two-types of people, the wicked and the righteous. There is no middle-ground.
C.S. Lewis was right in his assessment, people can do good, but it is not good that leads to righteousness, that is only accomplished through the Lamb of God. Scriptures are clear, there is none who are righteous. Your friends, family members, coworkers, teammates, school peers are wicked if they do not have Christ reining in their lives. You are wicked if you do not have Christ reigning in your life. And the end is the same for all who do not believe in Jesus Christ.
- John 3.16
John 3:16 (NET)
For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
Which are you? If you have believed in the Lord Savior Jesus Christ and have asked Him into your heart, forgiving your sins, then you have been made righteous. The seed was planted in good soil.
If you have not asked for forgiveness of your sins and do not call Jesus your Lord and Savior, than you are wicked. It is plain and clear. You may not like it, but that is the truth of the text.
The righteous person's seed has been planted in good soil, where it grows and thrives, nourished by the living waters of God's truth, finding joy in His Word, and faithfully following the teachings of Jesus Christ as a devoted disciple.
Listen to this song by the Sons of Korah on Psalm 1. As you listen, consider where your heart is at with Christ.
Have you taken advice from the wicked? Are you on the Path with Sinners? Or, are you sitting at the right-hand of those who have turned their backs on God and giving hardy approval of the sins they commit?
Or, are you delighting in the Law of the Lord? Do you meditate on it day and night? Do you listen and obey what is written in it?
Play youtube video of Psalm 1 by Sons of Korah.