“The Saint and the Sinner!”
Psalms • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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How happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway with sinners or sit in the company of mockers!
Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night.
He is like a tree planted beside flowing streams that bears its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
The wicked are not like this; instead, they are like chaff that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand up in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to ruin.
Michael Wilcox – “The Psalter is a collection, and anthology, a hymnal, a book of songs. We might even think of it as a photograph album, full of pictures that show us a variety of places in a land of spiritual experience.”
Peter Craigie – “The God who acted for His people should be praised by His people.”
Psalms 1 and 2 have been referred to as orphan psalms because the authors are not given!
Their isolation is fitting because Psalm 1 has to do with the LAW (the instruction of the Lord) and Psalm 2 has to do with PROPHECY (hope)!
On these two great hinges (the Law and the Prophets) all of the OT revelation hangs!
On these hinges all the vast themes of the Psalms are suspended as well!
They have other points in common:
Psalm 1 is emotional—it begins with an overflowing rush of emotion (1:1). Psalm 2 is intellectual—it deals with a moral problem. It begins with the question, “Why?”
Psalm 1 begins with a blessing and ends with a curse; Psalm 2 begins with a curse and ends with a blessing!
Psalm 1 shows the meditation of the godly; Psalm 2 shows the thoughts of the ungodly!
These two Psalms form the introduction to the Hebrew Hymnal and the summarize for us the content of the whole!
Psalm 1 is also classified as one of the wisdom (didactic—‘teaching’) psalms – (cf. Psalm 32; 34; 49)
Proverbs 2:10-15, 20-22)
For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will delight you.
Discretion will watch over you, and understanding will guard you.
It will rescue you from the way of evil— from anyone who says perverse things,
from those who abandon the right paths to walk in ways of darkness,
from those who enjoy doing evil and celebrate perversion,
whose paths are crooked, and whose ways are devious.
So follow the way of the good, and keep to the paths of the righteous.
For the upright will inhabit the land, and those of integrity will remain in it;
but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the treacherous ripped out of it.
Psalm 1 is rather obviously divided into two parts: the Godly person, and the ungodly person.
I. The GODLY PERSON – (1:1-3)
I. The GODLY PERSON – (1:1-3)
A. His PATH – He SEPARATED from the World! – (v.1)
A. His PATH – He SEPARATED from the World! – (v.1)
Modern psychology tells us to emphasize the positive; God begins by emphasizing the negative!
God begins this book NOT with the power of positive thinking, but with a warning about the danger of negative thinking.
In other words, a person who would be “happy” (blessed) begins by avoiding certain things in life—things which makes happiness impossible to find!
The Godly Person does not:
1. LISTEN to the WICKED – “…walk in the advice of the wicked”
1. LISTEN to the WICKED – “…walk in the advice of the wicked”
NOTE: the issue is not in ‘hearing.’ It’s impossible to be in this world and not hear what they are saying, it is in “walking!” When what the world says determines how you think and live, then you are in danger!
(Proverbs 4:14-19) – Notice the verbs in (vv.13-15)
2. LINGER, or “…stand in the pathway with sinners”
2. LINGER, or “…stand in the pathway with sinners”
Again NOTE: you “stand in the pathway.” There is a decision that the advice of the wicked is now the direction of your life. You no longer care what God says because you’ve decided to walk by your own truth!
(1 Corinthians 15:33-34) (2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1)
3. LOUNGE, or “…sit in the company of mockers!”
3. LOUNGE, or “…sit in the company of mockers!”
NOTE the progression: walking, standing, sitting! As the company and the decision to remain with them gets worse, wickedness increases its hold!
Which is why the community you embrace has such a powerful influence on the direction of your life!
(Psalm 26:1-12)
B. His PLEASURE – He is SATISFIED with the WORD OF GOD! – (v.2)
B. His PLEASURE – He is SATISFIED with the WORD OF GOD! – (v.2)
“…the Lord’s instruction” is from the Hebrew ‘betorat Yahweh’ – ‘in TORAH of YAHWEH!
God’s Word has:
1. Captured his/her full AFFECTION – “…his delight” – ‘feeling of extreme pleasure or satisfaction!’
(Psalm 19:7-11)
2. Captured his full ATTENTION – “…he meditates on it day and night.” – ‘to reflect deeply’
(Psalm 119:9-16)
C. His POSITION – He is SITUATED by the WATERS! – (v.3)
C. His POSITION – He is SITUATED by the WATERS! – (v.3)
He experiences:
1. Stability – “He is like a tree…”
1. Stability – “He is like a tree…”
2. Sufficiency – “…planted beside flowing waters”
2. Sufficiency – “…planted beside flowing waters”
3. Productivity – “…that bears its fruit in its season”
3. Productivity – “…that bears its fruit in its season”
4. Reliability – “…and its leaf does not wither.”
4. Reliability – “…and its leaf does not wither.”
5. Prosperity – “…Whatever he does prospers.”
5. Prosperity – “…Whatever he does prospers.”
Craigie – “The state of blessedness or happiness is not a reward; rather it is the result of a particular type of life.”
The tree NATURALLY flourishes with water! There is no additional effort on the part of the tree!
In the same way, with the Word of God, one will NATURALLY PROSPER!
“The kingdom of God is like this,” he said. “A man scatters seed on the ground.
He sleeps and rises night and day; the seed sprouts and grows, although he doesn’t know how.
(1 Corinthians 3:6) – “I planted. Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.”
II. The UNGODLY PERSON – (1:4-6)
II. The UNGODLY PERSON – (1:4-6)
A. Without SUBSTANCE when the WINDS come! – (v.4)
A. Without SUBSTANCE when the WINDS come! – (v.4)
The wicked are ‘lightweights—“chaff,” that “…the wind blows away.”
(Matthew 7:24-27)
B. Without EXCUSE when JUDGMENT comes! – (v.5)
B. Without EXCUSE when JUDGMENT comes! – (v.5)
(Hebrews 10:31) – “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
C. Without HOPE when the KINGDDOM comes! – (v.6)
C. Without HOPE when the KINGDDOM comes! – (v.6)
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
EACH is presented as the natural outcome of a way of life that has been chosen!
In other words, the life you choose—to live by “…the Lord’s instruction,” or to live by “…the advice of the wicked,” will determine the fruit your life!
There are only TWO WAYS: The way of the CROSS, or the way of the CURSE! According to Jesus, one is BROAD, and the other is NARROW!
By NATURE and by PRACTICE our feet are set on the broad way, but by a deliberate choice, we can make a change!
Craigie – “The righteous person is the one whose “fear” (reverence) of God affects his daily living!”
I love William MacDonald’s title of this first Psalm, “The Good Life!”
The book of Psalms opens by dispelling the common illusion that the sinful life is the good life. Daily the world is being brainwashed into thinking that true and lasting satisfaction is found by indulging the lusts of the flesh. Television, radio, movies, and magazines all suggest that permissiveness is the road to fulfillment. The life of purity is dismissed as “puritanical.” But the psalmist sets the record straight.
