The Soul's Song - Sermons from the Psalms

Singing of the Blessed Life!

1 Blessed is the man

who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked

or stand in the way of sinners

or sit in the seat of mockers.

2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water,

which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither.

Whatever he does 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 will perish.

I. INTRODUCTION TO THE SOUL’S SONG SERIES:

WORSHIP AT ITS BEST IS A HEART AND SOUL OUTPOURING OF PRAISE TO GOD!

None of us do this perfectly! Even though we have been at it for an awfully long time. We get muddled up and confused, never sure whether our words and ehart gives enought or does it right!

Max Lucado says, “We still struggle for the right words in prayer. We still fumble over Scripture. We don’t know when to kneel. We don’t know when we stand. We don’t know how to pray. Worship is a daunting task. For that reason, God gave us the Psalms—a praisebook for God’s people…This collection of hymns and petitions are strung together by one thread—a heart hungry for God. Some are defiant. Others are reverent. Some are to be sung. Others are to be prayed. Some are intensely personal. Others are written as if the whole world would use them. Some were penned in caves, others in temples. But all have one purpose—to give us the words to say when we stand before God. Here is a hint. Don’t just read the prayers of these saints, pray them. Experience their energy. Imitate their honesty. Enjoy their creativity. Let these souls lead you in worship. And let’s remember. The language of worship is not polished, perfect, or advanced. It’s just honest.”(The Psalms - Max Lucado).

“GOD GAVE US THE PSALMS - “A PRAISEBOOK FOR GOD’S PEOPLE!”

He gave us them principally through, David who is called in 2 Samuel 23:1 'Israel's singer of songs'(NIV) or 'the sweet psalmist of Israel'(KJV). However, that God inspired them is confirmed in 2 Samuel 23:2 'The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me; His word was on my tongue'.

The Psalms are poetic praise and worship songs, but they are not always upbeat ones! Some are prayers, many are laments (see (Ps 44,74,79,80,83) but this also tells us soemthing about worship -it’s not always a joyful song of thanksgiving; it can also take place when we are at rock bottom, when everything is out of control and we are losing grip, even there the soul turns its heart to God - “out of the depths I have cried to you, O God!”(Psalm 130:1).

The Psalms recount the personal experiences of men and women of faith and provides guidance and advice for daily living, using the poetic form to help them stick in the mind - the Psalmist is for example fond of the acrostic, the Aleph, Beth, Gamel or ABC of the life of faith as an effective medium of communication. This is why they include all aspects of faith - praising God for His goodness and kindness to us(c/f Ps 95-101;103-107), thanking Him for the great things He has done for us (see Psalm 25;70;74;89;106) but also complaining to God when things go wrong or confessing sins when we go wrong(so Psalm 137; Psalm 51)!

This collection of Psalms, covering some 900 years or more, which was put together finally after the exile, sometime after 536BC, covering 5 divisions: Book I - Psalms 1-41. Book II - Psalms 42-72. Book III - Psalms 73-89. Book IV - Psalm 90-106. Book V - Psalms 107-150 and containing a Psalm of Moses 'the man of God'(Psalm 90) which must have been written in the fifteenth century BC as well as Psalm 126 and Psalm 137, reminding us of the Exile in Babylon where the faithful lamented as they sat 'by the rivers of babylon…and wept when we remembered Zion'(Psalm 137:1).

“The Psalms are among the oldest poems in the world, and they still rank with any poetry in any culture, ancient or modern, from anywhere in the world. They are full of power and passion, horrendous misery and unrestrained jubilation, tender sensitivity and powerful hope. Anyone at all whose heart is open to new dimensions of human experience, anyone who loves good writing, anyone who wants a window into the bright lights and dark corners of the human soul—anyone open to the beautiful expression of a larger vision of reality should react to these poems like someone who hasn’t had a good meal for a week or two. It’s all here. And astonishingly, it doesn’t get lost in translation.”(N. T Wright).

THE SOUL:

Wright talked about “the dark corners of the soul” but what do we mean by soul?

The Hebrew word for soul is נֶ֫פֶשׁ, nephesh and the Greek equivalent is, ψυχή, psychē. Both refer to the life or being, of a creature which has its ultimate existence in God! - “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being (נֶ֫פֶשׁ)” (Gen 2:7 NIV)

In this sense at least animals as well as people possess נֶ֫פֶשׁ (see Gen 1:20-24) this is because the root of נֶ֫פֶשׁ, according to E. Jacob, means “to breathe” in a physical sense—a decisive mark of the living creature (Jacob, “Psyche,” 1343). And this is why the נֶ֫פֶשׁ is closely related to the Hebrew idea of רוּחַ, ruach - meaning spirit or breath!

In the New Testament, the term ψυχή (psychē) is often translated as “life” (Mark 10:45; Acts 20:24; Rev 12:11) but a distinction is noted in certain passages between body and soul in Matt 10:28; Rom 8:10; 2 Cor 5:8; 12:3). Likewise the נֶ֫פֶשׁ is a broad word, The Hebrew term has been considered to have over 750 uses, which can be sorted into 10 categories, intended to communicate ideas of desire (Psa 25:1; Psa 42:2); the essence of personal or individual being (Gen 12:5; Lev 2:1); the conscious self (Lev 11:44–45) and the emotional state (Gen 26:35; Job 21:4; Eccl 7:9).

and in this sense, our series - THE SOUL’S SONG - is concerned with the way the Psalmist juxtaposes soul and body: “My soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land” (Psa 63:1 NIV; compare Psa 84:2). This recognition of something that comes from deep within you, the core of you - Psalm 84:2 “My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.”

Worship, when it comes from within; when it comes from the heart; when it’s not just about words, is an outlet for the soul!

Think of a really good friend who knows you well. How would that person describe you? I would suggest that its pretty likely this will intimate that you are “as good as gold” or “kind-hearted!”

A good friend knows your heart; the real you, “warts and all”. They see beyond the superficial and know you to the core of your being!

And that is why the Psalmist descibes the heart as the wellspring of worship and so it must be examined carefully to see whether it is truly expressing the worship of your soul - “Search me O God and know my heart”(Psa 51) - because as Max Lucado says: “The heart is the centre of spiritual life. If the fruit of a tree is bad, you don’t try to fix the fruit; you treat the roots. And if a person’s actions are evil, it’s not enough to change habits; you have to go deeper. You have to go to the heart of the problem, which is the problem of the heart. That is why the state of the heart is so critical. What is the state of yours?… The state of your heart dictates whether you harbour a grudge or give grace, seek self-pity or seek Christ, drink human misery or taste God’s mercy. No wonder, then, the wise man begs, “Above all else, guard your heart.” David’s prayer should be ours: “Create in me a pure heart, O God.” And Jesus’ statement rings true: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Note the order of this beatitude: first purify the heart, then you will see God. Clean the refinery, and the result will be a pure product.” (From The Applause of Heaven by Max Lucado)

“First purify the heart, then you will see God!” - Do it even now, saying with me and the Psalmist: “Create in me, a clean heart O God and renew a right Spirit in me”, based on the promise that “the blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purifies us from all sin”!(1 John 1:9)!

II. A SONG OF THE BLESSED LIFE!

Psalm 1 has often been referred to as the “Preface Psalm” because it “introduces us to the way in which we may find happiness and fulfillment in life...by meditation on and delight in the law of God.’ but also, ‘warns us of sure, eventual, and eternal ruin if we do not.” (James Montgomery Boice).

Tremper Longman III, once time associate professor of Old Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary, wrote, “Psalm 1 deliberately [draws] two portraits in our minds: the portrait of the wicked man and the portrait of the wise man. The question then is posed: Which are we? As we enter the sanctuary of the psalms to worship and petition the Lord, whose side are we on?”

That’s a GREAT QUESTION! - “whose side are we on?” Psalm 1 will ask us the same kinds of questions that repeat - How can a we know we are a righteous person? How can we keep ourselves pure? What kind of qualities will following God’s way produce in my life? Why is it important for us to guard our hearts? How can we evaluate the condition of our hearts?

Those intent on truly worshipping God want the answers to such questions - this is the themne of their soul’s song!

THE WAY TO LIFE!

Psalm 1 introduces us to the doctrine of the two ways, which is a very common concept and was brilliantly described in Robert Frost’s poem entitled: “The Road Not Taken.”

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

This idea of paths diverging in a wood is also found in Dante Alighieri, the Italian poet of the Middle Ages, whose Divine Comedy begins:

Midway this way of life we’re bound upon,

I woke to find myself in a dark wood,

Where the right road was wholly lost and gone.

The point is that we all at different times in lfie are confronted with significant choices that will lead us in a positve or negative direction, in which we make a decision or choose a lifestyle that has far reaching consequences into the future and it proves to be a decision to produces profound thankkfulness or deep regret when “the right road was wholly lost and gone.”

The language of Scripture is choose wisely; choose cautiously; choose with a view to the wisdom of the past, to proven ways of safety and happiness because, “there is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death”(Proverbs 14:12).

However, the GOOD NEWS is that as far as Scripture is concered, “the right road” is not “wholly lost and gone” it is to be found in Jesus, “the Way, the Trust and the Life”!(John 14:6).

And Jesus taught about what we should do by way of application in the Sermon on the Mount, where He speaks of choices that have to be made when there are two gates and two roads; two trees and their two types of fruit; two houses and two foundations. Wise amd good choices need to be made - use your head; don’t build on sand or your entire life will come crashing down around you!

So when coming to the crossroads of your life and deciding between the two roads open before you follow Jesus’ advice to, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matt. 7:13–14).

And in the context of Psalm 1 this means, choosing wisely between the road that the rightous person takes as opposed to the wicked! Why? because the righteous life leads to the a blessed and happy life with God but “the way of the wicked shall perish!”

2. CHOOSE YOUR WAY!

The structure of Psalm 1 employs parralels to contrast the two ways that people live their lives, which mark out the difference between those who are in love with sin and those who love God.

To summarise the Psalmist’s teaching here he asserts very bluntly that those who follow the road of the blessed life love God and seek him in Scripture, whereas the ungodly are the reverse of the righteous, both in character and condition - “The ungodly are not so!” - they are led by the counsel of the wicked, led in the way of sinners, to sit down in the seat of the scornful. They have no delight in the law of God; they bring forth no fruit for His glory!

THE BIG IDEA here is that you live ultimately to please God or you live ultimately to please self and this plays out in the way you "walk” “stand” and “sit”

In others words, its about what you do and whom you seek company with on a daily basis, that influences you for better or worse!

What you choose to do, and who you choose to be with everyday reveals where your heart is and whom it is with!

It is hard to believe that the phrases are not saying that the way of the wicked is downhill and that sinners always go from bad to worse. As Spurgeon said, “When men are living in sin they go from bad to worse. At first they merely walk in the counsel of the careless and ungodly, who forget God—the evil is rather practical than habitual—but after that, they become habituated to evil, and they stand in the way of open sinners who willfully violate God’s commandments; and if let alone, they go one step further, and become themselves pestilent teachers and tempters of others, and thus they sit in the seat of the scornful. They have taken their degree in vice, and as true Doctors of Damnation they are installed.”

This interpretation is built into the psalm. The psalm does not merely describe the lifestyle of the wicked; it shows the fruit of that way of life and its end for here the Psalmist uses two images to show the CONSEQUENCES of CHOOSING BETWEEN these two ways.

The first is a fruitful tree. It describes the man who delights in the law of God, spending time in meditation upon it and drawing his spiritual nourishment from it. He is like a tree that draws its nourishment from an abundantly flowing stream. The land nearby might be quite dry and barren and the winds that blow on that tree might be hot, but because the tree is planted by streams of water, it can sink its roots down and draw all the nourishment, so that it will prosper and yield fruit. This is the fate of the godly man.

The second illustration the psalmist uses is of chaff, to which he compares the wicked. The picture here is of a threshing floor at the time of the grain harvest. The threshing floors of Palestine at that time were high up on hills that catch the best breezes. Grain is brought to them, is crushed by animals or by threshing instruments that are drawn over it, then is pitched high into the air where the wind blows the chaff away. The heavier grain falls back to the threshing floor and is collected. The chaff is scattered or burned. This is the fate of the wicked man! The “way of sinners” may seem wonderfully care-free, liberating and exciting but the psalmist warns that it leads to emptiness and frustration here, as well as judgment in the life to come. They are of no worth in God's account, how highly soever they may value themselves. They are easily driven to and fro by every wind of temptation.

Verse 6 is a fitting end to the psalm and a proper thematic statement from which to proceed on into the Psalter. It distinguishes between the final end of the righteous and the final end of the wicked, saying, “For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”

3. LET YOUR SOUL SING!

”Blessed” means supremely happy or fulfilled and you can be supremely happy in this life as you “delight is in the law of the LORD” on which “he meditates day and night” (v. 2).

John R. W. Stott adds wisely that this delight “is an indication of the new birth, for ‘… the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so’ (Rom. 8:7). As a result of the inward, regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, however, the godly find that they love the law of God simply because it conveys to them the will of their God. They do not rebel against its exacting demands; their whole being approves and endorses it.… Delighting in it, the godly will meditate in it, or pore over it, constantly, day and night.”

SO LET US LEARN TO DELIGHT BY PRACTICING MEDITATION:

Meditation or Mindfulness is BIG BUISNESS in the Mental Health world and it has been advertised and even monetised to help provide therapy for those who need mental space or help in negotianting their way aroudn this busy and noisy world:

“If you feel that we live in a purely physical universe, you will view meditation as a good way to obtain a consistent alpha brain wave pattern. But if you believe that we live in a universe created by the infinite, personal God who delights in our communion with Him, you will see meditation as communication between the Lover and the one beloved.” — Richard Foster

To meditate on God's word, is to exercise the mind in contemplation of God’s word.

It is sometimes refered to as Lectio Divina, sacred reading - slowly, thoughtfully allowing the words of Scripture to permeate your heart and mind! “Meditation is like the shining of the sun, it operates upon the affections, it warms the heart and makes it more holy. Meditation fetches life in a truth.” — Thomas Watson

We may liken it to a cow chewing the cud in order to extract the maximum goodness from it. So to meditate on God’s word is to effectively chew over the content of that word in order to extract its goodness. This will lead us into pastures of healthy growth in our Christian lives.

“How can we turn our knowledge about God into knowledge of God? The rule for doing this is simple but demanding. It is that we turn each Truth that we learn about God into matter for meditation before God, leading to prayer and praise to God.” — J.I. Packer

Perhaps we have negelcted serious meditation on God’s word.

Perhaps we have become overly familiar with its content, a particular sin of those experienced in the Christian life. — Thomas Watson, the Puritan preacher once said, “The reason we come away so cold from reading the word is because we do not warm ourselves at the fire of meditation.”

Deitrich Bonhoeffer was asked why he meditated and replied, “Why do I meditate? Because I am a Christian. Therefore, every day in which I do not penetrate more deeply into the knowledge of God’s Word in Holy Scripture is a lost day for me. I can only move forward with certainty upon the firm ground of the Word of God.”

Let us renew again today our commitment before God to take seriously His word and to benefit to the full, from its life-giving and life-sustaining content! “They usually thrive best who meditate most.”(Thomas Brooks).

Pray for the help of the Holy Spirit to enlighten the pages of Scripture in your mind and for His enabling to apply them to the heart and the will.

Pray that God will help you both to evaluate your own condition before Him and then also to moved with compassion for the condition of the wicked before Him, that you may become an instrument in his hand for turning the sinner from his way!

“Meditation is getting your heart by sort of the scruff of the neck and looking at it and saying, “How should you be if you’re that forgiven? How should you live if you’re that loved? How should you behave if you’ve been bought at such an incredible price? Look, soul. Think, soul. Think it out, soul.” — Timothy Keller