Planted by Streams of Water
Notes
Transcript
Scripture
Scripture
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, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. 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. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand 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 destruction.
Pray.
Introduction
Introduction
What do you take with you when you travel?
Bag of stuff....
Jesus has the book of Psalms. Ok maybe not a bound book. But it is the the part of the Bible that he quotes most often… nearly 20 direct quotes recording and some argue for more in the background
look up examples. Psalm 22 from the cross, But many of his responses to the pharisees and to Pilate and teaching to the disciples have the psalms rooted behind it.
Further the book of psalms are riddled with prophetic precursers to Jesus. The New Testament authors go back to the Psalms and they find Jesus there. They see him through the lens of their history and prayers. The promise of victory, the desperation for hope, this is all found here. It is the common interpretation to find Jesus, the hope he fulfilled, or direct prophecy of him in Psalms 2, 8, 16, 22, 40, 45, 68, 69, 97, 102, 110, 118
My hope over the next handful of weeks is that you might put this book in your book bag. That it might be something you learn to carry with you as you travel through life’s journey.
Today we look to Psalm 1 as an introduction to the whole work of Psalms. But first let me introduce us to the whole book:
Psalms: The songbook of the first church
Psalms: The songbook of the first church
The book of Psalms are songs of the soul. They were written to as sung prayers in joy, desperation, in hope, in loss, in triumph. Some of them are sung by an individual person to God, some of them are meant to be sung by a congregation, perhaps in exile.
We have little information about the dates of when they are compiled and put together, probably a little bit of time as different authors contributed to the hymns. But this arrangement was designed to mirror the Torah, it is the sung story of God’s people.
Types of Psalms: according to DA Carson
Hymns
Individual complaints
Individual praise and thanksgiving
Royal psalms, dealing with king language, Zion language
prayers for victory
Torah psalms, teaching
Oracle psalms
Songs that cry out against the wicked
songs of trust
all of life can be found here.
John Calvin: “I have been accustomed to call this book, I think not inappropriately, ‘An anatomy of all the Parts of the Soul’; for there is not an emotion of which any one can be conscious that is not here represented in a mirror."
Eugene Peterson Quote about psalms
Untutored we tend to think that prayer is what good people do when they are doing their best. It is not….It is the means by which we get everything in our lives out in the open before God.
I continue to be “…convinced that only as we develop raw honesty and detailed thoroughness in our praying do we become whole, truly human in Jesus Christ, who also prayed the Psalms”
(Eugene Peterson, The Message, 911).
Repeating lyrics in the songs
Repeating lyrics in the songs
A couple of themes that we need to cover that I think are very important for understanding what is going on in this book. These were vital for me to understand some of the language that we find in this book:
When we read the book we see some harsh language or confusing themes. ..
What do you do with God “hating people?” Or Why is there so much about the wicked? Judgement seems to be on every page. I will share more throughout the series, but for now just a few. I learned this nuance from Dr. Tim Tennent.
Why do the Psalms talk about the wicked so much?
These songs often speak in categories. One of the more obvious and one that is important for Psalm 1-2, is the difference in the righteous and the wicked.
Psalms breaks people into two categories; the righteous and wicked (in proverbs it is the wise and the foolish)
When you come to these two categories, you should not think sinless and sinful, for all of us are sinner. Rather, the righteous are those that are trusting in God and have entered into a covenant with him. The righteous are in relationship with a righteous God who has reached out to us in covenant love and made provision for all those who trust in him.
Do the psalms call us to hate people?
The psalms speak of God loving the righteous and hating the wicked. We have invested so much emotion to these words we miss what is being said here.
Biblical love has little to do with any sentimental feeling that God has about us, rather love and hate in these terms should be understood in covenantal actions. God loves by taking action on behalf of those with whom he has entered into covenant with. God hates, it means he is standing in opposition to the wicked.
Psalm 1
Psalm 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, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. 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. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand 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 destruction.
Here is this comparison that we mentioned. The righteous and the wicked. The one who stands in the righteousness of God, who is in covenant, in relationship with God, showing loyalty to God and
The wicked: the one who is following the wicked, someone else or something else. Or is standing in the way that the broken do.
There is a comparison in the verses in this song. It begins by comparing the activities of the two groups:
The Wicked are ordinary, average people
The Wicked are ordinary, average people
The psalmist describes the wicked and well, they are pretty average. Kinda fit in with everyone else.
Conforms: walks in step with the wicked. It is these people that choose to go the ways that other go.
When our life looks just like the others around us, nothing different. Nothing about how we raise our kids, or spend our money,
The wicked stand in the way that sinners take
they have the same values, ethics, morality
The wicked sit in the company of mockers: You keep company with those that not only are out of relationship with God but those that are scoffers of God. Valuing these relationships over the ones that you have in the family of God....or maybe it is the wicked are simply silent when people go the other way from what is right.
The blessed righteous one:
delights in the law of the Lord.
Boring, right? No!
The dedication of the relationship. The righteous cling to their relationship with God. Whereas the wicked finds affirmation, community, and values everywhere else, the righteous find their identity, community, purpose in the promise of God. The law bound them to God and made them a people. The law helped them to prosper.
So what’s the big deal?
So what’s the big deal?
Well, the comparison continues, this time looking at the outcomes of the two paths....look at verse 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.
3 descriptors of the righteous:
Power
Productivity
Prosperity
Power: strength planted in the source of life. Ephesians 3:17, rooted and established in love.
productive: Matthew 7 and 12... Matthew 12:33 (NIV)
“Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.
3. Prosperity.... fruit of the Vine is good and effective
so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
Mother’s in the room: If you allow yourself to be planted by the stream… you are powerful, productive, and successful.
But...
The wicked, look at verse 4 again.
Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
See this in comparison to the tree....
But the wicked cannot stand. Not only lacking fruit and productivity, but they cannot stand. The ones standing in opposition to God are standing on shifting sand...
Go back to the beginning of the Psalm…when you keep company with only those that scoff at God, when you have ethics equivalent to everyone around you, when life gets hard you will not make it. I see this time and time again from people coming to see me in crisis.
The wicked will not survive the elements
but the righteous will thrive even in the storm.
The two roads
The two roads
Let me close with this...
Know the two ways: It is important for us to know both of these paths and The book of Psalms will make that clear. Why is it important that we know both of them? So we can distinguish between the two. OT writing presents both of these paths because the belief is if you look down each one then you have a choice.
the road that connects the two.
Also we need to know something else about the two paths.
When I was 17-18 my parents allowed me to take the long drive from Bryan/CS to family in Midland. I do not remember why I was making that trip but I remember feeling like a grown up. That was until I got myself considerably lost in the middle of no where. This was before Waze app. I had to get out a real map
turn to young people…glove box and unfold this thing. So I am on these FM roads and driving up and down by this river....no idea where I was. I knew that I needed to get West of this river but the only road I could find was closed for construction with no detour signs. I remember calling my dad…he was like where are you....I DONT KNOW. Well figure it out, you will be fine. Mom…GO ASK FOR HELP. So I went back to where I remember a gas station. And the employee laughed because apparently this is a reoccurring problem. He told me the roads run parallel and then there is one bridge to cross over and you can get back on the highway...
The two paths of the righteous and wicked remain very distinct from each other except for one point in history where they converge....the cross of Jesus Christ. The only righteous one took on all the brokenness and hurt and judgement of the wicked. He remained the righteous one. It is in Him that we are able to go on the narrow path. It is in Him that we are rooted in love, planted by the stream. When I understand that the road of the wicked is leading me…I chose the cross of Christ again and again.