Psalm 1

Psalm 1 :: There is LIFE in God’s Word

READ | PRAY (2 min)

Psalm 1 (ESV)

Blessed is the man

who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

but his delight is in the law of the Lord,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree

planted by streams of water

that yields its fruit in its season,

and its leaf does not wither.

In all that he does, he prospers.

The wicked are not so,

but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;

for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked will perish.

INTRO (5 min)

Friends, do you feel like rules and fun are synonymous? Or do they sound and feel like the antithesis of each other to you?

When I think about having a great time, like, really, really enjoying something, my first and probably not even last thought, is definitely not about the rules involved.

And yet, when I’m doing or watching or talking about something I really love and enjoy, it really bothers me when someone breaks the rules… Whether its cheating or being dishonest, or just not respecting the design and order of something dear to us, when the rules aren’t followed it’s a reminder that boundaries and rules, in some shape or form, are needed, and even necessary in order for us to really truly enjoy lots of aspects of life.

That’s what’s being addressed here for us in Psalm 1. It’s a roadmap for the entire book of Psalms, and really all of the christian life, telling us that rules are good for us, and that there’s lots of life to be found and loved and enjoyed inside the boundaries and rules that God has given us.

And, just to clarify: when we come across this phrase in our Bibles, The Law of the LORD, we can understand it to mean the entire Bible. When this Psalm was written the vast majority of God’s revealed Word to us was in fact the Torah, or Law, which was the first 5 books of the Bible. But one of the things we see in Psalm 1 is the continued language from the book of Proverbs, and then throughout the Psalms we see other books of the Old Testament quoted.

The word used here means instruction or teaching, so it’s good and right and helpful for us to understand that this encapsulates all of God’s written revelation of himself to us, including laws and commands, including wisdom and poetry, including history and epistles, etc. All of God’s Word reveals himself to us, and it is all essential and sufficient for salvation and life and godliness as His people.

So whenever you see or hear “The Law of the LORD”, even from me today, it means the WHOLE Bible, not just the first 5 books.

The rules and limits aren’t meant to just squash our fun, they’re designed to help us be safe and secure and thrive in our lives trusting and following Jesus.

I once heard an illustration about this that has really helped me in this area:

Kids playing soccer illustration.

If you get a bunch of kids together on a soccer field to play, but you just put them out there and give them a ball and don’t explain any of the boundaries or rules, you’ll just have chaos. Some kids are going to try to kick the ball, others will try to pick it up and run with it or throw it. Do they even know what the metal frames with nets on them at the ends of the field are for? You’ll probably have some kids staring at the clouds or just waving at their mom. And you will definitely have at least one kid that just wants to play in the mud.

Each of them might be having fun in their own way, but it’s chaotic and hazardous when everyone just does whatever they want.

But if you take the time to teach them the rules and show them the boundaries, suddenly they can focus and learn and grow towards understanding and really enjoying the game of soccer as it was designed to be.

The better we understand something that we enjoy, and the more fluent we get in that something… the more we truly enjoy it to its fullest potential. We delight in it.

And it’s that way for loads of stuff that we all enjoy, right? Whether its a sport, or knitting, or mechanics, or art, or video games, you name it.

We fully, safely, rightly, truly delight most in something when the boundaries and rules are understood and respected.

And we face the most danger, consequences, disappointment, and sometimes punishment when we break the boundaries and rules, right?

And though we might get a sort of rush from pushing the limits and bending or breaking the rules, the threat of danger is what is making us feel and desire that over the delight that we can find by respecting those limits and rules. We are sinful and rebellious to our very cores, people, and we constantly push the boundaries and try to find small and big ways that we can get away with breaking the rules.

But friends, God has something better designed for us than our own sinful desires and rebellion. He has provided for us a life full of joy and thriving and fruit bearing as we submit to and follow Him as our ruler and king and truly know him for who he is.

So if you find yourself here this morning not understanding how God wants you to live your life, you’ll be well met by this Psalm.

If you find yourself here this morning knowing that you’re struggling to live a life that is fighting the sin and rebellion in your heart and life, giving in to your selfish and rebellious desires, this Psalm will speak to you, too.

And if you find yourself frustrated and discouraged that the world around you seems to constantly be getting away with breaking the rules and doing whatever they want, and yet you’re convinced you must follow God’s rules, then friend this Psalm will challenge and encourage you today as well.

What we see in Psalm 1 this morning is that there is LIFE in God’s Word, in His instruction for our lives.

Beyond that, we are also called here to find our delight in God’s Word.

His Word includes rules, but it also includes insight into the character and promises of God, and his incredible plan of redemption.

There’s so much in it to learn and study and understand, and as we do that, we’ll come to find that our main idea is true and lasting:

Our main idea today is this: In order to thrive in the christian life, we must delight in God’s Word.

We’ll see this in three points:

Delighting in God’s Word (vv. 1-2)

Thriving and Bearing Fruit (vv. 3-4)

The Judgment of God (vv. 5-6)

So let’s jump in…

1. Delighting in God’s Word (vv. 1-2) (7 min)

What does it mean to delight in God’s Word?

Does it mean that we’re only concerned with keeping the rules or that we become legalistic and overbearing, that we become pharisaical? No.

Does it mean that we’re only concerned with the parts that we like or are comfortable with in the Bible? No.

Check out the start of the Psalm again with me…

Psalm 1:1–2 “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord”

One of the things that Psalm 1 does really well, and does over and over, is helping us to understand, to see the picture, by using contrasts.

Right? Blessed is the man who does what? NOT this, NOT that, and NOT this either.

It really is a quick and impactful way to help us start to get the picture of how God wants us to live.

But what do these contrasts actually get at?

Blessed is the man who doesn’t walk in the counsel of the wicked. Do you your counsel from the world and unbelievers? Or from God’s Word and his people?

Blessed is the man who doesn’t stand in the way of, or go along with, sinners. Do you allow unrepentant sin in your life, or excuse the sin of those around you?

Blessed is the man who doesn’t sit in the seat of scoffers. Do you fellowship with, spend your quality time, keep close community with those who scoff at and ridicule God?

But we can’t miss the warning here either, church. This is serious stuff. To walk in the counsel of the wicked and stand in the way of sinners and sit with scoffers comes with a curse. Our Psalm today will get to this later, but there’s another passage in Jeremiah 17 that mirrors ours here that’s really helpful in filling out the whole picture. Jeremiah 17:5-6 says:

Jeremiah 17:5–6 (ESV)

Thus says the Lord:

“Cursed is the man who trusts in man

and makes flesh his strength,

whose heart turns away from the Lord.

He is like a shrub in the desert,

and shall not see any good come.

He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,

in an uninhabited salt land.

God’s not pulling any punches here, church. Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord.

If you took some time to consider these things or ask yourself some tough questions, would you say that you are trusting in yourself or others instead of trusting in God?

Are you making your boast and your confidence what you can do and accomplish?

Do you think that maybe your heart is turning or has turned away from the LORD?

Would you say that you are getting your counsel from the world more than from God and His Word?

Are you walking in the way of sinners and finding your fellowship outside of believers and the church?

Friend, if the answer to any of those questions is yes, or even ‘maybe’, the Lord is calling you to something better. He wants you to be blessed and happy. He’s calling you to run away from and put away these things and to draw close to Him.

Don’t do these things, He says, and you will be blessed by God.

But if you’re not doing all those things, what do we do instead? Great question. The start of verse 2 tells us that rather than all these things, the blessed one’s delight is in the Law of the Lord.

But it doesn’t stop there. Check out the rest verse 2:

Psalm 1:2 “but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.”

We’ll get into the application more in our next point, but right here is a super-simple challenge and encouragement to us.

Meditate on God’s Law day and night. Again, this represents all of God’s Word to us, the whole Bible. So it’s not saying that you need to just meditate on Leviticus all the time. No, this is instruction for us to meditate on God’s living and active words to us, which includes everything in this book.

Sometimes that means meditating on something like Psalm 62 where we need to be encouraged and reminded that God is a fortress for us and we can find our confidence and protection in Him.

Sometimes that means meditating on a passage like John 21 where Jesus forgives Peter and calls him to love and feed his people.

Sometimes it means meditating on rules for life like the Ten Commandments and thinking about how we can apply and keep them more faithfully in our lives.

Meditating on God’s Word day and night is simply intentionally thinking about God’s Words to you, and letting them dwell in your heart and mind, effecting change in your heart and mind and life. And the more we meditate on God’s Word, the more familiar we’ll become with it, the more we’ll understand it, and the more we’ll begin to enjoy and delight in it, just like those kids being taught the rules of soccer and starting to learn and grow and excel within the boundaries and rules, the instructions of the game.

As we meditate on God’s Word, there needs to be an active listening and obeying and submitting. Just like we listen and obey and submit to a coach or referee or expert who knows all the rules and limits and design, just like that, we need to listen and obey and submit to the One who has created us, and the whole world, and given us his instructions to follow to enjoy it all and know and love and glorify Him!

In order to thrive in the christian life, we must delight in God’s Word.

Listening to, obeying, and submitting to God’s Word may sound like more of a chore or duty, but hopefully you’re seeing that God has intentionally tied it to this word delight, for good reason. God’s Word is not just rules for life, but where there is LIFE to be found.

Which brings us to our second point:

2. Thriving and Bearing Fruit (vv. 3-4) (12 min)

As we get into verses 3 and 4 here, what we see is a picture that should encourage us. It’s a picture that offers hope, even comfort. And it’s a picture that we should strive for.

Read verse 3 with me. Psalm 1:3

Psalm 1:3 (ESV)

He is like a tree

planted by streams of water

that yields its fruit in its season,

and its leaf does not wither.

In all that he does, he prospers.

This blessed person that we’ve been talking about, the one who delights in God’s Word and meditates on it day and night, God says is like a tree planted by streams of water.

This tree bears its fruit in its season, and out of season it’s leaves don’t wither, which is incredible.

How does this tree manage this? How do we as the blessed one this Psalm is portraying and describing, how do we be like this tree?

To start, I want to take us back to that passage in Jeremiah 17. Read verses 7-8 with me: Jeremiah 17:7-8

Jeremiah 17:7–8 (ESV)

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,

whose trust is the Lord.

He is like a tree planted by water,

that sends out its roots by the stream,

and does not fear when heat comes,

for its leaves remain green,

and is not anxious in the year of drought,

for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

I love this picture that these two passages paint for us. I found a couple pictures of actual tree roots planted by streams I want to show you.

Aren’t those incredible? Look at those roots! Both Psalm 1 and Jeremiah 17 talk about the blessed one who delights in God’s Word being like a tree planted by water. Jeremiah says that it sends out it’s roots by the stream. Which is what the tree needs to do in order to live and grow and thrive and bear fruit.

So, believer, as we consider what it looks like for us to be the blessed one this Psalm is describing, what it means for us to delight in God’s Word, I’ve got to ask the question: are you sending your roots out into the streams of water that God has positioned you close to?

This begins to get into the application and practicals for us today. If, like our main point today proclaims, we must delight in God’s Word in order to thrive in the christian life, then how exactly do we do that? How does one send out their metaphorical roots into the streams of water around them? How do we begin to grow and thrive? How do we being to delight?

Well, it starts with being well aware, truly understanding, that you, follower of Jesus, have been planted, positioned, by streams of Living Water.

What do I mean? Well, in John 4 Jesus tells us about living water: John 4:7-14

John 4:7–14 ESV

A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

You see? Friends Jesus is the Living Water that you and I have been planted by that Psalm 1 is talking about! And DELIGHTING in God’s Word means that we are trying to get as much of that living water as possible.

The samaritan woman’s response is how we should all respond and how we should be thinking about the Living Water that Jesus offers to us ALL. THE. TIME.

It says in John 4:15 “The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.””

We need to recognize where we’ve been planted, and we need to ask for more water, and send our roots down into the stream of Living Water.

We need to soak up as much as we possibly can, friends. THAT is how we begin to thrive in the christian life. The more we do, the more we know and love and understand our God. The more we soak up His Word to us, the more we begin love it and live it, the more we obey it and trust Him, and the more we delight in it and find life and joy and hope and confidence and freedom.

How do we send out roots into this Living Water?

Read God’s Word. Read it every day. Could be 5 minutes, could be for an hour. We must be desperate for it.

Meditate on God’s Word. Take a verse or phrase or passage that you read or listen to in the morning and think about it actively throughout your day.

Memorize God’s Word. Store God’s Word in your head and heart, like we heard from Christian this morning. We NEED it in our daily lives.

Study God’s Word. Lots of stuff in this book requires time and intentionality to truly understand and connect with the rest of it. Set aside a weekly time to slowly study through a book of the Bible at a time.

Sing God’s Word. Listen to, sing along with, maybe write, Scripture-based, Gospel-centered songs. Not all that stuff that makes you feel like a better person, but music that reminds you of who God is, what he has done, and the lengths our King and Savior went to to prove it.

I would LOVE to talk to any of you more about any of these if you have questions about how or when or how much to do it. Find me later or text/call/email/FaceTime me this week.

Each of these are significant roots that we can send out to ground ourselves, to strengthen our foundation, and to drink up the Living Water of Jesus by the gallon.

Friend, do you feel spiritually dry this morning? Send out a root to the Living Water of Jesus.

Do you feel battered and beaten by the storms of life? Send out a root to the Living Water of Jesus.

Do you feel alone and like you might just collapse at a moment’s notice? Send out a root to the Living Water of Jesus.

Don’t wait another minute. Right now, take a second to say “Lord, I need you so much. Help me today to send my roots into the Living Water that you’ve planted me near.”

Maybe you’re not feeling weary or dry or battered. What does this passage have for you? A TON.

Verse 3 talks about this blessed one bearing fruit in their season and having leaves that don’t wither.

As we grow in our delighting in God’s Word, as we soak up more and more of the Living Water of Jesus, we will begin to bear fruit and grow leaves that don’t wither.

Two quick things for us here, church:

Bearing fruit isn’t for you. And, Leaves have an incredible impact.

Think about it with me: Does a tree eat it’s own fruit? Nope.

Is it beneficial for everything around them? Absolutely.

You, as a beautiful, blessed tree of God, will impact an innumerable amount of lives with the fruit that you bear as you drink more and more Living Water.

You will help others be drawn closer to the stream of Living Water.

You will slowly turn the Living Water of Jesus into fruit that is seen and tasted and enjoyed by others in your life. Not for you, but for those around you. Not for drawing attention to yourself, but to showcase the power of the Living Water coursing through you.

Bearing fruit takes time and patience. It takes a lot of energy and dedication. You will spend significant energy to bless and nourish people around you. But every ounce of it is worth it. Because the seeds of that fruit will spread, and new trees will be planted, and they will have a strong, Godly example of what it looks like to be planted by and send roots out into the Living Water of Jesus.

But what about when you’re not bearing fruit?

2. Leaves have an incredible impact

Even when you may not feel like you’re bearing much or any fruit, and maybe you’re in a season where you’re not. This Psalm encourages us that if we are drawing from the Living Water of Jesus, continuing to send roots down into that water and delighting in His Word and instruction to us, then that Living Water is growing and maintaining leaves that do not wither for us.

Do you know what leaves do?

They absorb sunlight and rainfall and help with the health and growth of the tree, yes.

But they do more.

They provide shade and shelter, cover from storms and harsh weather. Leaves actually help a tree to have a remarkable impact on the ground and environment around them. Again, not just for themselves.

Believer, even if it might feel like you’re not as fruitful as you once were, or like there’s no fruit at all, it doesn’t mean that God’s not still active in and through you! Now should we ask tough questions and diagnose whether or not we’re continuing to send roots down into Living Water? Absolutely! Should we ensure that we are delighting in and meditating on God’s Word? YES. But if those things are true, and we are asking for God’s help, then a change in fruitfulness is not just ok, it can be expected. What’s the Psalm say in verse 3? The blessed one bears fruit in it’s season.

Seasons change, and that’s ok! Because through the Living Water of Jesus you will have leaves that never wither, and those leaves will continue to provide shade and cover and shelter for you and those around you until the next fruit-bearing season comes, or until you die, or until Jesus comes back.

Growth in the christian life is long-term, friends. And thriving in it looks different at different time. Sometimes it’s just green leaves and slow and steady growth, other times it’s a season of just a little fruit, and other times you might be bearing more fruit than you know what to do with. This is what verse 4 is talking about when it says “in all he does he prospers.” The blessed one who delights in God’s Word will thrive in and out of season, bearing fruit and having green leaves. But all of it is thriving if we are sending out roots to the Living Water of Jesus, and seeking to be faithful to delight in God’s Word.

Your faithfulness matters and it will impact your growth and thriving, but it is ALL enabled and promoted by the Living Water of Jesus.

That fruitfulness and faithfulness is what sets us apart from the rest of the world, those this Psalm refers to as the wicked.

Which brings us to our final point this morning…

3. The Judgment of God (vv. 5-6) (7 min)

This whole Psalm is a contrast between the blessed one of God who delights in God’s Word, and the wicked.

We’ve seen the pictures of the blessed one, so lets take a look at what it has to say about the wicked:

In verse 1 we see that the wicked are sinners and scoffers, who are not blessed but cursed.

In verse 4 we see that the wicked are not like the tree at all, but rather are like chaff (dry and useless, worthless shells and stalks) blown away by the wind.

And then in verses 5-6 we this… Psalm 1:5-6

Psalm 1:5–6 (ESV)

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;

for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked will perish.

There will be no place for the wicked after God’s final judgment.

They will not be in the congregation of the righteous.

They will perish. Like the chaff of verse 4 the wicked will be discarded.

Friends, this point was very hard to write for me. I’m sure it’s hard for some or many of you to listen to.

We all have friends or family or coworkers or loved ones who fit into this category of the wicked. They are those who do not know and believe that Jesus is their Savior and King, those who live in rebellion against him. There’s probably some in the room here this morning that know you fall into this category, or may be concerned that you do.

Maybe you hear these things and you feel like your life is proving to be chaff: worthless and unfruitful.

Maybe you read verse 1 and you’re convicted that your life is full of wickedness and sin and scoffing at God.

Friend, if that’s you, then please hear clearly that Jesus has paid the penalty of your rebellion against God by dying on the cross in your place. He conquered sin and death for you, rising from the dead, and he is alive now in heaven offering you Living Water that will satisfy your tired, weary soul. All you have to do is ask him to save you from your sins, and he will. And then as you immediately begin to send roots down into that Living Water of Jesus and His Word to you, you will begin to grow and mature and thrive as you learn to delight in him. If that’s you this morning, please come grab me or Jason or Nathan after the service, and we would love to talk with you about this.

But if it’s not you, and yet your heart is burdened for those around you, pray for them. And then look for ways to bear fruit and provide shade and cover for the lost in your life. Jump on opportunities to share with people that the fruit and leaves in your life are only made possible by the Living Water of Jesus, and that you would love to share more about him.

In John 7:38, Jesus says “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ””

Christian, if you believe in Jesus, then his Living Water will flow into and through you to the people around you. Talk about him HIGHLY and OFTEN, and watch what happens.

Church, through these contrasts, Psalm 1 is presenting us with the choice that we all have before us:

Live for and submit to God and enjoy his blessing forever, or rebel against God and endure the curse and consequences forever. Which one will you choose?

If you have put your faith in Jesus and want to live your life completely for him, knowing and loving and submitting to his rule and instruction for your life, then praise the Lord for his kindness and mercy towards you!

CLOSE ( 3 min)

That’s what this Psalm should do for the believer, it should help us to rejoice in who God is and what He alone has done!

It should stir us to recount our salvation, God’s saving, transforming grace and mercy, and all of this must compel us to submit our lives to God’s instruction for us, growing in our understanding of, and true delight IN His Word.

Believer, as you read this Psalm it should make you feel a profound sense of gratefulness and joy to the One who has saved you from the curse He promised to those who continue to rebel against him. He has saved you and changed you, and now you’re called to delight in Him and His Word.

This Psalm must stir us to LOVE and DELIGHT in Jesus more, church! It proclaims Jesus to us in SO many ways:

Verse 1: Jesus showed us what it looks like to be in the world and be around sin and sinful people without getting our wisdom and counsel from them or becoming like them, but still loving them and having compassion and sharing truth and hope. How? Why?

Verse 2: Because he is the Law of the Lord, God’s very Word to us, and He obeyed and trusted his Father more than anyone or anything else.

Verse 3: Jesus IS both the tree and the Living Water. Providing fruit and shade and shelter and life for all who draw near to him.

Verse 6: Jesus KNOWS you and your life and whether or not you belong to him. There is no fooling him and there will be a final judgment on whether you believe in and submit to him as Savior and King, but he will never abandon you if you are his, and he knows intimately what you’re going through.

Believer…

Jesus IS the Word of God to you, in whom we must delight in order to live and thrive.

Jesus IS that stream of Living Water for you, send out your roots to grow and mature and thrive in Him.

Jesus IS the reason that you can THRIVE in the christian life even when it’s scorching or there is no fruit.

Jesus IS the hope that we have to remain faithful into eternity, because HE provides what we need.

Amen? Amen.

Let’s PRAY