September 1, 2024

Sermon Title: The Habit of Daily Devotions

Community Scripture Reading

Psalm 1 ESV

1 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; 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 that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. 4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

The Habit of Daily Devotions

Introduction:

• Opening Question: “

What’s the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?

Check your phone

Look at your to do list

Eat breakfast

• Transition: Just like our bodies need food daily, our souls need spiritual nourishment every day. Today, we’re going to explore the importance of cultivating a habit of daily devotions—spending time with God in prayer and in His Word.

1. The Importance of Delight in God’s Word (Psalm 1:1-3)

Psalm 1:1–3 ESV

1 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; 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 that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

OK let's take a little bit of a deeper look at this passage. The very first words of this chapter talk about blessing. Blessed is the man. This is really a theme that runs throughout this whole book.

What do you think it looks like to be blessed?

Money?

Health?

Good relationships?

Family?

Achieving something that matters to you?

The idea of blessing or blessed is a concept that runs throughout the entire book of psalms it is a combination of all these things it is a full cup if you will think about filling a cup full of your favorite drink maybe coffee or a chocolate milk or a drink of coke or for some crazy people maybe it's tea but that's hard to imagine and you fill it up and it's all the way full that cup is before there's there's no more that you can add to it it's full it might even be overflowing because you put so much of your favorite drink in that. That's what the Hebrews thought when they thought of this word blessed they thought of a life that was filled up.

When the writer of psalms thought about someone who has blessed it someone who has delivered from trouble someone who is wealthy and has successful children the psalmist wanted people who read the psalms to experience these joys. But in order to experience these joys the psalms argues throughout through different chapters that Yahweh must be your God that you must trust him and delight in obeying God's teachings.new paragraph In fact remember what Jesus taught in his sermon on the mount he used the word blessed are

Matthew 5:1–12 ESV

1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

So many times as Christians we spend so much time guarding ourselves against the love of money that we sell short what God wants us to experience in terms of blessedness. Yes the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil period but living a truly blessed life means more than being just intellectually and spiritually blessed it means a rich and full life. It means a life where god gives you the wisdom to navigate work and family and money and relationships and citizenship and voting and you navigate those things successfully you are blessed your cup is full. Do you want a life that is full of goodness of good things that you sit down in your lazy boy at the end of the night and say I am full?

Then continue reading because the psalmist wants us to get what it looks like to be blessed.

Psalm 1:1 ESV

1 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;

So a blessed man is someone who doesn't walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners. What does this mean?

If you don't walk in the counsel of the wicked that means you don't follow the advice of wicked people. What does it mean to not stand in the way of sinners that means you are walking the way they walk. If you want to have a full and rich life don't take the advice of people living sinful lifestyles if you want to have a full and rich life don't walk the walk that they're walking.

That means don’t take relationship advice from someone who consistently makes bad choices in the rest of their lives.

That means slow down and think when you consider advice you read online. Consider the source. Is the person you are taking advice from a wise person?

The Slippery Slope of Sin

Step 1: Take the advice of sinful people

Step 2: Start to make bad choices based on that advice

Step 3: Sit down as a sinful person yourself.

The psalmist paints a picture of moral decline. A picture of how you can go from walking the blessed life you can go from living a full and rich life to living a life that's not full that's not rich. It starts with taking the advice of sinful people it continues with starting to walk in the way that they walk living the life they live and it continues and concludes with becoming the wrong kind of person you are sitting in the seat of scoffers you start off by taking their advice you continue by starting to act like a sinful person and the result is you end up sitting in their midst so you look indistinguishable from sinful people that are not living the blessed life that God wants.

The good news from the new Testament is that God doesn’t abandon you there if you’ve found yourself living in the seat of sinners.

Romans 12:2 ESV

2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

The Psalmist describes what the blessed man or woman does do.

Psalm 1:2 ESV

2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

What does it look like to delight in something? To take joy in something? You look forward to getting your new tool out and using it. You anticipate trying out a new recipe. You can't wait to try on that set of clothing. You can't wait to go on the annual trip that you go on with friends. You can't wait to get home from work where you can just relax. There are many things in our lives that we delight in right? We anticipate doing we make time for joyfully. We put the work in to make it happen like vacations or getting home. The blessed man or woman is some one that delights in God's word.

Now of course the word here is he delights in the law of God. But in this sense this is the whole of the Old Testament for the psalmist all of God's words that have been revealed are what a blessed man delights in. For us a blessed man is someone who enjoys God's word who takes joy in reading studying listening to God's word.

So what does it look like to meditate on God's word? What does it look like to meditate on his teaching. It's interesting the word for meditate in this verse is actually used in other places for a reference to the low sound that comes from a dove cooing like cool cool or a quiet growling of a lion it's a reading quietly aloud of God's word.

When we speak God's word aloud we're able to think about it more clearly. The things you say you're able to process because you have to think about saying them right? So if you want to really understand something anything you read it aloud. You read it several times so you can really understand what's being said.

I don't know if you have ever experienced this but for me there have been many times when I am laying in bed and I start to worry about something. And to counteract what I'm worrying about I start to recite something like psalms chapter 23 talking about the Lord being my shepherd and watching over me. And I found there's a big difference between me just running over those verses in my head because I've memorized some of them and me saying them aloud because when I run them over in my head they get distracted and taken down by other thoughts I'm having right but when they say those verses aloud quietly even I actually spend time thinking about them. Meditating on god's word means saying it aloud means saying it aloud during the day and saying it aloud during the evening.

Remember how God challenged his poeple:

Deuteronomy 6:4–9 ESV

4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

If you want to be a blessed man or woman or a kid spend time saying and speaking God's word aloud. Because you delight in God's word. Because you want to be blessed. And this is not like you rubbing a genies lamp so you can win a blessing or a wish answered so you can be really wealthy right because that can be selfish. We all saw how Aladdin used some of his wishes selfishly right. But it's OK to want to experience the blessing that God talks about in his word because it talks about our life filled up with God's smiling on that life. And that's what God wants for us. It doesn't mean our lives will be free from pain and problems but if you want to experience more of the blessings of God and less of the problems and pains caused by sin than we need to be people that delight in and meditate on God's word.

Psalm 1:3 ESV

3 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.

Trees are amazing things aren't they. They provide shade and strength they stabilize the ground underneath them with their root systems. They are old. many trees that you see were around when your grandchildren grandparents were children. And many trees also produce fruit that we can eat and use. They're they're they're useful. And what's more trees can be used as construction material the the the biggest construction material we use in the United states is what. And of course the paper in your hymnals and books and the pews you're sitting on it's all wood. Trees have continuously symbolized strength and endurance.

But not all trees are strong and enduring right? Some trees get sick because of invasive species. Other trees like our tree in our backyard got hit first by termites and then by a derecho. Trees in Israel that the psalmist would have seen there were many scraggly small trees in the desert because a tree in the desert can't grow that big or that strong. If its roots are in sand and it doesn't get regular rainfall it's not going to grow and last.

On the other hand a tree that's planted beside a canal will last period it will always be productive. Its leaf won't wither and it will deliver the fruit that you expect out of it. I think each one of us has the capacity to be more like a productive healthy living tree and we can do that by delighting in and meditating on God's word.

• Application: Encourage the congregation to find joy and delight in God’s Word by setting aside time each day to read and meditate on Scripture. This could start with a small portion each morning, reflecting on its meaning and how it applies to their life.

2. Meditation Leads to Transformation (Joshua 1:8)

Joshua 1:8 ESV

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 good success.

• Illustration: Just like a sponge soaks up water, we should soak up God’s Word until it saturates our minds and hearts, transforming our thoughts and actions.

• Application: Challenge the congregation to think of meditation not just as reading but as deeply thinking about Scripture, memorizing it, and letting it shape their decisions and actions throughout the day.

3. The Power of Private Prayer (Matthew 6:6)

Matthew 6:6 ESV

6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

• Illustration: Jesus often went to a solitary place to pray. It’s like a superhero who needs to recharge their powers; private prayer recharges our spiritual strength and aligns us with God’s will.

• Application: Encourage a practice of daily prayer, suggesting a set time and place to develop consistency. This practice will deepen their relationship with God and provide guidance and strength for daily challenges.

The Plant and Sunlight

• Object: A small plant.

• Demonstration: Show the congregation a healthy plant and explain that just as this plant needs daily sunlight and water to grow, our souls need daily exposure to God’s Word and prayer. Without them, we wither spiritually.

• Engaging the Children: Invite children to water the plant as you talk, making the lesson interactive and memorable for them.

Practical Tips for Daily Devotions:

1. Set a Specific Time and Place

Encourage the congregation to establish a routine—perhaps early morning or late at night—when they can consistently spend time with God without distractions.

2. Start Small

For those new to daily devotions, start with 5-10 minutes a day and gradually increase as the habit develops.

3. Use a Devotional Guide or Bible Reading Plan

Provide resources or recommend apps that can help guide their daily reading and prayer.

Challenge

• Challenge: Encourage everyone to commit to spending at least 10 minutes each day in devotions this week.

• Call to Action: Ask them to reflect on their spiritual “vital signs” and make a plan to integrate daily devotions into their lives, starting today.

Conclusion:

• Reiterate Key Points: Summarize the importance of delighting in God’s Word, meditating on it, and committing to private prayer.

• Closing Prayer: Pray for God’s help in developing the habit of daily devotions and ask for a deeper hunger and thirst for His presence and Word.

Closing Community Prayer

Matthew 6:9–13 ESV

9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.