Psalm 1 (Prayer & Praise
Notes
Transcript
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;
Psalm 1 is the entrance gate into the rest of the Psalms…
And in the rest of the Psalms we find everything we need for dealing with life in a godly manner.
Everything!
It’s all there.
From hardship to happiness…
But we won’t be able to draw from that well, until we understand Psalm 1.
So in verses 1 it talks about “the blessed man:”
And the word “Blessed” doesn’t mean EXTERNAL conditional happiness,
Instead, the Psalmist is talking about having a joy that isn’t conditionally based upon our EXTERNAL circumstances,
But upon our internal condition.
It is talking about TRUE happiness that we can have regardless of our situation!
And to experience this true joy,
We have to avoid the wrong influences,
While seeking the right ones.
Because one leads to blessing and true happiness,
while the other leads to misery and destruction.
And so, the blessed man refuses to follow in the footprints of the ungodly.
How?
By avoiding their wordly influence.
Question:
What lies do we believe that result in us seeking ungodly influences?
One famous Christian theologian elegantly put it this way when he said:
“Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you there longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.”
And do you know who that famous Christian theologian was?
Ironically - and sadly…
it was the Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias who’s ministry crashed and burned after it was discovered that he had been living in unrepentant sexual sin for YEARS,
And… he had worked diligently to try to keep it all covered up!
So we have to avoid ungodly influences,
But we do that by seeking another influence.
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.
If we are going to avoid ungodly influence, we have to pursue Godly influences:
We have to meditate on God’s law regularly, so that we can be influenced it by it,
Instead of by the things of our ungodly world.
Which is why Paul writes in :
Colossians 3:2 (ESV)
2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
Similarly, Philippians 4:8 tells us:
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Now, on one hand, we absolutely have to spend regular time meditating upon God’s Word.
But, aside from reading our Bible’s,
what else do we need to do to even WANT to meditate upon God and His law?
What is the primary means of getting us as Christians to pursue those things in the first place?
And the answer is - of course - pursuing Godly influences.
Make no mistake about it,
We ALL are sitting in the counselor’s chair…
It doesn’t matter who you are - you can’t avoid it!
and who you receive counsel from is WHO you end up being like!
And if it’s the ungodly, make no mistake, they are going to influence to become ungodly.
33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”
As Americans, we tend to ignore the seriousness of influence.
We tend to think that we are the the captain of our own ships.
That no one is going to influence us unless we decide to let them influence us.
But do you know what?
The Bible knows better
Because that’s just not true!
And because it’s not true,
the Bible continually warns us that we are largely a product of our social community,
Which is why it urges us to be very cautious and critical of those we allow inside of sphere of influence.
Because influence EFFECTS us greatly!
Practically, the way this works is this:
“You are largely the direct reflection of the top 5 people you spend time with.”
That’s who you are!
And even though we can’t just wake up and suddenly change who we are - not really.
We CAN choose who WE become in the future by choosing who we spend time with today…
A lot of us have just made New Year’s resolutions.
And statistically, most of us will have dropped them well before February 1st.
And so for you,
maybe you want get healthier and drop the weight that’s preventing you from doing the things in life you want to.
Or maybe you’ve never developed a consistent Bible reading program, and you know you need to and want to do it.
Maybe you want to work on controlling your angry and more patient with people.
Or, maybe you want to finally get plugged into your church and serve more.
Whatever it is - if you REALLY want to change it -
you need to take a serious look at the top 5 influences in your life,
Because that list dictates who you will be in the future.
Another thing about this is, we need to ask ourselves:
“Who will I NOT BE in the future if I don’t have the right godly top 5 now?………”
Choose, wisely…
Family members don’t count…
Don’t leave this to whatever comes natural,
Whatever is convenient.
Because if you do,
you’ll not only naturally migrate toward’s people who have your same personality strengths
but they also will likely have your same flaws,
And so if you don’t think carefully about your top 5,
you’ll miss out on being influenced by people who can help re-shape your ungodly characteristics into godly ones.
as Charles Spurgeon rightly put it:
“If you listen to the ungodly long enough, you will be like them soon enough.”
If so we want to be the blessed man of Psalm 1,
we have to intentionally put ourselves in the path of Godly influences.
But that’s not all we must do,
For we must also make God’s Word the foundation of our thinking,
and learn to meditate on it.
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.
When I speak of meditation, what am I talking about?
Well, first off,
I’m not talking about Eastern Meditation.
See, Eastern Meditation, or transcendental meditation tells you to do what?
To STOP thinking.
Or to block rationally out completely and empty your mind of all thought, logic, and reason.
But that’s NOT at all the same thing as Christian meditation.
For Christian meditation is almost the exact opposite.
For Christian meditation is always focused on the SCRIPTURE.
It’s focused on the Word of God - or the Law of God as the Psalmist mentions here in Psalm 1.
But even though it’s focused on the Bible,
it’s not focused on knowing what the Bible says.
Oh no, not at all.
Yes, you have to do that first before you meditate.
But meditation isn’t coming to KNOW the truth of the text,
instead, it’s coming to UNDERSTAND the truth of the text i
n away that changes our mind, our heart, and our DELIGHTS
as the Psalmist mentions in verse 2.
2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
So here is the difference I’m talking about.
When we study the Bible, what are we doing?
it’s largely cognitive:
Alright, so what is prayer?
Prayer is talking to God.
You’re bringing your petitions to Him.
And so in prayer, God is object.
But what is the object of our focus when it comes to meditation?
“The Bible,” you say?
Nope. it’s actually yourself.
See, knowledge about God doesn’t automatically change us,
Instead, knowledge processed trough the spiritual disciplines is what leads to changed character.
For example:
You might believe that God loves you.
And that, on it’s own is belief.
And yet, just believing that doesn’t prevent you from:
being easily discouraged,
being self-conscience,
and being just as unhappy as everyone else who doesn’t actually believe in a God who loves them.
Why?
Because those beliefs - on their own - do not change you!
They do not transform you!
And so until you run them through the right machine - which is the spiritual disciplines machine - you aren’t going to change much - not really.
And so that’s where meditation comes in,
Because meditation is what gets the truths you believe from your head down into your heart!
When Luther meditated, what he would do was he would write down what Bible verse said.:
that’s the Bible study part right
or the KNOWLEDGE part.
But then, Luther would ask 3 questions:
Martin Luther’s Meditation Questions:
What can I praise God for with regard to this truth?
What sins do I need to confess in light of this truth?
What do I need to ask God for in light of this truth?
For example: if the truth is God is:
“God is not just a king, not just a Shepherd, but a Father…”
Luther would not move on prayer.
Not yet - he wasn’t ready to quite yet.
Instead, he would ask himself:
“Why is it so great for me that God is a Father, and not just and Shepherd?”
And then he would come up with 20 reasons why it was wonderful that God is a father and not just a king or shepherd... or something else....
And then he would praise God for it!
Then, he would ask himself: “In what ways am I not actually treating God as if He’s a father?”
“In what ways am I forgetting that He’s a good father in the way in which I live my life?”
And then he would confess those to God.
Then, lastly, he would ask himself:
“What do I need to ask God for because He’s a father to me?”
That’s meditation.
And in it, we need to ask these kind of questions.
Questions like…
“If I really, really believed this truth to the bottom of my being, how would that change the way in which I relate to my friends, my family, my job?”
“If I really believed I was redeemed”
“If I really believed I was loved by God, in what ways would this change my life?”
And as you do that, do you know what happens over time?
You find that it DOES change your life!
Because when you take the knowledge of God Word and drive it deeply into your heart through meditation,
That’s how you come to having a true understanding that changes how you live.
Once we’ve studies the Bible,
Mediated on it’s truths,
Then and only then are we ready to pray.
As we go before the throne of our Father in heaven and:
praise Him,
thank Him,
and boldly bring your petitions before Him!
And we do that, because we’ve truly come to understand that He’s a good Father who loves us and cares for us
Who will by no means cast us out!
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.
In this passage, there is a very clear trajectory of the ungodly:
It shows the process and result of that path.
As verse 1 says: First you’re walking with wicked, ungodly, scoffers,
Then you’re standing with them,
Then, before you know it, you’re sitting with them.
And then, one day very soon, you’re sitting with them on the day of judgment.
But not the Godly
For they will stand acquitted on the day of judgment.
That’s what this imagery is portraying.
It’s portraying a court room,
Where the ungodly sit in condemnation
and the godly stand acquitted.
And so the question is, which one are you?
The godly, or the ungodly?
But notice there is no middle option.
When the day of judgment comes, THERE ARE ONLY TWO paths!
You are either on narrow path or the wide path.
You are either a child of light or a child of darkness.
Your house is either built upon the rock or the sand.
You are a tree that produces either good fruit or bad fruit.
And here, in Psalm 1,
you are either righteous man who is blessed, or the unrighteous man who will be judged.
There is no middle ground here:
For the blessed man is THE righteous man!
But who here is righteous?
None but One.
For there is ONE who perfectly avoided worldly influences:
There is ONE who perfectly delighted in God’s law!
There is ONE who perfectly obeyed God’s law
There is ONE who perfectly prospered in ALL THAT HE DID
by perfectly fulfilling His Divine purpose
and bearing the fruit His heavenly Father planned for Him!
And it only through trusting Him by faith that become the righteous man of Psalm 1.
