The Way to Righteousness

Psalm 1

The New Revised Standard Version The Two Ways

1 Happy are those

who do not follow the advice of the wicked,

or take the path that sinners tread,

or sit in the seat of scoffers;

2 but their delight is in the law of the LORD,

and on his law they meditate day and night.

3 They are like trees

planted by streams of water,

which yield their fruit in its season,

and their leaves do not wither.

In all that they do, they prosper.

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 watches over the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked will perish.

This is the word of God for the people of God

Thanks be to God.

Have you ever tried to assemble something without the manual? You think, 'I’ve got this!' But half an hour later, you're looking at a jumbled mess.

I made this awful mistake the night before Christmas Eve.

JaLease and I, more so I, decided to purchase a Target check lane toy. The reason we did this is because GiGi loves Target.

When Gianna sees that we’re going to Target, she instantly lights up because she knows that there is a possibility that she will get a Kinder egg.

But on the night before Christmas Eve, I decided that I would assemble this toy check lane.

I open the box and it didn’t seem like there would be many pieces. Naturally I think to myself, this is going to be easy.

I have this power drill and the power drill battery has enough juice. We’re going to knock this out in no time.

Y’all! That’s not what happened at all. I began assembling that toy at 8:00 that night and didn’t finish until 5:00 Christmas Eve morning.

I don’t know if any of you could tell during Christmas Eve worship, but I was struggling.

And all of this could have been avoided if I had simply read the instructions.

That night was one of the most frustrating nights of my life because it was filled with completely taking stuff apart and starting over.

I had to start over about three times before I said, “enough of this!” Once I begin to rely on the instruction manual, I begin to have success assembling the toy.

Here’s the thing, Target put those instructions in the box for me to be successful. They wanted GiGi to enjoy the assembled toy. They gave me the keys to success.

I simply had to follow the instruction manual.

I am sure that we all have had experiences like this. The keys to success were right there in our faces but we chose to ignore them.

Think about for a moment. Think about a time or times when you chose to ignore the instructions or directions.

Were you successful at what it was you were trying to accomplish?

How frustrating was the process?

That’s how our lives can feel when we choose our paths instead of following God's guidance.

Psalm 1 reminds us that when we delight in His ways, we can avoid unnecessary complications and find true fulfillment—much like successfully assembling that furniture when you finally check the instructions!

I. Background of Text

But that’s easier said than done right?

You see we live in a very goal and task-oriented society. Much of the emphasis in today’s society is about:

pulling yourself up by your own boat straps.

Doing things our way.

Living for ourselves

Do what makes you feel good

And not only is that the emphasis in our society but it is how we are wired as humans.

Deep within us, we know that we can’t do things on our own yet since the beginning our existence, we have attempted to do things our own way.

And look at where that has gotten us.

Evil surrounds us

There are hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and floods.

We are susceptible to all manner of disease and illness

Poverty is a concerned

We kill each other over the lack of resources

We don’t love or look out for one another

We lie and try to manipulate each other

This is what our way has gotten us. It has gotten us a broken world in need of God’s redemptive work.

When I think of how we do things our way, I think of the song entitled , “My Way”. This song is especially sung by Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley.

The song expresses one of our highest cultural ideals- the ideal of the self-made man, the self-sufficient woman, the rugged individual.

“My Way” is a tribute to those who strike out on their own to break trail through the wilderness.

Psalm 1 is as antithetical to that ideal as it is possible to get.

This Psalm bears witness to the belief that the road of our own choosing leads only to our own destruction.

This Psalm sees hope in a different path, the path defined by God’s instruction.

Now, some interpreter’s see the message of Psalm 1 as sounding a bit like, “work righteousness.”

But when it is seen that the way of God’s instruction is a gift for those who cannot guide themselves, the we correctly see that Psalm 1 is the opposite of work righteousness.

This psalm offers the free and gracious gift of a better way.

But to follow in this way, it requires that we unlearn some bad habits.

In other words, we have to get out of the habit of leaning on our own understanding.

We have to begin to recognize that we are limited beings and we need God.

We have to relinquish our greedy grasp on what we think of as our own freedom and will.

And when we do these things, we will discover, as did the psalmist, that there is a better way, a way that is truly free.

II. Planted in the Streams of Water

The psalmist in verse three tells us that when we follow God’s way as opposed to our own, we will be like trees planted near a stream.

This imagery that the writer gives us is beautiful. This about the peace that the psalmist is describing here.

There's a humorous saying: 'If you want to see a tree that can withstand storms, look for one planted near a river!' It suggests that life’s challenges may bend us, but our roots in God keep us grounded. Like the righteous tree in Psalm 1, as we delve into His Word, as we focus on our relationship with God and seek to do things his way, we become stronger and more resilient, producing good fruit all around us.

In the ancient world:

the tree was a symbol of divine blessing.

It was a symbol of the temple where God dwelled.

It was a symbol of paradise.

It was a symbol of God’s kingly reign.

And it was a symbol of Israel’s worship of God rather than the idols.

But equally important to the image of the tree is the image of the stream of water.

The righteous person is not just like a tree, but one that has been transplanted next to a stream!

In the metaphorical world of the this psalm, that stream is God’s instruction.

To identify ourselves as the tree is not enough. We must identify ourselves with the tree and the water with God’s instructions.

Like a tree that quietly, invisibly, constantly receives strength and life through its roots, so are we given God’s Word as a steady source of life.

So again, I point us back to the example to which how I began this sermon.

Will you be like I was on that frustrating night before Christmas Eve?

Bumbling and stumbling through your faith journey.

Doing what feels good.

Taking unwise counsel.

Or will we choose to not do this life without the instruction manual.

But the question becomes how does become firmly planted the tree near the stream?

You become like that tree by first wholeheartedly giving every aspect of your life to Christ.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 11:28-30:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Doesn’t that sound freeing to you?

The life of discipleship isn’t supposed to be oppressive, it is supposed to be freeing. T

his does not mean that you won’t experience difficult times.

In fact, I would say you will see your fair share of difficult time because remember we live in a broken world in need of a redemptive God.

You need this redemptive God.

I need this redemptive God.

We need the redemptive God.

All we need to do is cast our burdens on him and seek to be planted like the tree near the stream.

May we choose to rely on God. May we choose the advantage of following God’s instructions.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.