Psalm 1-Choosing the Godly Life

Key Elements

In Psalm 1, the Psalmist began this beautifully written book by presenting the two choices everyone has and shows his readers what must be done to choose the Godly life.

Main idea of the message: Every person faces two choices that ultimately shape the direction of their lives, and choosing the Godly life always leads to blessing and purpose.

I want my audience to choose to live a life in pursuit of God experiencing the blessing and purpose that follows.

Intro

I love music, all different kinds, genres, and types. If you looked at my playlist on my Amazon music app, which takes a mix of what you listen to and jumbles it all together, you will find one extreme to the other. Now, I grew up in the 80’s and the 90’s, what I would consider the greatest era of music, but I listen to stuff now that predates that. It really depends on the mood I’m in as to what I’ll listen too. So, when I grew up, cassette tapes were how we listened to music. And I can remember, when one of my favorite bands was going to release their newest album, how excited I was to get with my friends and go to the record store and buy that new release. And then this incredible invention came out called compact discs and we all had to get CD players at our houses or in our cars. And it was the same thing, we would go buy the newest CD a band would release. Now, we just pull it up on whatever music app we have and it’s immediately accessible. Something, interesting that happened in our house a couple of years ago was that we bought a record player for Christmas. So, now we buy albums. It’s amazing how things have come full circle. No matter if it was a cassette or a CD or now with a music app, one of the greatest things I loved was when a band would release their greatest hits. Because there was just something about having all of the songs I loved by that band all in one place.

And today as we begin our new Summer sermon series entitled Anthem, we are going to be walking through some of what would be considered the greatest hits of songs of praise for Israel, God’s people. For it is here in this amazing book that we find some of the deepest, most honest emotional expressions of God’s people to Him. In the book of Psalms, we find the praises of God’s people; we find cries for help; we find frustration; we find the honest, raw outpouring of the heart to God; and we find brokenness resulting from the confession of sin. The Book of Psalms takes us from one extreme to the other when it comes to the emotions felt in a person’s relationship with God because it is here that we find joy at its highest and sorrow and brokenness at its lowest.

One commentary expresses it perfectly when it says, “the Psalter is the songbook of the people of God in their gathered worship. These songs cover a wide range of experiences and emotions, and give God’s people the words to express these emotions and to bring these experiences before God. At the same time, the psalms do not simply express emotions: when sung in faith, they actually shape the emotions of the godly. The emotions are therefore not a problem to be solved but are part of the raw material of now-fallen humanity that can be shaped to good and noble ends. The psalms, as songs, act deeply on the emotions, for the good of God’s people. It is not “natural” to trust God in hardship, and yet the Psalms provide a way of doing just that, and enable the singers to trust better as a result of singing them.” (ESV Study Bible)

This is a book that is deeply necessary for the follower of Jesus because it gives us a framework of how to express our emotions to God and it models for us that in every situation of life, no matter what we are walking through, ultimately, God is worthy to be worshipped and exalted. So, I’m excited for us to walk through the Psalms together this Summer. And to see what God has in store for us and to discover the deep theological truths that are here. Now, we have about 9 weeks total, so we won’t get close to covering all the Psalms, but we have chosen some of the more familiar ones and ones that address a variety of issues and emotions.

Background: The Book of Psalms contains 150 Psalms that cover a variety of emotions and address a variety of topics. They feature some of the best loved verses in scripture; and if you are feeling it or walking through it, there is a Psalm to address it. The name of the book comes from the Greek word psalmos and the Hebrew name for the book is Tehilim which means “praises” because that is the subject of so many of the Psalms. Seventy-three of the Psalms are written by or attributed to David (so almost half) with other authors attributed to the rest. The Psalms are divided into five books with each book ending in a Psalm of praise. And all throughout the book we find different classifications: Psalms of wisdom, Psalms of lament, Psalms calling for judgment, Psalms of thanksgiving, Messianic Psalms, Psalms of confession, and of course Psalms of praise.

And as we walk through this amazing book this summer, our goal will be to touch on a variety of these categories as God uses these incredible songs of Israel to speak to our hearts.

Message

So, this morning we begin with Psalm 1. Open your copy of God’s Word there with me as we begin our journey through this incredible book.

The last few weeks, I’ve been trying to take some time each week to get together everything I’m going to need for our Honduras mission trip that we are going on in the middle of June. So, this month being a really busy month, Kristi and I had one opportunity, which was yesterday, to take some time and really spend the day together and so we spent it in Opelika. And while we were there, I needed to get some more shorts to take on the mission trip. So, we go into Old Navy and I walk over to the shorts section and as I’m looking around I was amazed at the choices for shorts: there’s cargo shorts (dad shorts), chino shorts, gym shorts, shorts that flex, skinny shorts, slim fit shorts, straight shorts, denim shorts, shorts that tie, shorts that zip, shorts that button. I was like “I just need some regular shorts.” When it comes to shorts, there’s a crazy amount of choices. And the amount of choices we have doesn’t just apply to shorts. When we go to the grocery store, it’s amazing the amount of choices there are for different kinds food like bread (it’s crazy how many different kinds of breads there are) or shampoo or salads. We have so many choices when it comes to everything in life from cars to colleges, from degree plans to diets. When it comes to this life and the things of this life, we really have a lot of choices.

But as we look at Psalm 1 today, the truth we see is there really are only two choices in this life. There really are only two options for us that shape and define the rest of our lives. And that is to choose what the Psalmist calls “the way of the righteous” or “the way of the wicked.” It’s the choice that has been laid before every human being since Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. It’s the path that leads to life or the path that leads to ruin. And it’s a significant choice, because it is the choice that sets the tone and the pace for all other choices we will make in life. So, it’s important for all of us to realize that when we come to this important fork in the road of life, when we face this choice between life and death, that we choose the Godly Life.

Look at Psalm 1, it says...

As we look at Psalm 1 today, here’s our main idea: Every person faces two choices that ultimately shapes the direction of their lives, and choosing the Godly life always leads to blessing and purpose.

So the question for us today is how do we do that? How do we choose the Godly life? How do we pursue the life God has created us and called us to pursue? And what benefits do we find in choosing to pursue the Godly Life?

From Psalm 1, we notice three keys to choosing the Godly life:

1. We refuse what the culture is willing to accept. (vs. 1)

Psalm 1 is one of the more well known Psalms. Thought to be written by David, it is the introduction to Book One of Psalms and it is the introduction to the entire book. It’s classified as a wisdom Psalm and it sets the pace and the tone for the entire book. It has been called “the gate through which you must enter to enjoy the blessings of the Book of Psalms” because it is through the truths we find in it that we can walk through every season of life and have the heart posture to properly express the emotions all the other Psalms express. With the truths of Psalm 1 found in our lives, we can lament and mourn and praise and give thanks and find wisdom.

And as we begin to read this Psalm, what we notice is that it is overall about the human search for happiness. Although it may not seem like it initially, that’s what it’s about. Look how it begins in vs. 1… Now, that’s a little bit of a loose translation of that word, because what it really means is “blessed.” And it carries with it the idea of a “blessed destiny. It looks to the future blessings of God in your life based on your current relationship with God. It has the idea of advance to it.” (Alvin Reid) It’s the same sense used by Jesus in the Beatitudes found in Matthew 5 in His “blessed” statements. And here, the Psalmist is really asking the question that we all ask, “What does it mean to be blessed? How do we find the way of the blessed? or Can we be happy?”

It’s the ultimate question of every human heart. “I want to be happy, so how to I get there?”

And the answer is expressed in a way that we would not expect. Instead of telling us what to do to be happy, the Psalmist tells us what not to do. Instead of giving us steps to complete to be happy, he takes the opposite approach. He gives us the opposite of what the culture around us would tell us to do. And as he walks us through this, we notice the downward spiral. He says in vs. 1, “don’t walk, don’t stand, and don’t sit.” Think about the progression here. It begins by just walking with the wicked, it moves to stopping and standing with unbelievers, and ultimately it leads to sitting with the God haters. It is a descending tragedy of life: association to identification to fixation. It goes from the habits of our lives to the people we listen to to the company we keep.

And the Psalmist says if you want to be blessed, if you want to choose the Godly life, the life that doesn’t lead to ruin and destruction, then you have to start by refusing what the culture around you is willing to accept.

So, How is this accomplished?

a. Avoid being shaped by the culture’s counsel. (walk in the advice of the wicked)

What does he say? “How happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked,...” The wicked are mentioned four times in Psalm 1. And the word “walk” is crucial here. It literally means “to go along with.” It indicates trajectory, it’s not where you are currently but it is where you are headed. It’s the direction your life is going. It indicates a life that has a trajectory towards sin. And he says, the reason it is headed this direction is because of the source of the “advice or the counsel” that is feeding into your life. Think about it, it is exactly what the culture would say to us is right. “Be your own person, do what feels good to you, live life with no boundaries or restrictions, get as much stuff for yourself as you can because you are the center of the universe and it’s all about you.”

And the Psalmist says no. That’s not the path to being blessed. That’s not the path to happiness. If you truly want to be blessed, avoid being shaped by the culture’s counsel. Seek out Godly wisdom. Talk to that person who will honestly tell you the truth even though it might sting a little. Because they are more concerned about you becoming who God has created you to be than sparing your feelings.

Avoid being shaped by the culture’s counsel and...

b. Avoid settling into sinful patterns. (stand in the pathway with sinners)

He continues, “How happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway with sinners....” So, again, we’ve gone from “walking to standing.” We’ve gone from moving in a certain direction to actually stopping and taking interest in something. The idea of “standing” here refers to the things we give our attention to, the things that have captured our affection. We’ve gone from advice to the way of doing things in our lives. It’s the point where our habits or routines are formed. And this happens because of the people we are around. “Sinners” here are not talking about people in general, because we are all sinners. This in context of when it was written was speaking of people who were outside of the blessing God had placed on the Jewish people. And in our day and time, it is speaking of those who refuse to repentant and turn to God. Again, it is a habitual lifestyle of sin.

The Psalmist says “if you want to be blessed, choose not to settle into a lifestyle marked by sinful patterns.” No matter how easy it might be or fun it looks or awkward it is to resist. Choose to pursue a life that is set on God and the habits that draw you closer to Him, because as much fun as it might seem at the time, allowing sinful patterns to creep into our lives leads to ruin. Push, strive, strain towards habits in your life that draw you closer to God because that is what leads to life.

Avoid settling into sinful patterns and...

c. Avoid adopting a prideful spirit. (sit in the company of mockers)

“How happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway with sinners or sit in the company of mockers....” At this point we have reached the bottom. We have progressed in our lives from moving in a certain direction to actually stopping and taking interest in something to now abiding in a life that looks no different. To sit in the Jewish culture referred to identity. Where you sat in the Jewish culture showed where you belonged. Men sat with men, the young sat with the young, the old with the old. The Psalmist is saying “at this point you have found your identity among those who mock God.” It is a place we get to in our lives where we are comfortable among the culture around us. And it’s a dangerous place to be and the scary thing is we usually find ourselves there before we even realize it.

And the Psalmist says for us to be truly blessed, to choose the Godly life, there are some things, most things, we are going to have to refuse that the culture around us is accepting and calling normal. Pastor Ross Lester calls Psalm 1, “the rebel’s guide to true joy.” This is the picture of joyful rebellion that we as Christ followers are called to possess. It’s us not going with the flow of the culture but going against the tide. It’s us going the opposite direction than every one else. You see, as Christ followers, God calls us to choose the path of the most resistance and refuse the path of least resistance. And like we said earlier, it’s going to be awkward at times but if we are not feeling a little awkwardness in our lives as followers of Jesus at times, could it be that we might be progressing towards accepting what the culture is accepting? And we are not talking about legalism or judgment, but the result of continuous fellowship with God in our lives. Instead of walking, standing, and sitting with the culture, we abide in Christ, and walk with Him in dependence.

To choose the Godly life, we must refuse what the culture is willing to accept. And...

2. We delight in what the culture is willing to dismiss. (vs. 2-4)

First the Psalmist tells us what to say no to and then he says “there are some things to say yes to.” Not only must we refuse what the culture is willing to accept but we must delight in what the culture is willing to dismiss. To choose the Godly life there are things that must be at the core of our lives as Christ followers that keep us from the trajectory towards ruin we just talked about. And in vs. 2-4, he tells us what that is...

Here we find the plan and the promise for those who choose the Godly life and it’s all grounded in the Word of God. If the Word of God is not central to our lives, if it is not the source and the foundation for our lives, we will eventually find ourselves drifting towards a life that is the opposite of what God desires for us. This is an active, intentional choice to live with God’s Word at the center of our lives.

So, how is this accomplished?

a. Pursue being shaped by the Word of God.

He says, “His delight is in the Lord’s instruction and he meditates on it day and night.” That word “delight” is often used in the OT to refer to a man delighting in the woman he loves. It’s taking joy and finding pleasure in the Word of God. It’s an anticipation we have as we approach the written Word of God for us that God Almighty is going to speak to us and it is being transformed and shaped by the truth we find there. Charles Spurgeon said, “The [instruction] of the Lord’ is the daily bread of the true believer” (Treasury, 2). The wise person gives his unreserved yes to the Word of God.”

The language here is romance language, as strange as that might seem, it’s the language of first dates. And it begs the question of all of us as followers of Jesus, “are you in love with the Word of God?” Are you at a place in your life where you can’t wait to meet with God every day? It’s getting excited about the Word of God and falling in love with it and with God more and more every day.

It’s not quickly reading through a daily devotion or a chapter as sometimes we are guilty of doing. But, as the Psalmist says, it’s “meditating on it day and night.” It’s speaking the Word of God to ourselves over and over again constantly.

All of this points us to the idea of a constant, never ending pursuit of God and that comes, primarily, through His Word.

And the result of this pursuit is that our lives and our hearts are shaped and formed by God’s Word. And we begin to see that shaping show up in our daily lives. We see it in the way we talk, we see it in where our minds go to throughout the day, we see it how we respond to all situations of life. It’s a life where the Word of God is embedded and implanted in us because of our pursuit of God through His Word. You see, choosing the Godly life and walking with God avoiding these things we talked about today begins and continues only as we spend time daily in God’s Word and it begins to form and shape the path of our lives.

So, the question to consider here is “is the Word of God driving your life as a follower of Jesus? “What is your plan for delighting in God’s Word and how will you meditate on it more constantly?” That’s where God’s shaping of our lives by His Word begins, again, it’s intentional pursuit of God and His Word. The culture says spend more time on what makes you more popular or what makes you famous or promotes you. Spend more time on social media and be shaped by what’s going on in the world. God says let me shape you through the truth of My Word.

We pursue being shaped by the Word of God and...

b. Pursue being strengthened by the Word of God.

Look at vs. 3...

This is the ultimate picture of strength. It’s a tree rooted in the strength of what is nourishing it. This image would have been striking to the readers of this Psalm. The image of a tree in the dry desert of the Middle East bearing fruit and green by a canal of water would have caught their attention. This is the picture of the Godly life. This is the result of choosing the Godly life, a life that is centered on the Word of God. Choosing the Godly life causes us to pursue being shaped by the Word of God and being strengthened by the Word of God. A life that is rooted and a life that bears fruit for God in this world.

You see, God is not asking us to choose this kind of life to make us miserable, He’s calling us to choose this kind of life because it is the best way to live. It’s the path to joy and blessing, it leads to strength so the storms of life can’t wash us away, so we are able to stand on God’s Word in the midst of temptation, so we are able to be stable during trials, so our lives produce evidence of God’s grace and mercy in our lives so that others are drawn to His goodness and faithfulness they see in our lives. And the source of all of that is the Word of God. What’s the alternative? It’s being blown away by the storms of life like those who choose the other path.

So, are you seeing this strength in your life as a follower of Jesus? I’m not talking about a problem free life. I’m talking about strength that only comes from God in the midst of whatever life brings. And if you’re not, it might be time for us to evaluate our pursuit of God and His Word. Because that is where we find the only strength that will last.

So, we delight in what the culture is willing to dismiss, which is primarily God’s Word. And...

3. We follow in the footsteps of Jesus. (vs. 6)

Now, maybe today you’ve heard all of this and you’re thinking how? How is choosing this kind of life and living this way possible? I don’t feel strong enough to do it. And you would be correct. None of us in our own strength have what it takes to choose to live the Godly life. But choosing to live the Godly life is possible because there is one man who made the choice. There is one man who perfectly pulled it off and His name is Jesus. Ultimately, Psalm 1 points us to Jesus. He is the one who didn’t walk in the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway with sinners or sit in the company of mockers. But He walked that road for us and endured the cross as the perfect sacrifice for our sin. And because He walked that path and made that choice, it is now possible for you and I to do the same. But it is only possible as we...

a. Live resting in His righteousness. (it is His righteousness not ours)

vs. 6 says.… You see choosing the Godly life is not possible in our righteousness but it is only possible because of His righteousness. We have no righteousness on our own but through the shed blood of Jesus, His righteousness is placed over our lives. And because of that and that alone, we are able to live the life God has called us to live. We rest not in our righteousness but we live resting and depending on His.

And we...

b. Live rooted in His example. (it is possible because of Him)

As Jesus Christ walked the road that leads to life, He set the perfect example for us and calls us to follow Him down that same path. And we find the strength to do that as we look to the example set before us by the perfect sinless Son of God. The strength for you and I to choose to live the Godly life is found in the example of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Closing

So, what path in life are you traveling? Have you chosen the Godly life? Are you on the path that leads to life or the one that leads to ruin? Maybe today, you realize that you need to choose to live the Godly life by surrendering your heart and life to Jesus for the very first time asking Him to be your Savior and Lord. If that is the decision you need to make, today is the day to call out to Jesus and change the trajectory of your life.

Maybe you have chosen to live the Godly life but you see yourself slipping towards the way of the culture and today you know God is calling you back to Him. Or today, as a Christ follower, you need to fall in love with God’s Word and ask God to renew your love for Him and His Word.