Jesus in the Psalms Part 3

Intro:

Title: The Blessed Righteous Man: A Portrait of Jesus and an Invitation to Us

Introduction:

VBS Question: How would you describe Jesus?

Today, we’re looking at Psalm 1:1-6, a passage that beautifully contrasts two ways of life: the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked.

Father’s we have a choice, but your choice greatly influences your family

Father’s Day is the lowest attended church service in America. Lower than Labor Day, 4th of July or any other holiday

Mother’s Day is the 3rd highest behind Easter and Christmas Eve

Studies show that when the child is the first person in the household to become a Christian, there is a 3.5% everyone else will follow

Mothers - 17% chance

Father’s 93% chance

And the Psalm we will talk about today, and all of Scripture will tell us, we have to choose.

The way of the wicked or the way of righteous, there is no between

And Father’s I don’t say this to discourage you but to encourage you, your choice has grave influences on the rest of your family

Let’s read Psalm 1:1-6

Psalm 1:1–6 NIV

1 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, 2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. 3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers. 4 Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. 6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

I. Psalm 1: A Picture of the Blessed Righteous Man (vv. 1-3)

Psalm 1 begins with a powerful word: “Blessed.” This word in Hebrew speaks of deep, abiding joy that comes from being in God’s favor.

Who is this blessed man? Verse 1 says he:

“walks not in the counsel of the wicked,”

“nor stands in the way of sinners,”

“nor sits in the seat of scoffers.”

Know when to say no - wisdom is just as much about knowing when to say no as it is about knowing when to say yes

not anti cultural but counter cultural

Instead, he delights in God’s Word and meditates on it day and night.

The result: a full life.

Psalm 1:3 NIV

3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.

Application:

Do you see how this describes a life of righteousness?

But let’s go deeper: Who has truly lived like this?

III. The Contrast: The Righteous and the Wicked (vv. 4-6)

Verses 4-6 paint a stark contrast:

A fork in the road. 2 ways. one or the other

The righteous are like a tree planted by streams of water.

Psalm 1:4–6 NIV

4 Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. 6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

The wicked are like chaff blown away by the wind.

In the end, the Lord knows the way of the righteous—but the wicked will perish.

Psalm 1:6 is a powerful reminder:

“For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”

Who can measure up?

Who has never walked in step with the wicked?

Who has never stood in the way that sinners take?

Who has never sit in the company of mockers?

Who delights in the law of Lord and meditates on it day and night?

Who is the blessed one of Psalm 1?

Jesus: The Ultimate Blessed and Righteous Man

When we see this psalm through the lens of Jesus as the righteous man, we see that:

The righteous man is not just any man—it is the Son of Man, Jesus Christ.

The ultimate division at the final judgment hinges on what we do with Him.

It’s not just about a general principle for anyone, but about a specific person.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth calls Psalm 1 “the ultimate psalm about Jesus.” Jesus is the only One who never walked in the counsel of the wicked. He never stood in the path of sinners. He never sat in the seat of scoffers. And he delighted perfectly in the law of the Lord.

Scripture confirms this:

John 8:29: “I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”

John 4:34: “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.”

Matthew 5:17: “I have not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets but to fulfill them.”

Jesus is the perfectly blessed man, the righteous one of Psalm 1.

IV. Where Do We Fit In?

If Psalm 1 is ultimately about Jesus, what does that mean for us? Psalm 2:12 tells us:

“Blessed are all who take refuge in him.”

These word refuge is the Hebrew word ha-sah. It means a place or state of safety. It’s like being stranded in a desert with the sun burning down on you and in the middle of the desert finding a tree that you can huddle under to find shade from the heat of the sun

Jesus is the blessed righteous one of Psalm 1 but He also calls us to this same righteousness and when we find our refuge in Him and in Him alone He becomes our shade in the burning sun

Let’s be real here for a second: Sometimes the world tries to burn us up. Maybe it’s bad news, maybe it’s the loss of a loved one, maybe it’s a diagnosis, maybe it’s losing a job, or losing everything from a storm.

When the world beats down on you, and it will, you will naturally turn to something for refuge. When the sun gets too hot you look for shade. And what the Word of God tells us is that everything else will wither away! Nothing can stand the heat!

Except for the righteous One of Psalm 1. And so the promise isn’t: trust in Jesus and the heat of the world will go away. It’s trust in Jesus and when the heat turns up you’ll have a refuge that won’t wither from it

We are not the perfectly righteous ones. We all fall short (Romans 3:10-12). But when we trust in Jesus, we find our righteousness in him:

2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV

21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

When you put your faith in Jesus, you are grafted into the blessedness of the righteous man of Psalm 1.

You are no longer chaff—no longer destined for destruction.

And no longer thrown around by the world without purpose and identity

You are planted by streams of living water in Jesus himself.

V. Letting Jesus’s Habits Rub Off on Us

Let’s be honest—growing up, we were often told: “Don’t let your friends’ bad habits rub off on you!” It’s true that we can imitate the people we’re closest to.

Psalm 1 shows us the habits of Jesus:

He delighted in the Word of God.

He meditated on it constantly.

He refused the counsel of the wicked.

He did not follow the wicked or stand in sin

If we’re living with Jesus every day, then his habits will rub off on us.

We’ll start to delight in the Word, too.

We’ll start to meditate on it day and night.

We’ll learn to stand apart from the ungodly influences of this world.

The sin in our life will become disgusting to us

The ways of the wicked will become less attractive

VI. Challenge: “What Would Jesus Do?”

If Jesus is the blessed righteous man, and if we belong to him, we should long to live as the righteous man

And when we do this we are fulfilling our God given purpose

Romans 8:29 tells us God’s purpose for us:

“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.”

That’s our calling:

To become more and more like Jesus.

To let his perfect righteousness and good habits become our habits.

Father’s we have a choice: be the righteous man or the wicked.

There is no in between

We cannot live straddling the line

Deuteronomy 6:6–9 NIV

These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

VII. Conclusion and Application

So, let’s go back to our big idea: Jesus is the ultimate man of righteousness.

And here’s what I want to encourage us to do:

👉 Read through Psalm 1 again, but this time read it as a portrait of Jesus. 👉 As you read, ask yourself:

“Which of Jesus’s habits described here do I need to let rub off on me this week?”

“Where am I tempted to walk in the counsel of the wicked?”

“How can I delight more in God’s Word, like Jesus did?”

So that I can experience the fulness of life and be planted by streams of water producing great fruit

Let’s pray together: