Walking With God # 2: The Path to Life, Psalm 1

INTRO: Some of you know that Becky & I recently celebrated our 27th anniversary. Since we moved here last summer, we have wanted to explore west Texas. So, for our anniversary, we decided to visit Palo Duro Canyon- we saw the Texas musical, hiked the Lighthouse trail, & ate a lot of yummy food. We stayed in a little cabin just down the road from the entrance to the state park.

If you’ve ever been there, then you know there is only one way into the canyon.In fact, when you leave the town of Canyon, and head east toward Palo Duro Canyon, there is just one road, there is just one way in. The direction you’re going determines your destination.

That description is a good analogy for our text today. Psalm 1, Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. 4The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. 5Therefore the ungodly shall 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 ungodly shall perish.

Psalms are poetic texts & have a similar structure to poems. A strophe is a section within a poem (like a paragraph) that forms a unit within a psalm, connected thematically or structurally. In the case of Psalm 1, you’ll notice that every set of two verses contains a “but” statement (vs. 2, 4, 6), drawing a sharp contrast between two ways of living: 1) the way of the righteous, & 2) the way of the ungodly.

Your Bible may have an editorial heading that distinguishes between these two ways of living,e.g., mine says The Way of the Righteous and the End of the Ungodly. Vs. 6 says God knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly perishes.

How do you know which way you are on? I want to suggest 3 ways you can check to see which path you are on.

1. We need to check our DIRECTION. Vss. 1-2

I think we conceive of these 2 ways to be 2 separate paths, but I think they are not. In the same way that there is only way that goes into Palo Duro Canyon, that one way goes two directions. I think we imagine ourselves to be on a neutral path & that, at some point in our life, we come to a fork in a road & on one side is the path of life & on the other is the path of death, & we must choose. But I don’t think that’s the way the path works.

We are all already on the path to death because we are all born sinners. Rom 3:23, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Rom 6:23, For the wages of sin is death… Eph 2:1says we are all dead in trespasses and sins & are walking according to the course of this world… Jesus said in Matt 7:13 broad is the way that leads to destruction & there are many who go in by it, but there is a narrow way & few who find it.

ILL: We are born on the broad way, that is the direction we are walking, & we are not alone- ungodly, sinners, scornful (mockers), they are our companions on the way. As we walk this way, we meet somebody walking towards us- it’s Jesus. We meet Him on the way, & He changes the course of our life. By faith and repentance, we turn in the path & begin going His way. He changes our direction & with it, our destination. One way leads to destruction, the other to eternal life.

The psalmist is telling us that the one walking with Jesus is blessed. Blessedis the same word Jesus would have used in the beatitudes. Those who Jesus says are blessed- poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, peacemakers, those persecuted for righteousness’ sake.

When we walk with Jesus, we are no longer listening to the counsel of the ungodly, but to God’s Son; no longer standing in the path of sinners but standing with the Savior; no longer sitting in the seat of the scornful, but our place is with the saved.

Instead of associating with the wicked, the person walking with God delights in His Word. Delight- joy, a feeling of extreme pleasure or satisfaction. Where is your delight? Do you find it in the world, or do you find it in the Word? To answer that question, ask yourself another question- what am I thinking about the most?

Meditate- to murmur.It has the sense of reflecting deeply on a subject, pondering over something. What do you reflect on or ponder over? What is on your mind? E.g., I realized this week that I had too much Facebook on my mind, so I deleted the app. For you it might be news, entertainment, etc. But whatever our association is, it is a predicter of our direction. We are either moving towards Jesus (discipleship is), walking with Jesus, or going the other way. Our association with God’s Word predicts the direction of our life, i.e.,the path that we are on, so we need to check our direction.

2. We need to check our PRODUCTION. Vss. 3-4

Did you know that Bible engagement is the #1 keystone habit of a Christ-following disciple? The Center for Bible Engagement (CBE) surveyed more than 100,000 people, over a span of 8 years, from around the world about their spiritual lives. They found that consistently engaging with the Bible four or more days a week (The Power of 4) has a profound impact on an individual’s life. For Christ-followers, regularly hearing from God through His Word is the single most powerful predictor of spiritual growth. Listen to these stats:

1) Proactive Faith- 218 to 416% increase in sharing faith, charitable contributions, discipling others, memorizing scripture

2) Fewer Struggles- 14 to 60% reduction in destructive or unkind thinking; feelings of spiritual stagnation, loneliness, bitterness, needing to hide, or like you don’t measure up; difficulty in forgiving, discouragement, fear, or anxiety

3) Reduced Risky Behaviors, 20 to 62% decrease in overeating, extramarital sex, pornography use, family neglect, lying, lashing out in anger, excessive drinking, gossiping, overspending or mishandling money

Look at what the psalmist says- the one who delights in God’s Word & who meditates on it day & night, is like a TREE that is planted by water, who produces fruit in season, and whose leaf doesn’t wither- whatever they do prospers. Now that’s a bold claim!

But how many of us can testify to the fact that when we are walking with God in His Word, life is just better!

Prosper (thrive)- to make steady favorable progress, i.e., Christian growth.The characteristics of a growing Christian are the fruit of the Spirit- love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, & self-control (Gal 5:22-23). We don’t just need to get in God’s Word; we need to GROW in God’s Word. The person who walks with God in His Word is planted, rooted, & fruited!

The contrast is with the ungodly (or wicked). They are not like a tree that is planted, producing, & prosperous, but they are like chaff that is blown away by the wind. ILL:Winnowing wheat- process used to separate wheat grains from chaff (husks & stalks). Farmers thresh (beat) wheat against a hard surface then throw it into the air so that wind would blow away the chaff. Wicked are like chaff.

Who wants to be chaff when you can be a tree? Jeremiah 17:7-8, Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. 8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit. To know if we are on the right track we need to check our direction & our production, i.e., our path and our growth.

3. We need to check our DESTINATION. Vss. 5-6

Hebrews 9:27, And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment. The ungodly will not stand in the judgment.

The New Testament teaches 2 judgments- the Judgment seat of Christ and the Great White Throne Judgment. 2 Corinthians 5:9–10, Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

Revelation 20:11-12, Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.

Christians will be judged at the judgment seat of Christ; it’s a judgment of rewards. All people will be judged at the White Throne Judgment; it is the final judgment of eternal states- where we will reside forever.

The ungodly will not stand in the judgment (not stand- not be upright, not endure, not stay),i.e., they will not remain in the congregation of the righteous (the assembly of those who are justified before God).

Let’s be clear, we are not made righteous by what we do, but by what Jesus has done for us.We are not justified by our works, but by our faith. Romans 3:22, … the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe… 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

The path of life runs squarely through Jesus. He is the Way, the Truth, the Life, no one comes to the Father except through Him. The LORD knows the way of the righteous, it is the path of life.

But the way of the ungodly shall perish. It’s not just death, its destruction. Revelation 20:14-15, Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

Our Direction determines our Destination, our Production (fruitfulness) is like mile markers along the way. We don’t just need to check our path, we need to check our growth, and we need to check our death.

We recently had an elderly church that had received a terminal diagnosis. The last time I saw her before she passed away, she couldn’t quit talking about the holiness of God and how beautiful He is. You could tell that she was ready because she had this glow about her face, such peace was present, as she talked about the Lord being holy, holy, holy. Her death was checked; she was on the path to life. What about you?

Two ways to go, but only One Way to Live, only one way leads to life- the way of the righteous. Are you walking with God in His Word or are you walking with the ungodly in the world?