Psalm 1 (2)
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I finished writing todays sermon in Munich airport on Friday,
during a 10hour layover on my way back home from Lesotho.
last week. If ever an airport was like a tree planted by streams of water which yields it’s fruit in season - it would be Munich.
If ever an airport was like a tree planted by streams of water which yields it’s fruit in season - it would be Munich.
Voted best airport in Europe apparently.
And then I flew back into London Stansted. Somewhat of a contrast.
Or perhaps I could contrast the horrendous living conditions of the 2 missionaries I visited in Lesotho
- in small dark stone huts,
smokey,
dirty,
bed bug infested,
uncomfortable,
cold mountains,
smelly and miserable
- and the contrast that with the homes that are planted by metaphorical streams of water in Worcester Park.
Or I could contrast
The cleaner who begs for spare change in Johannesburg airport,
with your good job in the city.
But this Psalm is not about those sort of contrasts, as if Christians
- planted by streams of water are free from poverty of all descriptions because they delight in the law of God.
No - as we saw from a few weeks ago,
it doesn’t matter what class you travel in through this life
- whether it’s first class, business class,
economy class or even the broken toilet at the back
- it’s the destination that matters.
But while the destination of the Christian is always a glorious joy
- this Psalm does seem to offer fruitfulness and prosperity now which is in contrast to non-Christians.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.
This blessed man v1, or righteous man v6 prospers and is fruitful v3.
Not so the wicked — they are like chaff blown away v4.
So I guess there are a couple of questions we want answered as we begin a new academic year in 2018.
1 - Can I be fruitful and prosper - can I be the blessed and righteous man or woman of
2 - And if I can - what does it look like - because it sure feels like I’m sitting on the economy class toilet at the moment.
Let me answer that first question straight away - and i hope this clears things up.
The answer to
1 - Can I be fruitful and prosper - can I be the blessed and righteous person of ?
Is - yes, well sort of, but also no!
Shall we begin then!
and 2 act somewhat as a gatepost for the Psalms as a whole.
They introduce the overriding theme of the Psalms (and in fact most of what we call the ‘Wisdom Literature’ of the bible - so Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Psalms etc..
They contrast the wise with the foolish,
Or the wicked with the righteous.
But they also leave us with another theme, That righteousness or wisdom rely on a greater power. A king, a Lord.
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry
and you be destroyed in your way,
for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
And from today’s Psalm...
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
You see, the wicked and the righteous are not descriptions of how ‘accurately’ we obey God or not - for the righteous still require the Lord’s refuge, the Lord’s watchfulness over them.
But, rather, wisdom literature
gives us a righteous and wise way to live that demonstrates we trust and fear the Lord.
Or contrastingly they show us the way of the wicked or the foolish that demonstrates that we don’t trust and fear the Lord.
To put it simply - the righteous are those who trust the Lord to have mercy on them despite their failing - but who at the same time strive to live righteously in reverence for the Lord’s kindness.
The wicked however, they live with out reverence for the Lord - and as such all their ways are against God whom they deny.
(It doesn’t mean they appear evil or wicked within society - it means they haven’t seen their need for God) - That could be you today.
AS we work through the Psalm this will all become clearer...
So - our fist point is a negative encouragement...
1 - Wicked Ways
Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
There is a direction of movement in this verse.
A sense that once we start to allow ourselves to be influenced by the way of the wicked,
This will lead to a complete absorption into their thinking.
First we might just walk in their counsel,
but then we’ll stand still in their ways,
until we eventually sit down on their seats.
Imagine trying to drive your family car across a soft and deep sandy beach.
You may hit the sand at speed hoping the momentum will carry you through,
But the speed will disappear fast until you come to a stand still.
And then the more you try to drive out, forwards and backwards, the deeper the wheels sink until the belly of the car is sat contentedly on the sand.
Such is the danger of the wicked,
If you want the prosperity of v3, then your first mission is to avoid the counsel of the wicked.
The wicked will tell us that joy and prosperity is in money, and health, and power.
Joy is in first class travel through life!
Of course, those things are not bad,
in fact they are can be great gifts we can enjoy from God.
But the counsel of the wicked is not declaring that they are good gifts to enjoy,
but that they are where joy and satisfaction itself lies.
This lie has spread across most the globe - materialistic satisfaction is what life is all about.
You deserve these things,
you need these things,
you want these things
and you cannot be happy without them.
Believing the lies that the best education,
the best paid jobs,
the nicest house will bring joy and satisfaction.
Again - these ‘materialistic things’ are not the issue.
They can all be wonderful things to work hard for and enjoy.
It is the counsel that tells us that these things are where you find satisfaction and joy that is the problem.
You see once we start walking in this counsel,
the next step is to stand in the way of sinners.
Now we’re not just believing and starting to dream after these things for our happiness,
Now we are actually sinning to get them.
We have started to turn our backs on the God
who wants us to truly be fruitful and prosperous -
but we have turned to these idols instead.
Stopped in wonder at the worlds attractions as end in and of themselves.
We now put more money into our houses and less into gospel work.
We put sports clubs for our children before church familiy on a Sunday.
We encourage our children - even ourselves -
that a ‘proper job’ is where satisfaction lies,
Not that a job is our vehicle to serve God and do his will.
We are afraid to consider reaching the unreached of the world with the gospel as missionaries,
Afraid to consider a lifetime of service to pastoring God’s people as a minister of the Word.
We’re afraid to see our work place as a harvest field - because the work itself has become the ultimate goal.
We now don’t just hear the counsel of the wicked, we have started to believe and act on it.
We have stopped in our tracks.
And then finally - we have grounded ourselves in the sand.
We sit down in the same seat as the mockers.
God is a load of nonesence!
He promises prosperity and look at you fools sitting in economy class!
My child goes to private school,
my car is nicer that yours,
my money is my own, while you bible bashes spend it on people you’ve never met.
I’m happy!
And look at you..
Mockery is the lowest form of sin against God in this Psalm.
It mocks him and his people.
Sometimes it’s subtle - you may even catch yourself mocking...
“YOu’ve given up everything for God - I would keeps a few eggs in the worldly basket just in case.”
—-
Those are the Ways of the Wicked.
But the wicked according to this Psalm
however rich they self declare themselves to be, the Psalmist views them as the most worthless of all things on earth...
Like chaff - blown by the wind.
The chaff that wasn’t haversted because it’s pointless.
The chaff that doesn’t rot back into he ground even (as if it might be of some use).
No - chaff that simply blows around and away.
Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
But,
There is another type of person in this Psalm,
Someone who is blessed, v1, fruitful and prosperous v3, who is watched over by the Lord v6.
ANd that person does not walk in the ways of the wicked, but,,,
They have the
‘
2 - Riches of the Righteous
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.
Where is our delight,
our joy, or satisfaction to be found?
Is it as the worldly wicked suggest...
No - it is in the law of the Lord.
Meditating on it day and night!
Meditating in the bible means to fill ones mind with God’s word,
not empty ones mind of everything as the wicked worldly counsel tells us today.
No. FILL your minds with God’s law - his Scriptures and commands.
For in obedience and understanding of the law comes delight.
Fruit is steadily growing and ripening in it’s season.
Whatever the person who delights in the law does, prospers!
What is this prosperity, this fruit, these riches?
Well they are to see the law, the word of God come true in your life.
It is to overcome an evil desire because we were more delighted with pleasing the Lord than ourselves.
It is to see a missionary go to the unreached to declare Jesus - with the money you have obediently given - according to God’s word.
It is to find yourself obediently sacrificing everything to serve the Lord.
It is to commit this year to speaking courageously about Jesus in your school,
workplace and neighbourhood -
the fruit will come we are promised - you will prosper in the Lord’s work.
The beauty of this prosperity and fruit is that you don’t even need to see it in reality!
We simply meditate on the word so much that we can delight in it’s promises even when we don’t physically see it!
Our delight and prosperity is in trusting God in his word
- not in seeing what the world deems to be success!
Even if you don’t see it -
it’s to trust the promised of the Word that when the Gospel goes out, it will not return empty.
It is to be so delighted with God’s law
that it’s filled your mind to bursting,
that you see every spiritual victory,
promise,
satisfaction in Jesus,
pound given to ministry,
prayer said for the struggerling,
bible read with with your child,
Conversation a bout Jesus,
Every day we maintain our faith
ALL of this is fruit and prosperity as promised in God’s word.
YOu can get flushed down that economy toilet and still see fruit and prosperity as promised in the Lord.
The more you absorb the word of God into your mind,
the more you will let go of the counsel of the wicked
and you will see the prosperity that is true and eternal.
Fruit and prosperity is on offer - but not as you’ve been told and lied too by the world.
It is found in delighting yourself in law and word of God -
for it is found in trusting obedience to the Lord.
—-
So, back to that initial question...
1 - Can I be fruitful and prosper - can I be the blessed and righteous man of
And question 2
2 - And if I can - what does it look like - because it sure feels like I’m sitting on the economy class toilet at the moment.
So, yes - you can be fruitful and prosper.
And what does it look like - it looks like delighting yourself in the law and therefore obedience to the Lord. That is true prosperity and fruit.
But you may remember my really helpful answer to that question earlier...
Yes, well sort of, but also no.
You see,
If you’re non-Christian you’re either angered by this Psalm or intrigued by the potential truth you’ve heard.
But either way you’re pretty sure you wont be able to live up to all the law of the Lord!
Or, you’re a Christian,
and hopefully you love what this Psalm has to say -
it’s freeing to know your ‘worldly life’ is not going to bring delight
- but trusting obedience to God is!
But you too, like me, are thinking ‘but why can’t I always get that right.’
I’d love to find my delight in the law of God at all times.
To feel like a tree planted by streams of water - to never have a leaf wither.
But the reality is that we do have leafs,
sometimes whole branches wither, as we doubt the promises of God and walk in the counsel of the wicked.
So the reality is, that while to some extent the answer is always yes we can prosper and be fruitful in the way this Psalm promises...
We have to also admit that by our own strength we can at best say - “well sort of yes!!”.
So that’s ultimately going on in this Psalm.
It goes back to the purpose of all wisdom literature that we spoke of at the beginning.
In reality there has only ever been one man who can fully and completely fulfil this Psalm.
And not accidentally, it is also the only man who fulfills the law do the Lord in which we are to delight.
His name is Jesus.
YOu see, if you see this Psalm as a promise of God’s blessing and prosperity ‘IF you ‘obey’ everything by your own strength’,
then this promise of fruitfulness and prosperity is actually a ‘no’ for you.
We should strive to obey, but not to earn prosperity and fruit,
but because it causes us to see the full purpose of the law.
The law exists to show us we need someone else to perfectly fulfill it for us.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practises and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
.
To think you can earn eternity with God through obedience is not to delight in the law but to be like the Pharisees
- who thought eternity could be gained through their own perfection.
But no,
in striving to keep the law, to please the Lord
- we will be left continuously reminded that we cannot do it by ourselves.
And there in comes the true delight in God’s law
- for it promises life to those who recognise they are not good enough and trust in the promised saviour Jesus instead.
The more we delight and meditate on the word and law of God
- the more we should see Jesus at work for us!
There lies true prosperity and fruit eternal - in trusting that Jesus is the one righteous man of .
He is always planted by streams of water - enough to feed us all.
SO,
As we strive to live by this Psalm -
we are to avoid the counsel of the wicked as we have discussed.
, and we must delight in the law of God, just like we have discussed.
Because that is the life of prosperity...
But only becasue in doing so we will also each day find Jesus fulfilling it all for us perfectly where we can’t.
We ultimately delight in the law because it is fulfilled in Jesus - not in us.
I think I’ve probably confused even myself by now,
so let’s get back in the family car heading into the sand, as I think this will help us comprehend what’s going on here...
This time we read the directions (God’s law) and realise we’re heading in to the sand
we know it’s a bad idea,
but just can’t help ourselves
But this time we put it on auto pilot.
We trust the promises of the directions, even though we struggle to steer correctly ourselves,.
Auto pilot (Jesus) steers us safely away to eternal motoring happiness!
The more we delight in the directions the more we steer correctly and find joy and prosperity.
And each time we steer the wrong way?
Well we realise it’s all still on auto pilot anyway.
Right or wrong actions
- it’s all down to Jesus.
But the more we delight ourselves in His way, the more prosperous we find life.
Trusting in Jesus and seeking to obey him is a great life - don’t let any mocker tell you otherwise!
Pray.
