Sermon Tone Analysis

*Sermon Worksheet & Manuscript*

*Robert L. Hutcherson, Jr.*

*Quinn** Chapel A.M.E.

Church*

*                                        Sermon Preparation~/Delivery*

                                                           *Psalm 1*

*“/Are You Happy?/”*

*The Rev. Karla J. Cooper, **Pastor*

*February 11, 200**7*

\\ \\ Sermon Worksheet & Manuscript

*AUTHOR*

*1.

Who wrote (or is credited with writing) the text?*

That the principal contributor to the collection, the main author of the Book of Psalms, is David, though denied by some moderns, is the general conclusion in which criticism has rested, and is likely to rest.

The historical books of the Old Testament assign to David more than one of the psalms contained in the collection.

Seventy-three of them are assigned to him by their titles.

The psalmody of the temple generally is said to be his.

The Book of Psalms was known in Maccabean times as "the Book of David.

David is cited as the author of the sixteenth and the hundred and tenth psalms by the writer of the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2:25, 34).

Internal evidence points to him strongly as the writer of several others.

The extravagant opinion that he wrote the whole book could never have been broached if he had not written a considerable portion of it.

With respect to what psalms are to be regarded as his, there is naturally considerable doubt.

Whatever value may be assigned to the "titles," they cannot be regarded as absolutely settling the question.

Still, where their authority is backed up by internal evidence, it seems well worthy of acceptance.

On this ground, the sober and moderate school of critics, including such writers as Ewald, Delitzsch, Perowne, and even Cheyne, agree in admitting a considerable portion of the Psalter to be Davidic.

The psalms claiming to be Davidical are found chiefly in the first, second, and fifth books - thirty-seven in the first, eighteen in the second, and fifteen in the fifth.

In the third and fourth books there are only three psalms (Ps 88., 101., and 103.) which claim to be his.

The next most important contributor would seem to be Asaph.

Asaph was one of the heads of David's choir at Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 6:39; 15:17, 19; 16:5), and is coupled in one place with David (2 Chronicles 29:30) as having furnished the words which were sung in the temple service in Hezekiah's time.

Twelve psalms are assigned to him by their titles - one in Book II (Psalm 1), and eleven in Book III (Psalm 1-3-83).

It is doubted, however, whether the real personal Asaph can have been the author of all these, and suggested that in some instances the sect or family of Asaph is intended.

On the whole, the collection may be said to have proceeded from at least six individuals - David, Asaph, Solomon, Moses, Heman, and Ethan - while three others - Jeremiah, Haggai, and Zechariah may not improbably have had a hand in it.

How many Korahite Levites are included under the title, "sons of Korah," it is impossible to say; and the number of the anonymous authors is also uncertain.

* *

*2.

From what perspective does the author write?*

The usual Hebrew title of the work is Tehillim, or Sepher Tehillim; literally, "Praises," or "Book of Praises" - a title which expresses well the general character of the pieces whereof the book is composed, but which cannot be said to be universally applicable to them.

Another Hebrew title, and one which has crept into the text itself, is Tephilloth, "Prayers," which is given at the close of the second section of the work (Psalm 72:20), as a general designation of the pieces contained in the first and second sections.

The same word appears, in the singular, as the special heading of the seventeenth, eighty-sixth, ninetieth, hundred and second, and hundred and forty-second psalms.

But, like Tehillim, this term is only applicable, in strictness, to a certain number of the compositions which the work contains.

Conjointly, however, the two terms, which come to us with the greatest amount of authority, are fairly descriptive of the general character of the work, which is at once highly devotional and specially intended to set forth the praises of God.

It is manifest, on the face of it, that the work is a collection.

A number of separate poems, the production of different persons, and belonging to different periods, have been brought together, either by a single editor, or perhaps by several distinct editors, and have been united into a volume, which has been accepted by the Jewish, and, later on, by the Christian, Church, as one of the "books" of Holy Scripture.

The poems seem originally to have been, for the most part, quite separate and distinct; each is a whole in itself; and most of them appear to have been composed for a special object, and on a special occasion.

Occasionally, but very seldom, one psalm seems linked on to another; and in a few instances there are groups of psalms intentionally attached together, as the group from Ps 73. to 83., ascribed to Asaph, and, again, the "Hallelujah" group - from Ps 146., to 150.

But generally no connection is apparent, and the sequence seems, so to speak, accidental.

Our own title of the work - "Psalms," "The Psalms," "The Book of Psalms "2 - has come to us, through the Vulgate, from the Septuagint.

Yalo, meant, in the Alexandrian Greek, "a poem to be sung to a stringed instrument;" and as the poems of the Psalter were thus sung in the Jewish worship, the name Yalmoi appeared appropriate.

It is not, however, a translation of either Tehillim or Tephilloth, and it has the disadvantage of dropping altogether the spiritual character of the compositions.

As, however, it was applied to them, certainly by St. Luke (Luke 20:42; Acts 1:20) and St. Paul (Acts 13:33), and possibly by our Lord (Luke 24:44), we may rest content with the appellation.

It is, at any rate, one which is equally applicable to all the pieces whereof the "book" is composed.

* *

* *

*TEXT*

* *

/"How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!

But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.

He will be like a tree {firmly} planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.

The wicked are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish."

(Psalms 1:1-6 NASBR)/

* *

 

*BODY*

 

*Were you happy in this past year?

Are you happy now?

If so, why?

If not, why not?*

*Of course, both your answer and my answer depends on how we define happiness.

What does it take to make you happy?

What do you need?

You adults in the congregation, is happiness a big raise in pay, a full freezer, a large bank account, a home on the coast?

Boys and girls, how do you define happiness: a PlayStation 3 game, a new baseball glove, a new bike, a straight A on a test?

Young people and single adults, what do you need for happiness: a flashy sports car or pickup truck, a friend of the opposite sex, a winning basketball or volley-ball season?

Again I ask, what does it take to make you happy; what do you need?*

* *

*This evening, the psalmist tells us the stuff of true happiness.

"Blessed," he says, "is the man who ..." Or, another way of saying the same thing: "Happy is the man who ..."*

* *

*Today we are called upon to look back on the past year.

In view of Psalm 1, can you say that you were happy in this past year?

Are you happy now?

Can you say that you were happy, not as the world defines it, but as the psalmist defines it?*

* *

*What is the way of blessedness?

What is the way to happiness?

The psalmist first tells us what the blessed or happy person does not do:*

* *

*This entire chapter could be entitled, "How to live a blessed life."

This Hebrew word, blessed, is used as an interjection.

An interjection is an exclamatory word that is used to express strong feelings.

The word could be translated-How blessed!

It is clear that the writer of this 1st Psalm knew by way of personal experience the very blessedness he wrote of.

Therefore it is a fitting beginning to this great work of wisdom.

This blessed condition, describes the true state of the one who fulfills what the Psalmist says in this chapter.

It is important to realize that we cannot say that blessings are strictly categorized as those things related to material prosperity or of so earthly achievement, etc.

We cannot regulate blessing(s) as something that is always separate from what we are and of what we seek for as if to say that if I don't have such and such, I am not truly blessed of God.

In the Hebrew, the wicked are those who actively seek evil.

Theirs is a life filled with immorality like deceit, adultery, lies, cursing, anger, and drunkenness.

The Hebrew word translated as sinners could be better translated as "criminals" – those who commit crimes like theft, rape, and murder.

The Hebrew word for mockers has in mind those who make fun of religion, who laugh at people when they pray, who have no use for God and His worship.

For the genuine worshiper of God, he or she, is already blessed.

We are blessed because of our relationship to God, no matter what the circumstances are and it is also true that if a person is NOT walking according to the will of God, then it is very fair to say that no matter what achievements or earthly prosperity one may have, he is NOT blessed at all.*

* *

*The word, blessed, also means HAPPY.

This word, unlike the English word happy, depends on the circumstances of one's life for happiness to exist.

The Psalmist declares one to be TRULY happy because of one's standing with God and one's obedience to the word of God.*

* *

*This is one reason why so many modern day professed worshippers of God are so unhappy.

They constantly try to find their happiness in things and others rather than in God and in His Word.

It is very interesting that the blessed state of the worshipper of God is described according to the things that he does NOT do, and that right from the start of the book.

Three negatives are clearly pointed out in this Psalm and it is as applicable today as it was when the Psalmist wrote it.*

* *

*“How blessed is the man that walketh not in the council of the ungodly.”