What Path Are You On
What Path Are You On?
Introduction
Many years ago, a little girl was totally blind. She was blinded as an infant as the result of an accident. She lived to be over 90 years old. She became a saint of the American church. She wrote many popular Christian songs and choruses. Her name was Fanny Crosby. When she was eight years old, she wrote:
“Oh what a happy child I am, although I cannot see.
I am resolved that in this world, contented I will be.
How many blessings I enjoy that other people don’t.
To weep and sigh because I’m blind – I cannot and I won’t.”
As I read about the story of Fanny Crosby, I thought about the paths that she could have taken with her life. She could have dwelt on the disability that she had and lived as a recluse, but we never would have had such wonderful songs such as:
“Tell Me the Story of Jesus,” Blessed Assurance, Jesus Is Mine,” or “He Hideth My Soul.”
We have blessings in our lives that if we are not careful may pass by unnoticed because we are too concerned with the busy things of life.
For years I never felt that I measured up to all I thought the Lord wanted me to be, or all I thought I should be. Satan convinced me that since I wasn’t “perfect,” I had no right to minister to others. Then one day, my daughter went out to our flower garden to gather a bouquet of “viruses.” As I tried to arrange the Irises in a vase, I discovered that she had picked some without stems, just blossoms. I laughed – I had been blessed with the gift of her love, however imperfect. It was then that I realized we don’t have to be perfect to enjoy the blessings of God. We are asked only to be real and trust in Him and His Word.
I’ve been reading the Psalms recently and looking for how the Psalmist sees the blessings of God. The title this mornings message is “What Path Are You On?”
I think we can get a glimpse of where our blessings begin in Psalm 1 our text for today.
Read Psalm 1:1-6
Psalm 1 is the introduction to the whole book of Psalms and it implores us to know of the abundant things of life. It seems to ask, “Do you want the abundant things of God?”
Verse 1 is very interesting. It begins with a word that is often translated as blessed, happy, or joy. But it is more than a few things. The idea is an overabundance of blessings and happiness. You could even translate the beginning, as “O how very happy is the man.” It is the same word to the word that Jesus uses in the Beatitudes.
It moves from this idea of blessings and happinesses to some negative things. I have learned that when the Psalmist wants to make the strongest point possible he starts with the positive and throws things immediately into the negative.
We ought to appreciate negative commands:
1. They keep us from going astray
2. They protect us from harm and misery
The path that he takes us on in this opening verse is a progressive look at how sin can take hold of you life and choke out the blessings that God wants for you.
A person begins by walking.
Wicked – comes from a concept meaning to be restless. They are on their way to being sinners, but they are not there yet.
Isaiah 57:20-21 “But the wicked are like the tossing sea, for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up refuse and mud. There is no peace. Says my God for the wicked.”
We live in a time where boredom, depression, and other forms of unhappiness are rampant.
Counsels = Bad Advice
Part of the problem stems from who you look to for advice: The TV, Hollywood, The Internet.
I heard a quote once about advice: “Advice is like snow, the softer it falls, the longer it dwells and the deeper you sink into it.”
The path moves from just listening to bad advice to standing in the paths of sinners.
Standing means that someone has actually stopped to give the matter some consideration.
The word path or way indicates that there is choice in the matter. We have a choice as to whether we will sin or not, whether we will reject Jesus or not. The word he uses for sinners here indicates the outward, external things we do. This type of person knows what they should do, but they just don’t do it. That’s what James 4:17
Next, the path leads us to those who sit in the seat of scoffers or scorners.
Scorners are those people who have a radical attitude problem. They despise those that try to do right and are resentful of God in general.
People like this act that way because they think it justifies their lifestyle and it’s how they defend their actions.
The only people that have Seats in this time are people with authority and power.
To have a seat means that these people have made their lifestyle and sin the ultimate authority in their life.
The happy man doesn’t go down this path.
1. They don’t go along with the crowd.
2. They don’t stand in the crowd.
3. They don’t reach a point where sinning is not enough and become
Scornful of God.
II. The Happy Person delights in the Word of God (Verse 2)
1. It is the source of his joy and happiness.
2. He prefers it to the counsel of the restless.
Therefore, “in His law he meditates day and night.”
1. The word meditate has come to mean many things today.
Most people think of some short fat little man sitting in a closet contemplating the lint in his navel.
2. The word means to utter or speak.
It’s an action word. It is something done with the tongue in the heat of battle when you need courage to face Satan and his traps and deceit.
The way which we apply the Word of God to the cutting edge of life.
This is the same word we see in Joshua 1:8. I can’t imagine Joshua in the heat of battle saying excuse me a minute I’ve got to go back to my tent and meditate on God’s Word for a while and I’ll get back to you.
Day and Night is just another way of saying “all the time.”
There is not a time when the happy person does not live by God’s Word. They are so familiar with it that their actions are guided by it.
The Benefits of following God’s Word (Verse 3)
This verse may not seem much to you and me because we live where there are lots of trees and lakes and rivers, but think about living in a dry place like Israel. Even parts of the Jordan river dry up at times.
1. The psalmist says the person who follows God’s Word as a tree “Planted by
rivers of water.”
Literally transplanted – a person whose whole life is rooted in God’s Word
Receives constant nourishment.
2. They “Bring forth fruit in its season”
Depicts a life which yields something worthwhile and provides a blessing
To himself and others.
3. “Whose leaf does not wither”
Adverse conditions do not affect the fruitfulness of this person.
4. “Whatever he does he causes to prosper.”
He follows God’s directions and warnings and does not waste the
time.
Consequences of the Restless lifestyle (Verses 4,5)
1. “Chaff which the wind drives away.”
a. illustrates a bleak existence
b. their life is one of futility
c. there is no real substance to their life
either they will be blown away and not found, or to be burned
like Jesus says in Mt 3:12
2. They will have no place to turn where the righteous are assembled
e.g. where they assemble to worship
e.g. where they meet as friends of Christ
But especially in the last day when the righteous will be assembled
Together in heaven…The sinner has no place.
A Final Contrast Between the Two Paths
Verse 6 – God knows the ways of the righteous. Along the first path, the righteous and God are knowing one another. It conveys the idea of an intimate walk with God.
The path of the wicked leads to death. The word “perish” here means to wander. His path becomes less defined until it loses itself and he perishes all together.