NIV The blessed and the wicked

The blessed and the wicked

The blessed and the wicked

George Clayson / General

Introduction

In this psalm we have a contrast between the righteous and the ungodly. We see that the righteous man is blessed where as in contrast the ungodly are not so.

We have the righteous man described by what he does and does not do, and we have a metaphor given that shows his blessedness.

Then we have the contrast of the ungodly which is the opposite to everything the righteous man is.

When we read through the psalm we see that great statements are made about this one who is blessed.

But then we have concerning statements made about the ungodly.

I want us to walk through this psalm thinking of the question which one describes you.

Which side of this contrast are you found this morning?

I. The righteous man

A. what the blessed man doesn’t do

Firstly we have the description the the righteous man, and in the first line of the psalm he is described as blessed.

A helpful explanation of the word blessed is “he is right with God and enjoys the spiritual peace and joy that results from that relationship.”

Who is this blessed man? The psalm in v.1-3 answers this question for us. We find out what the blessed man does not do, we learn what he does do and we learn what he is like.

In verse 1 we have a threefold description of what this blessed man does not do.

Look with me at v.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,.”

who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,.”

or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,.”

or sit in the company of mockers,.”

The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), .”

Here we have three statements of what the blessed man does not do and as you look at them it is clear that they progress from bad to worst.

Firstly the blessed man does NOT walk in step with the wicked, or as other translations put it; he does not the counsel of the ungodly.

This means that he does not take the advice of a person who lives a life that is displeasing to God. He does not obey the suggestions of the who lives as though there is no God.

He doesn’t take ungodly counsel.

Nor does this blessed man “ stand in the way that sinners take”

This means that he does not behave like those who are living in sin. The first statement had to do with taking counsel this one has to do with copying behaviour.

Notice their is a progression of movement the first statement says that he does not walk, the second statment goes further and says he does not stand.

Each statment builds on the other and it shows that their is a progression in the relationship.

If you know someone a little you may walk with them, if you know a person better you may stop and talk with them, and the final statement shows a further progression, if you know someone well you will sit with them.

The third statement says “sit in the company of mockers”

As well as the progression of movement their is a progression of sinfulness.

First we have the ungodly. An ungodly person may still live a life that by the worlds standard is half decent. The sinner here is worst and lives a life that is characterized by doing wrong but yet the scoffer, or scornful is the worst of all.

Not only are they ungodly, they do not acknowledge God, not only are they sinners, they do not obey God’s law but even further than these they scoff and mock at the truth. They laugh at the righteous, they mock God’s word.

Being described by anyone of these adjectives means you are guilty before God but the final one is the worst of all.

What we learn from this psalm is that the man who is blessed has nothing to do with these people. He does not walk in the councel of the ungodly, nor stand in the way of sinners nor sits in the seat of the scornful.

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I wonder can it be said about us that we do not do these things as well? Those of us who are believers we should be able to say a hearty amen, to these statements. This description should be true of us, and more true each day as we grow in holiness and become more like Jesus.

Does this description fit us? Do we not do these things also?

is it true that we do not walk in the counsel of the ungodly? Or do we live our lives according to the worldview that is presented to us on the television or the radio? Do you walk in the counsel of secualr society that tells you to live your life a certain way?

Is it true that we do not stand in the way of sinners? Or do you live a life that is sinful? The Bible is clear we have all sinned, . But do you live a life of unrepetant sin? Is your life characterized by behaviour that is sinful?

Is it true that we do not sit in the seat of the scornful? Or you are found in the worst catergory of all, Do you sit in the seat of the scornful? Do you mock at Christian things? When people make fun of the Bible or Christianity do you join in?

If you do these things then you are not blessed. You are not like this man described here.

The good news is that Jesus Christ can change all of that. He takes the ungodly and makes then godly. He takes the sinner and makes them a saint. He takes the scornful and makes the reverent worshippers of God.

He makes all things new.

So if this is what the blessed man does not do, what does he do?

We find the answer in v.2

B. What the blessed man does.

Look with me at v.2 “but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night.”

and who meditates on his law day and night.”

The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), ..”

In this verse we see the affection of the blessed man. We learn what he loves. and we see his habbits,we learn what he does with his time.

First then we see his affection.

The verse says His delight is in the law of the LORD.

We could put it simply by saying he loves the Bible.

He loves to read the word of God, he obeys it and seeks to live by its precepts.

The word for delight can also be translated pleasure. We could say he finds pleasure in reading the word of God, it isn’t mundane or a burden, it brings him joy it gives him pleasure.

He can whole heartedly say the words of “The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.”

Here we have a great contrast, instead of walking in the counsel of the ungodly, this blessed man walks in the law of the LORD.

The law is his delight.

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The question that faces us is do we delight in the law of the LORD. Every believer must ask themselves this question.

Do we love to read our Bible and do we seek to obey it in every area of our lives?

This love for the word of God comes as a result of regeneration. When God saved us he changed us and gave us new desires and affections.

Before He drew us to Christ we did not care for the word of God but the moment God made us alive in Christ, this book became alive and we loved it.

The question that we must ask ourselves is do we still love it like we did when we were first convereted. Do we delight in this book?

Maybe you aren’t a Christian and you have read the Bible and you struggled. You struggled to undertand it, you struggled to see the beauty of it. The moment you turn from sin and turn to Jesus Christ, this book becomes alive.

God speaks to us through his word. When we grasp this fact it becomes easy to understand why the blessed man delights in the law of the LORD. Here we have the words of God.

We are told of the affections of the blessed man and then we are told about his habbits.

v.2 says “ and who meditates on his law day and night.”

The blessed man delights in the law of the LORD and because of this he thinks upon it all of the time.

A definition of meditate could be “to think intently and at length for spiritual purposes.”

The Biblical definition of meditation is not the kind that is popular today that says empty your mind. Biblical meditiation is about filling your mind with the word of God and dwelling upon it, thinking about it intently.

We are told in this verse that the belssed man does this day and night. Day and nigth does not mean once in the morning and once in the evening. It means that he does it all the time, he constantly thinks upon the word of God.

This is because he delights in it. One of the proverbs says “As a man thinks in his heart so is he.”

This man has such a deep affection for the word of God it fills his thoughts all the time.

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This should be our aim as believers. We should long that our affection for the word of God is so strong, that we think about it all day long.

Instead of having our thought s filled with concerns about money or material posessions, we should long that are thoughts are filled with the Bible.

This takes an act of the will. We have to wilfully meditate upon the scriputres, this doesn’t come with out us making an effort.

The Puritans were known for championing the meditation of Scripture. One way they would do it is for example if they would see a door they would think of when Chrsit said “I am the door, if anyone enters by me he shall be saved.” Then , they will think about these words of God and intently consider them.

As believers we should be actively seeking to meditate on the scriptures like this day and night.

The psalmist has told us what the Blessed man does not do, he has told us what he does do and now in v.3 we see what he is like. This description is given to show the result that follows such separation from sin and affection for the word of God.

C. What the blessed man is like.

look with me at v.3 “ 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.”

which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither—

whatever they do prospers

The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), ..”

Here we have a metaphor of a tree to describe this blessed man. The picture the psalmist uses is full of life.

The blessed man who delights in the law of the LORD and meditates in it day and night is like a tree planted near a constant supply of water.

The picture here is one of nurishment and this nurishment results in fruitfulness.

Just as a tree planted by rivers of water brings forth fruit, does not wither and prospers, it flourishes. So also the one who is saturated with the word of God, it is his delight and his chief thought, so he will flourish in all that he does.

The blessed man will bring forth fruit, he will glorify God.

The blessed man will not whither when he faces trials, a tree with out water will whither in the heat of the day but this tree does not whither. The one who delights in the law of the LORD is strenghtened by God’s spirit to face the difficulties of life.

The blessed man will propsoer in whatever he does, he will flourish. The obvious point here is that God will bless him.

What a picture we have here. A tree that is planted by rivers of water and that flourishes.

App- I’m sure that we would like to be like this kind of man. The point of this metaphor is to show that the result of delighting and meditating in the law of the LORD is spiritual blessing.

Of course this is all because of the grace of God. He is the one who blesses us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Who is this blessed man?

Here we have this description of the blessed man. But, we must ask who is this blessed man?

Who is this psalm speaking about?

When we answer this question we would probably be tempted to say it is speaking about the Christian, the believer who is walking closely to the Lord.

This would be partly true, the believer who is in close fellowship with God would always conforming to this picture of the blessed man, as Christians this should be our desire.

But when we look at our lives it becomes clear we do not perfectly meet this description. There has been times when we have walked in the counsel of the ungodly, we have stood in the way of sinners and maybe even sat in the seat of the scornful.

We have not always delighted in the law of the LORD, we don’t always meditate on it.

but, If it isn’t us then Who is this blessed man?

If we don’t perfectly fulfill this description then who does?

The answer is the Lord Jesus Christ.

He perfectly fulfills every part of this description.

We could start this psalm by saying Jesus was the man, and put verses 1-3 in past tense and it would all be true.

Jesus was the man who never walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the path of sinners, nor sat in the seat of the scornful.

But he delighted in the law of the LORD and in his law he meditated day and night.

Jesus was like a tree planted by rivers of water, that brought forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf did not whither; and whatever he did prospered.

Jesus Christ fulfills v.1 because he was sinless, he perfectly fulfilled the law of God, he kept every commandment and never broke any. “Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth.”

Jesus Christ fulfills v.2 because he delighted in God’s word. He said in “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me” He said in “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”

Jesus Christ fulfills v.3 becuase he prospered in everything even in his death. In we read that in his death, he “...disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”

Jesus Christ is this blessed man.

The good news for believers is although we fail to meet this standard ourselves, in Jesus Christ we perectly fit the description.

When we believed in Christ he took our sin upon himself on the cross and died in our place and his righteousness was imputed to us. We are united to Christ by faith and because of this in him we are this blessed man.

We are justified, the perfect righteous of Jesus Christ is given to all who believe in him.

His perfect obedience is credited to those who believe. His delight in God’s word is credited to those who believe. God does not see the believer as they are in themselves but as they are in Christ

In God’s sight we fit this description perfectly becuase the one who perfectly fufills this psalm is our Lord and Saviour and his righteousness is imputed to us.

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

In ourselves we are not this blessed man, but in Christ we are.

If you are a believer this morning because of the grace of God in Jesus Christ, you are blessed.

But if a person does not have Christ. If they are not justified by faith alone in Christ alone then instead of being the blessed man they are described in the second part of this psalm.

In v. 4-6 we have the ungodly who is set in contrast with the blessed man just described.

We have just seen the blessed man, now we turn to the ungodly. We will walk quickly through these final few verses

II. The ungodly

v.4 begins with the phrase “Not so the wicked!”

Everything that has just been said about the blessed man, the righteous man, cannot be said about the ungodly.

The ungodly is someone who does not ackowledge God, they live as though God does not exist, they live lives that are displeasing to God.

The righteous man is like a tree planted by a river of water that flourishes.

v.4 says “ Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.”

Not so the wicked!

They are like chaff

that the wind blows away.

The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), .”

The picture of the chaff is the complete opposite of a tree that is planted by rivers of water.

Chaff is rootless, chaff is dry. When they would harvest the grain it was a common sight to see somone winnowing the grain. They would use a fork and toss it in the air and the grain would fall back to the ground but the wind would blow the husk, the chaff away.

It was useless.

This is the picture of the ungodly. chaff which the wind drives away. There is no fruit, no prosperity, no value.

If you are without Jesus Christ this monrning then this picture describes you, it describes your life. Maybe you don’t feel like this now, but when we think in terms of eternity and what is really of value, a life with out Jesus Christ is exactly like chaff which the wind drives away. In the end it will come to nothing.

This is a striking contrast between the righteous and the ungodly. It continues in the next two verses.

b) The ungodly is separated from the righteous

Look with me at v.5 “Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.”

nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), .”

One commentator says that this phrase is simliar to our english saying, he doesn’t have a leg to stand on. The meaning is the ungodly will be ashamed before God in the judgement, they will be guilty before him.

The Bible tells us in Hebrew 9:27 “It is appointed for men once to die and after this the judgement” Here we read that in the judgement the ungodly shall not stand.

The verse continues “Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous..”

The sinner is seperate from the righteous, they have no part in the congregation of the righteous. They do not belong there.

Why?

v.6 “For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.”

For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), ..”

The Lord knows the way of the righteous, he leads and guides the one who believes in Christ and is made righteous by faith, all the way to heaven.

But the way of the ungodly will perish, in the end the ungodly will go to hell.

Again this is a striking contrast between the righteous and the ungodly.

Although I have almost spirinted through these final three verses surely there is enough to make anyone say I don’t want to be one of the ungodly, I want to be one of the righteous ones, I want to be one of the blessed ones.

Maybe you are with out Jesus Christ and you know you fit into this group in psalm 1 called the ungodly, maybe you are wondering what you can do to change that.

How can someone who is ungodly, become one of the blessed ones?

The answer is by looking to Jesus.

He perfectly fulfills the first three verses of this psalm, he is the righteous one and yet he died upon the cross to pay for the sins of his people. All who believe in him are made righteous in God’s sight.

He takes their sin and gives them his perfect righteousess so that in Christ a person can stand before God as this blessed man described in this psalm.

Jesus takes the ungodly and makes the righteous, he justifies sinners.

The Bible says believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.

If you want to go from ungodly to righteous then turn from your sin in true repentance and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

So in this psalm we have a great contrast between the righteous who is blessed and the ungodly who are not.

As Christians we should be seeking to conform our lives to this blessed one described in this psalm. We should not be walking in the counsel of the ungodly, standing in the path of sinners or sitting in the seat of the scornful but our delight should be in the word of God.

Ofcourse, we know that although we should be seeking to be like this we do not perfectly fit this description. The only person who perfectly fulfills this psalm is the Lord Jesus Christ, who is altogether lovely.

The wonderful truth is that those of us who are united to Christ by faith, we are given this perfect righteous. This perfect righteousness of Christ is imputed to all who believe so that we can be sure that in Christ we are this blessed man.

How grateful to God we should be for our justification.

If you are not a Christian this morning then you find yourself on the other side of this contrast.

But The goodnews is that Jesus Christ died for the ungodly.

He takes ungodly people and makes them righteous.

When he died on the cross he died to pay for the sins of his people and three days later he rose from the dead victorious and now he saves to the utter most all who come to God by him.

If you want to be made righteous in God’s sight them believe in the one that this psalm describes. Turn to the blessed man, turn the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.

Let us pray