Psalm 1 Sermon

Text Introduction

I want to thank Jacob for the invitation to open the Scripture with you at chapel today. My name is Scott Edburg. I am an assistant Pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Tuscumbia and serve the families of our church there. If you have your Bibles, we will be in . But before I read let us pray.

English Standard Version Psalm 1

Ps 1:1 Blessed is the man

who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree

planted by streams of water

that yields its fruit in its season,

and its leaf does not wither.

In all that he does, he prospers.

4 The wicked are not so,

but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

5 Therefore the wicked will 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 wicked will perish.

Sermon Introduction

Intro Illustration

As A Christian minister, I often ask people how they are doing. I get once answer that is quite perplexing. I say, “how are doing?” And a common response in our Christiaese is “Definitely feeling blessed.” We all aspired to be blessed people. But I bet if we went around this room today, we would all have very different ideas for what a blessed life looks like. Some would think in terms of wealth and prosperity. I feel blessed around December 25 when I receive all that I wanted for Christmas or when my mom or dad surprise we with my favorite meal. Some of us define blessing as a state of mind. I am blessed, when all my relationships are going well. Peace and prosperity in the Edburg Home. My sister was never blessed in this way. She seemed to hate her closest friends about once a week. And sometimes we associate blessing with approval. I sought the blessing from my wife’s father for her hand in marriage. But is this the sort of blessing the of the blessed man. What makes you blessed in the sight of God. That is the question answers for us today. For we are blessed by God, when we are giving salvation by his spirit through faith. For those blessed by God are those live according to his purposes. For his commands and his laws are not a buzzkill for a good time. Rather, they are for our own good and his glory. Christianity is not another set of arbitrary rules.. Rather, These rules are for your own good and for your own spiritual prosperity!

Context Established

The first Psalm seeks to establish to the righteous and blessed person. It is a psalm that prepares the reader to read every other Psalm. And it sure guide for those who seek to honor Christ in life. It is in this psalm we are given the picture of both the life of those who love God and the life of those who hate him! And So my question for you this morning. Are you blessed by the Lord. Do you love him or do you dispise him and his ways.

Proposition: Are you blessed by the Lord?

The Character of your Life (1-2)

English Standard Version Psalm 1

Blessed is the man

who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

Right away we are given two vastly different characters and ways of life.There are the character of those who are wicked and the character of those who are righteous. What is present in the life of the Wicked?

The Way of the Wicked

They are those who walk in the counsel of the wicked, that stand in the way of sinners, and that sits at the seat of scoffers. Notice the three actions present in that first verse. Walks…Stands… Sits. Each of these actions describe a certain amount of intimacy with a person and as the verse continues that intimacy grows. In college, I would certainly walk to class with certain individuals, but some of those individuals, I never stopped to talk with them. They were merely buddies that I walked to class with. But some of my closer friends I would stop and have a deeper conversation. And you know your a good friend when you sit together and share a meal. In Seminary, I had two incredibly close friends. Whenever we were on campus, we were together. People often associated one of us with the other two. Why? Because we walked together, stood together, and ultimately sat together.

Those who you associate with mold your character. Those you walk with, and stand with, and sit with form and develop your character. So if your greatest friends are wicked, sinner, and scoffer. Guess what? It won’t take long for you to be wicked, sinner, and scoffer.

That is why the admonishes us. How can you be blessed in the Lord, when you fancy the way of the wicked? I remember in High School, my closest friends began to associate themselves with the drug dealers in our school. They often said, I will evangelize them. There is hope. And yet before long, he abused drugs and was caught with drugs at our homecoming. He was kicked out of that school for the remainder of the year. Oddly enough he was an honors student taking AP classes. Yet, He chose to walk, stand, and sit with the wicked. I need not give any more examples. As some of you fancy the same sorts of wickedness.

The Way of the Righteous

But the psalmist also shows us that character of the righteous. They are not associated with the wicked, but associated and delighted in the law of God. The blessed man reflects God and delights in his law. That term delight is an important one. He does not have contempt for God and his ways, but delights in God and his ways. Furthermore, The Law here is expansive. Sure it means the ten commandment, but it also means the entirety of Scripture. Those who are blessed delight in the word of God. The meditate on his words. Not just in the Morning, but in the evening. Not Just on Sunday and at youth Group, but also at home. It is a grace that God has given his word. and The blessed delight and meditate on it daily, hourly. It is the very means of their enjoyment.

When I was in middle school and High school, I was a skateboarder. I dressed like a skateboarder. sounded like a skateboarder. acted like a skateboarder. And did tricks over large stair sets as a skateboarder. I Skateboarded every day for at least three-four hours. And I could talk about skateboarding with an unending love and passion. I delighted in skateboarding. I meditated on it day and night. Some of you love sports or have various hobbies that you cannot get enough of it. You put all your effort every day into becoming better at it.

Why aren’t we that way with the christian faith. The moment I bring up basketball, or state football teams, or really anything you can talk endlessly about it. But when Christ is mentions your flame dies like a candle snuffed out by water. Where is the passion? Where is the zeal? Where is your delight?

Proposition: Are you blessed by the Lord? First, We are given the Character of your life.

The Fruit of your Life (3-4)

English Standard Version Psalm 1

3 He is like a tree

planted by streams of water

that yields its fruit in its season,

and its leaf does not wither.

In all that he does, he prospers.

4 The wicked are not so,

but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

Grounded like a Tree

For Those who are blessed are like a treed planted by a stream of Water. Trees planted by a stream are given all that they need in order to flourish and survive. As the stream remains, their leaves do not wither. Instead the tree prospers by the stream. And even in times a drought, the tree by the stream flourishes. This is a beautiful picture of the Christian life. Christian are like tree in that as they are planted in the Word of God, they are nourished and will flourish. For those in his word will never wither. As another Psalm says, “the grass withers, and the flowers fade, but the word of the Lord stands forever.” For as we drink from the Scripture, We drink from the very Word of God. And as we drink from the word, we spiritually prosper. And as the droughts of trials come, those in the word will endure and will not wither. But for those who are not in the word, the droughts of trials will bring destruction. From time to time, i have been asked, “Why does God seem so distant.” My first questions usually are: Are you reading Scripture? Are you attending worship? Are you praying? The most ordinary reason for God being distant is that you have stopped drinking from his Word. For it is by his word that he speaks to you and nourishes you in the faith. Take… Open… Feast and drink upon the word!

Worthless like the Chaff

The wicked or those who are not blessed are like chaff. Do you know what chaff is. it is the husk of the wheat. As the wheat went on the threshing floor. It would be trampled or flailed against the ground. Then a farmer would shovel it into the air and the wind would carry the chaff throughout the air and the fruit or grain would fall back to the ground. Chaff is worthless. You can feed it to hogs or burn it in fire. The wicked are like chaff. They have no fruit. They are not nourished. The shall wither. If you want to get all fire and brimstone, the wicked are only good for the fire. For the judgment of God.

I don’t know about you, but my religious and spiritual journey at your age was like a rollercoaster. Sometimes I was passionate and zealous for the Lord (Partiuclarlly after summer or winter conferences). And but a week later feel like God had forsaken me. The passion and zeal gone. blown away like chaff in the wind.

Do you know the common denominator for my spiritual highs and lows? It was not the teaching at youth group or whether our youth group went on a fun trip. Or whether I was just having a good day. No, it was my relation to the Scripture. In seasons of valley lows, I was always negligent in reading the word of God and worshipping him at church. Always. In my seasons of great growth, they were always in times that I was regularly and deeply studying the Lord. There is something admirable with the habit of daily reading Scripture. I can tell you from experience, That my spiritual lows are nowhere near where they were in high school and it is grounded in the Holy Spirit’s work through Scripture in my life.

Proposition: Are you blessed by the Lord? We saw the Character and the fruit of blessed people.

The Judgement of your Life (5-6)

English Standard Version Psalm 1

5 Therefore the wicked will 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 wicked will perish.

The Way of the Righteous is known by the Lord

In the last place, we see the end result for those who are bless by the Lord. For they are know by God.

The Way of the Wicked will Perish

In contrast, those who are not blessed by the Lord. Those who do not know him will be judged and perish.

Proposition: Are you blessed by the Lord?

Conclusion