Thankful for the Instruction of the LORD

Introduction

I remember when I was a young dude and was introduced to my first hip-hop mixtape. For those of you that do not know, the original mixtapes were made by DJs and they included some of the popular songs and artists of the day. The DJ would include all types of music on the mixtape. There would be boom-bap, which has a hard driving beat and lyrics that are delivered with force with no playing around which is associated with the Northeast, or you may have some blends, which is the mixture of some harmonies and musicality with hardcore lyrics, or you may have some hip-hop from the south say from Atlanta with a laid back flow and lyrics that have the characteristics southern drawl or something from California with that funk influence and that cali talk, with words that are stretched out for no reason. You might even get some emo-rap, no mumble rap though at least not for me.

Well, I look at the Psalms in a similar fashion. The Psalms are like the mixtape of the Word of God. The Psalms included musical accompaniment, with a tempo and pauses. The Psalms have been penned by a number of authors. You have your OG’s like Moses (Psalm 90), you have your mainstays like David (Psalm 19, 23, 51) and then the young bucks like Asaph (Psalm 73-83) and the Sons of Korah (Psalm 42, 44-49). You even have some Psalms that are anonymous (Psalm 1, 2), where you are not sure who wrote them. These authors penned these Psalms over hundreds if not a thousand years, they would go from the time of Moses through the Time of David and you still are not sure where some of the anonymous authors come onto the scene. So dating the Psalms is difficult.

In addition to your authors you had your editors who placed the Psalms in a specific order. You could say that they wove the Psalms together to create this beautiful tapestry of a view into the LORD, His Character and His Law and the Coming King, the Messiah and His reign forever. We have the order of the Psalms that we have today. Thus in the Canon we have 150 Psalms that are separated into 5 Books, based on the editors arrangement of the individual writings of the authors.

The Psalms as you would expect are poetry, this is their genre and they should be read this way, taking into account figures of speech and parallelism. Within the poetic Genre and the breakdown of the Psalms there are other groups the Psalms could fall into. There are Psalms of Lament, Thanksgiving, Praise, Royalty and Wisdom. Where each tells us something about the LORD and/or the Messiah. Today we find ourselves in Psalm 1, which is a wisdom psalm.

Psalms 1 and 2 are considered by most to the be introduction to the entire collection of the Psalms. Psalm 2 focuses of the coming Messiah, the King who is the LORD’s chosen to rule, while Psalm 1 puts an emphasis on the Psalms as instructions, the Psalms as the Word of God.

There is a poem by Robert Frost that comes to mind when thinking on Psalm 1, ‘The Road Not Taken.’

It starts with this man who approaches two paths, and he has the option of choosing either one. The poem is about making the decision of the path to travel. Some of the last words of the poem are:

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.”

This poem by Robert Frost mirrors this psalm. With its contrast between the Righteous and the Wicked and this contrast is based around a relationship with the Law of the LORD. So let’s dive into Psalm 1 and see what it has to say why we should be thankful about the Law of the LORD.

Psalm 1 ESV

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.

Thankful for the Blessing

Psalm 1:1–2 ESV

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.

Two Paths/Blessed

The Psalm starts with stating a man is Blessed. This word blessed means happy. We see in the Psalms there are a number of reasons that a man is blessed. He is blessed because his sins are forgiven, his iniquity is not counted against him

Psalm 32:1–2 ESV

1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

Or the man is happy because he makes the LORD his trust.

Psalm 40:4 ESV

4 Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie!

So this man is happy for some reason, that it more than likely associated with the LORD. So let’s see why this man is happy.

Unrighteous Path

We see a number of contrasts in this Psalm, the writer starts by pointing out what the man is not a part of that makes him blessed. In this we see three areas. 1) walks not in the counsel of the wicked, 2) nor stands in the way of sinners and 3) he does not sit in the seat of scoffers. We have three sets of three here. We have three external actions that have an impact on the activities of this man. That are aligned with the following:

1. The Counsel that he accepts. This is not a man who is going to take counsel or advice from a group of wicked people, they are a a group of evildoers and this man who has the opportunity to be happy, does not walk with them. He does not turn to them for advice, for what is to be done or not to be done.

2. The Activities that he performs. This is not a man who is going to carry on with sinners, stand in the way of sinners, these are sinful people, people whose way is not aligned with ways that God would approve of. The man who is blessed does not conduct himself in the way that they do.

3. The Position that he takes. He does not take the position of a scoffer, He is not one that incites or speaks down on or simply chatters. He does not do this. He does not take this seat. He does not carry that title, is not recognized as a scoffer.

Righteous Path

Then the author provides the other path that this man who is to be happy, who is to be blessed, is to follow. The man who is blessed delights in the Law of the LORD. When we think of the word delight, it means that he has joy, that he has eager hands, that he is involved with that which brings him joy. You usually find delight in those things that you have a high esteem or love for. You might delight in your husband or your wife, you might delight in your children, you might delight in your parents, you might delight in your Church family, in one or all of these you take joy in you delight in. In this case the man who is blessed delights in the Law of the LORD. Meaning that he has a joy for, is eager to handle, dare I say rightly, the law of the Lord.

His Joy is in the Law of the LORD, a better way to look at this word is as the instruction of the LORD. This goes beyond just the commandments, but would include all that the LORD has penned. In our case it is the whole of Scripture, which includes discussing how God deals with the world, with his people, with those who are not his people, the wisdom that is presented. The whole of the instruction of God.

Psalm 19:7-9 talks to this.

Psalm 19:7–9 ESV

7 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; 8 the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; 9 the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.

Where we see the expression of the

Law of the LORD

His testimony

His precepts

His Commandments

His rules

So we see the instruction of the law as all encompassing of God’s words. Remember that Psalm 1 is, along with Psalm 2, an introduction to the other 148 Psalms. These Psalms provide instruction to those who read it and listen to it, who take heed to what is being said. And so for the reader the Psalms serve as instruction of the LORD, which as we know extends to all of Scripture. This goes along with what is written in Timothy about Scripture:

2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

There are a couple of things we need to understand about the instructions of the LORD.

The Instructions of the LORD tell us about His character. - We can look at the Instructions of the LORD as an extension of who He is. You want to know How God feels about those who may find it difficult to care for themselves (i.e. widows and orphans) then look at the instruction that God has for them and their treatment. You want to know how God thinks the immigrant should be treated, then look at God’s instructions to His people about their treatment. You want to know how God feels about manstealing, then look at what God says about this in His instruction to His people. You want to know how God chooses a king to represent Him, read His instruction. You get a picture of the character of God through His instruction.

This instruction only comes through relationship. There is an element of trust that must be present to delight and want to be in the instructions of the LORD. Just think of Israel, that trust was there from the Exodus. Where God brought Israel out of Egypt and then God gave them a segment of instruction. Or think of Adam and creation. God did not start by giving Adam the instruction not to eat of the tree in the Garden, No The LORD God started with creating the place for the man, making provisions for the man placing the man in the garden, giving the man a task to do, then God said to the man you can eat of any tree in the garden except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The relationship drives your view of the LORD’s instructions. I delight even now in God’s Word, because I have a relationship with Him.

These instruction give the mandate for wise living and living in love. There is no wonder that you do not walk of follow the groups of the wicked, sinners or scoffers if you delight in the instructions of the LORD. Remember this is a wisdom psalm, so while it has all the markings of a psalm and a song, it is also wisdom. That should instruct our living, the way that we act, the people we interact with as we strive to be holy as God is holy.

The blessed man will choose the counsel provided by the law, the way dictated by the law and the position indicated by the law rather than following the groups of the wicked, sinners and scoffers.

Then get this, this man delights in the instructions of the LORD to that point that He meditates on this law day and night. This meditation is like someone saying something under their breath. The word meditate is associated with the cooing of a pigeon. Where the pigeon is making noises in low tones. So the man that delights in the Law of the LORD meditates on that Law, it is on their tongue, being spoken.

This means that

1) we are spending time in the LORD’s instruction and

2) we are committing the LORD’s instruction to memory.

Where there is the opportunity think on this instruction day and night. Where there is opportunity to speak in low tones His instruction day and night. This man is blessed because of his view and relationship with the instructions of the LORD. While the groups of the wicked, sinners and scoffers are not. There is a choice to be made a road to be taken and the choice that leads too happy is that which flows from a relationship with the LORD of the universe. No wonder psalmist wrote:

Psalm 119:72 ESV

72 The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.

Imagine your delight being equated to gold and silver pieces. That is what our delight should look like.

Here in this first two verses we have a comparison of what drives you to behave, a picture of influences that a man can have. There are those who will try to move you to behave in a way that is opposed to the law of the LORD. The author is noting that any man that goes the way of wicked, sinners, scoffers is not happy, but happiness is ultimately found by the man whose delight in the Law of the LORD.

Thankful for the Planting

Psalm 1:3–4 ESV

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.

The Tree

What are the impacts of where you delight based on your relationship. The author gives us an illustration, in the form of a simile concerning both the blessed and the wicked.

We get a contrast between the the one who delights in the law of the LORD and the wicked (those who do not delight in the law of the LORD). There are three things that the author tells us about the man who delight is in the law of the LORD.

This man is like a tree planted by streams of water. - This blessed man is planted by a stream or channel of water. The water is what provides the nutrients and needs to the vibrant tree. The tree stretches its roots to the water so that it can drink of all that it has to offer. That water in turn provides the tree what it needs to thrive, even if everything around it is barren, or dry, this water sustains this tree and the trees roots continue to reach for this water as though its life depends on it. We can look at the tree as the Blessed man and the water as the Instruction of the LORD. This instructions is what the man needs for life and because of the man’s delight in the instruction of the LORD, he seeks it and longs for it, knowing that without it he may be like those who are without and lost (we’ll get to that in a second). The tree thrives from the water, just as the man thrives from the Instruction of the LORD.

This man is like a tree that yields his fruit in the correct season - The idea of a tree bearing fruit is always dependent on its surroundings, in times of drought or times or too much rain the fruit might not come, there may not be any fruit produced. No this tree bears fruit, it yields/gives fruit in its season. When it is supposed to. For the man this fruit is obedience, where actions and words are aligned with the instruction of the LORD.

This man is like a tree that has leaves that do not wither - Think of the fall when the leaves turn all their colors, the red, orange, brown. This tree does not have leaves that do this. These leaves do not die, they do not decay. So not only does the tree produce fruit in its season, the tree is sustained in fruit yielding and other times. During those times of drought the trees leaf does not wither, during those times of blight the leaf does not wither. The man who delights in the law of the LORD is sustained, even when the conditions are not optimal, his leaves remain, in times of trial or affliction the man is still a strong vibrant tree.

Focusing back on the man, the writer says that in all he does he prospers. He is successful, because he is planted, fruitful and sustained, in his delight and through His relationship. How does this work with believers, well this leans back on the relationship and trust that we have in the LORD. The LORD works everything out, you can ask Joseph. Sold into slavery by his brothers, falsely accused of accosting Potiphar’s wife, found in jail and forgotten. In and through it all the end result is the prospering of Joseph and all of Israel, which would survive the drought and ultimately grow into a nation that God would call out.

Genesis 50:20 ESV

20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

We can see growth and molding in out affliction, that without the instruction of the LORD, we cannot understand. How else do we count it all joy as James says. Because as he says:

James 1:2–4 ESV

2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Now we get to see what the wicked looks like.

The Chaff

This is not the case for the wicked. The wicked is like straw, chaff or husks. The chaff has no weight, it is light. The chaff has no nutritional value. The chaff is pretty much useless. This is what is blown away when winnowing and separating the grain from the chaff. You toss the grain in the air and the grain falls to the ground, while the chaff is blown away by the wind. This chaff is not planted, this chaff is not yielding fruit, this chaff is simply there not sustained by anything, being blown around by the wind. No anchor, no set direction.

Thankful for the Destiny

Psalm 1:5–6 ESV

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.

Final Standing

Therefore, because of all that wicked is associated with, which does not include a delight in the Law of the LORD, the wicked has a horrible result when it comes to the judgment. There is a judgment that is ultimately given, this is the judgment of God, where we know that the Lord Jesus Christ will judge, the Psalmist is saying that when this judgment comes there is no place for the wicked man to stand, there is no place for the sinner to stand, there is no place for the scoffer stand to. In fact all of those who do not delight in the Law of the LORD, they have no place to stand in the judgment.

To drive the point home of their ultimate destination, there is no place for sinners to stand in the congregation of the righteous. Just note this, there is a congregation of the righteous. There is a gathering of people, who are considered a family, who are righteous. That is the ultimate grouping for the man who delights in the Law of the LORD. Where he may have been standing by himself/herself when it came to the group of wicked, the group of sinners and the group of scoffers. When we get to this point we get to see that

1) the man is considered righteous and

2) this man is not alone.

There is a congregation out there, with others who delight in the Law of the LORD.

We also see that the sinner is not within that congregation, so we are equating the delight with the Instruction of the LORD with the one who is righteous, and the one who is not delighting in the instruction of the LORD as the who who is felled by judgment. These are the two roads, this is why we are thankful for the Instruction of the LORD. There is no righteous with out the Instruction of the LORD, without the LORD’s faithful love.

The Way

Then we see that the LORD knows the way. The LORD knows the way of both the righteous and the wicked.

In fact the LORD acknowledges the way of the Righteous, the LORD affirms the way of the righteous. Let’s back this up a bit.

Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, the express image of His (The Father’s) person, the image of the invisible God

If you have seen the Jesus you have seen the Father

Jesus said before Abraham was I am

Jesus kept a law that we could never keep

Jesus took on our guilt and shame and provided us His righteousness

Jesus was hung on a cross and died for our sins

Jesus was buried in a borrowed tomb

Jesus was raised on the third day

Believing in this Gospel makes one righteous

The Righteous are justified before the LORD.

They are those who believe in Christ,

The Righteous are the ones who do not have their iniquity count against them,

The Righteous are those whose transgressions have been forgiven

The Righteous are those whose sins have been covered.

The righteous are found only in Christ.

Christ is the living water that quenches the righteous one’s thirst forever.

Jesus Christ is the light and the life of men,

In Christ we bear fruit and apart from Him we can do nothing,

In Christ we prosper, with an inheritance that is undefiled, unfading and imperishable

In Christ we are sustained for our future home, where He is coming back to get us

The LORD knows the way of the Righteous, God made the way of the righteous. There is no righteous apart from God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) that way is found in Christ and Christ alone (John 14:6).

John 14:6 ESV

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

The LORD also know the way of the wicked and where that leads. The way of the wicked leads to perishing, leads to destruction, leads to being lost. So fam let us rejoice as those who are on the way of the righteous, but let us mourn and for those that are on the way of the wicked.