This is the Way
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· 8 viewsLife is about trustingg in God by taking Him at His Word. God loves to be trusted. Our faith is revealed, affirmed, and strengthened by choosing God's way to live - the way of the righteous.
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This is the Way
This is the Way
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.
PRAY
In the beginning, God created everything, including man and woman. He set mankind apart from the rest of Creation to have a special relationship with us. In order for us to have this relationship, God created us in His image, according to His likeness, and He breathed life into us.
We are not animals. One of the biggest things the differentiates us from animals is our God-given ability to make choices. Now, yes, animals make choices, too, but they are not reasoned choices, they are instinctive. Some, for sure can be taught, but none have the ability to know the Creator. None have the opportunity to trust in His word, and therefore to be pleasing to Him and to live in a close relationship with Him.
We can. And it is because God gave us the opportunity to make choices that we have this ability.
We make choices all the time:
How many cups of coffee to drink or donuts to eat
how to manage our resources of time and money
to come to church today
if, when, and where to wear face coverings
We get to make all sorts of decisions. We have a will.
Our decisions matter. Whether made in public for the world to see, or even more in private where our integrity is most tested, our decisions matter. It is how we honor, glorify, and love our Creator.
We want to make the right choice.
We WANT to drink the right amount of coffee and eat the right amount of donuts
We WANT to manage our resources of time and money well
We WANT to live a godly life and serve our family, church, and community well
HOW DO WE DO THIS? Which way is the right way? We want to chose the way the Lord would chose for us.
The Psalms are the best place to learn about the character of God. Here we find who He is and what He finds important.
It is no accident that Psalm 1 is the first psalm. It puts the cookies on the lower shelf. It is straight forward.
TWO WAYS
TWO WAYS
There are essentially TWO WAYS to go. The Psalmist first starts with the RIGHT WAY - there is a choice.
The Way of the Righteous
The Way of the Righteous
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!
Blessed = happy
Must have a negative choice to give opportunity to trust and make positive choice
Garden of Eden
Progression:
walk in the counsel of the wicked
stand in the path of sinners
sit in the seat of scoffers
WICKED = do not obey God’s Word
SINNERS = engaged in willful sinning
SCOFFERS = blatantly against God
Lot:
Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the valley, and moved his tents as far as Sodom.
They also took Lot, Abram’s nephew, and his possessions and departed, for he was living in Sodom.
Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground.
A Slippery Slope
A Slippery Slope
James 2, 5
Sin of Commission
Sin of Omission
"I believe there is a place
Where people live in perfect peace
Where there is food on every plate
Where work is rewarded and rest is sweet
Where the color of your skin
Won't get you in or keep you out
Where justice reigns and truth finally wins
Its hard fought war against fear and doubt
I believe there'll come a time
Lord I pray it's not too far off
There'll be no poverty or crime
There'll be no greed and we will learn how to love
And children will be safe in their homes
And there'll be no violence out on the streets
The old will not be left alone
And the strong will learn how to care for the weak
And everyone I know hopes it comes real soon
But when I ask 'em where I'd find it they seem so confused
Do I find it in the day?
Do I find it in the night?
When I finally ask the world they give me this advice
Well they said boy you just follow your heart
But my heart just led me into my chest
They said follow your nose
But the direction changed every time I went and turned my head
And they said boy you just follow your dreams
But my dreams were only misty notions
But the Father of hearts and the Maker of noses
And the Giver of dreams He's the one I have chosen, and I will follow Him.”
Maker of Noses, Rich Mullins
BUT…
now for the positive way, the RIGHT WAY.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
delight - pleasure, value, purpose, willingly pursue
Law of the LORD - the torah - instruction, God’s Word
Meditates - actively engaged - devise, mutter, utter, moan, meditate
A godly person is influenced not by unrighteous people but by his meditation on the Word of God. Such meditation necessarily involves study and retention. This is possible only if he has a desire to do so, here referred to as a delight. The psalmists found direction, not drudgery, from the Law of God.
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.
Like a Tree
streams of water - constant, fresh, nourishing supply for life
water causes proper growth toward producing fruit at the PROPER TIME
leaf does not wither
Jonah - God sends a scorching east wind to test his faith
The grass withers, the flower fades,
When the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.
“And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.
The Way of the Wicked
The Way of the Wicked
The wicked are not so,
But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
“Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
“The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”
But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position;
and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away.
For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.
Wicked:
The Hebrew word rāšā‘ is often translated wicked (cf. vv. 1, 5–6) but that may connote gross evil. People described by rāšā‘ are not in covenant relationship with God; they live according to their passions. They are not godly. They may do kind and charitable deeds, but God’s evaluation of them is that they are without eternal merit.
Ross, A. P. (1985). Psalms. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, pp. 790–791). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
Chaff - the worthless part of the grain that is discarded. NOT FRUITFUL. NOT WORTH ANYTHING
SO WHAT?
SO WHAT?
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.
Here is the standard of the judgment - What does God know about you? Have you obeyed His word?
What are you told to do?
To trust in Jesus Christ.
God created man
Man sinned - YOU SINNED
By sinning, you incurred the debt of death, which you cannot pay
But Jesus, being fully God and fully man, having no sin of His own, could willingly, obediently pay to reconcile you to your Creator - He made things right
God raised Him from the dead, so that we, too, can live
Belief/trust in any other way is disobedience. It is the way of the wicked, and it will not work, it will not lead to life.
wrap up
Each day, every day we have the opportunity to choose.
Which way are you going to choose to live?
How?
Starts with trusting in Jesus Christ for salvation.
Spend time in His word EVERY DAY
7-minute plan
5-Psalms/day
Pray and ask for His wisdom in living out His Word.
Then go do what He says
“This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.