Happy Days (Psalm 1:1-6).

“Many people grew up watching The Beverly Hillbillies—Jed Clampett, Elly May, and Jethro. That was a fun show to watch. It really was a show about folks trying to get used to being rich. These folks didn’t know how to act when they discovered how rich they were. So here’s a question. Jed Clampett one day hit black gold. He hit oil. How long had Jed Clampett been a millionaire? Did he become a millionaire on the day that he inadvertently came across the fact that there was oil, or had he been a millionaire and just was an uninformed one? There are a lot of spiritual Jed Clampetts walking around today who have untold wealth of which they are unaware.”

True happiness is in loving the Lord and His Word.

To Truly be blessed in life we focus on God’s word. We focus on what it says then we live it out. We draw from it and then share the fruit it produces in us. By this, we prosper in all we do because we have given out what the Lord has produced in us.

Let us look at the text for today. This is Psalm 1:1-6.

In this text we see:

Influence or Influencers (vv. 1-2)

In this we are guilty by association.

We see a set of negatives that lead to positives in verses 1-2.

In the negatives we see a progression of what happens when we decide to go with the wicked.

We see:

first, walk in the counsel of the wicked

second, stands in the way of sinners

third, sits in the seat of scoffers.

This is a progression of how it goes. When we start listening to the wicked we eventually stand with them and eventually sit with them. We fall into their ways. We become like them. As James said, “Then desire when it is conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death” (Jas. 1:15).

That is exactly what happens in this progression of bad to worst here in this Psalm. We start out just listening, then before we know it we are just like the scoffers who mock God. And we know that, “God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap” (Gal. 6:7). We also know that, “Scoffers will come…following their own sinful desires” (2 Pet. 3:3).

So to be blessed we:

do not walk with the wicked

do not stand with sinners

do not sit with scoffers

but we do delight in God’s Word

and meditate on it regularly

When we delight in God’s word we want it always. We let it be “a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Ps. 119:105). It will guide us and direct us. Just as a flashlight guides us in the dark, God’s word will guide us in this dark world.

If we meditate on it, meaning we think on it regularly, we soak it in and think about it as we go through the day, we will always have it ready and able to deliver the message we need when we need it.

When we have this and do this we will have our own lead steer to guide us. We will have our own Old Blue, the lead steer of Charles Goodnight. He was a faithful steer that led many a trail drive for Goodnight. He led eight trips. Goodnight hung a bell around his neck and the other cattle would just follow along. That bell on that steer is like what God’s word is for us. It is the sound of which we follow and keep in line with.

If we do this then that will lead to:

A Fruitful life (vv. 3-4)

In verses 3-4 we see that the one who delights in the law of God, God’s word, and meditates on it is like a tree planted by streams of water. One that yields fruit. But the one who does not is like chaff and is blown away.

So the fruitful life of the one who delights in God and His word is one that is

a well supplied tree–just like the mesquite tree that sucks up to 20 gallons of water a day, which is a lot but the cedar tree sucks in around 33 gallons, that is the tree that you will be when you delight in God’s word and meditate on it.

and because of this you will produce the right fruit at the right time. Your fruit is produced for the good of others, not yourself. When we delight in God’s word and meditate on it we will produce the right fruit when necessary. We will have, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” when they are needed and called for. We will live a life that is pleasing to the Lord and fulfilling of the commands of the Lord to love God with our all and to love others as ourselves (Matt. 22:37-39).

also nothing will make us falter or fail. The leaf not withering is because it is well nourished. When we are well nourished by God’s word, we will not allow anything to bring us down or cause us grief. We are “trusting in the Lord with all our hearts, and not leaning on our own understanding. In all our ways we acknowledge Him and because of that He makes our paths straight” (Prov. 3:5-6). When we trust and lean on Him, we do not let the cares and worries of this world bring us down.

the last thing is we will be prosperous. Not so much as wealth or material possessions, but prosperous in the Lord. We will be joyous and happy and living the best life because we know who God is and that He is for us. As Paul wrote, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31). How true a statement that is. Nothing can be against us because we have the all-powerful sovereign God with us. That is prosperity. That is the best thing we can have. And we know this and utilize it when we delight in His word and meditate on it.

But see the wicked do not have this. No, they have nothing but uselessness and vanity. All is vanity said the preacher in Ecclesiastes. Life is vain and not of any good if you are against God. You live in a place that has glories and great things, but it is of no good to you because you think that this is all there is.

The wicked are

like chaff–the dirty leavings of wheat and other grains that was then scooped with a winnowing fork and tossed up. The chaff blew away and the good seed fell back to the floor. Chaff is good for nothing, it is useless, that is the life of the wicked.

they are blown around easily. They are tossed about and have no real direction because they have no real point in life. Every wind will blow them wherever it goes. They have no root like the well-watered tree has.

This leads to them having no stability. They have no stability because they rely on themselves alone. They trust themselves to be the one who knows the truth. We see this today with the way the world is going. The wicked think they know just what to do, yet, sadly, they do not. They are so unstable and so blown around that they do not even know from one day to the next what is right or good.

This all leads to the final points of this Psalm. That being:

Ultimate Consequences (vv. 5-6).

The wicked‘s ultimate consequence is that they will not stand in the judgment. They may be standing today and looking to be ahead and doing so good, but in the end they will not stand. They will, “at the name of Jesus every knee will bow…and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Phil. 2:10-11).

They will be separated from the righteous. They will not be with the righteous congregation. They will be outside. They mocked and scorned in this life, but in the final time, they will not be mocking or scoffing but outside. Cut off, alone, they will perish.

This perish is the everlasting torment that awaits all that reject the Lord. For all those who do not believe and do not recive everlasting life. These are the one’s that, do not believe and are “condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:18).

But the believer, the righteous one, is known by the Lord. He has the Lord with Him. Those who are known by God are God’s children. We are those who are secure in the Lord. He is our stronghold. Our fortress. We are never turned away from Him when we come to Him. He is ours and we are His. He loves us because He loves us. He sent His Son to die for us. He gives us everlasting life when we believe.

That is what it means to be blessed. We love Him and He loves us. Even better, He knows us and this means that our “Father knows exactly what you need before you ask Him” (Matt. 6:8). He knows the number of hairs on your head (Luke 12:7). When you are His, He knows you and what you need. But even better than this, we are His forever and we will be with Him forever, unlike the wicked and unbelieving.

They perish because they reject this amazing gift. They perish because they would rather take this world on alone. They perish because they want to do things their own way. They perish because they want to be God.

If you have believed you will live forever with the Lord. You will have a blessed life. You will be blessed because you have stood with the Lord and not the wicked.

“God created man for nothing else but happiness” Jonathan Edwards

18th century pastor and theologian Jonathan Edwards once said.

He did not mean the sensual pleasures of life, though. No, he meant the spiritual delight of having yourself rooted in God. By being committed and dedicated to God. The secular world we live in will not understand this. They will seek to counsel us away, seek to get us to stand with them, or to sit with them and scoff God.

But we must stand fast with the Lord and know that because He knows the way of the righteous, we have the assurance of God’s watchful care. This care is underwritten by God’s love, and that is something that everyone should want to be surrounded by.

So as you go about life this week and all other weeks ahead, know that you have an amazing God who is watching over you. He will guide you, but for you to know His guidance you must delight in His word and meditate on it day and night.

The way to do this is to get into the Word. Get into it and chew on what it says all day. When we do this we will have His word at our ready disposal to give us strength throughout all things. Jesus did not just come and die so we can spend eternity with Him when we die. No, He came and died so we could live the abundant life. Not a life of wealth and prosperity, but the abundant life. The abundant life is the blessed life. It is the fruitful life. The life where we lead others like Old Blue did. One where we give out the fruit that is produced in us by living in light of God’s word.

Get into His word. Delight in it. Love it. Learn it. And Live it. It will truly make your life blessed beyond your wildest dreams. It is an amazing blessing to us from God. It is an honor to have His word readily available.