Psalm 1
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The Prosperous Life or The Prosperity Gospel Without the Heresy
The Prosperous Life or The Prosperity Gospel Without the Heresy
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.
Intro
The desire of God for his creatures to be happy
The First Psalm is a wisdom psalm concerned with teaching us how to be happy and prosperous
Blessed and prosperity has recently been abused in our day
It is important to let God define what it means and not us
People are not happy not for a lack of want to be blessed and happy, but because they refuse to submit to what God has declared to be blessed and prosperous
I . Who is the Blessed Man
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.
A. Blessed is the man...
Blessed=happy or favored by God
God blesses us, we bless God (God favors us, we turn that favor into worship)
The opening to this Psalm sounds oddly to something important: Jesus’ sermon on the mount in Matthew 5
Psalm 1 talks of a prosperous tree and general positive vibes
Jesus: Blessed are the: poor, mournful, meek, hungry
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Jesus is referring to the proper demeanor of the sinner to enter the Kingdom Christ
Psalm 1 is talking about the life of the sinner who is now in the kingdom of Christ
If you don’t know Christ Psalm 1 will just condemn and frustrate you
If you do know Christ, take joy in this is what our King has enabled for us!
B. who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers
To described the blessed man, the psalmist starts with three negatives
The blessed man does not WALK, STAND, or SIT in the COUNSEL, WAY, or SEAT of the WICKED, SINNER, or SCOFFER
Counsel of the wicked
stands in the way of the sinners
sits in the seat of scoffers (jeers, mocks)
24 “Scoffer” is the name of the arrogant, haughty man who acts with arrogant pride.
What can we say generally about this: The person is NOT blessed who defines for himself what blessing means
Who establishes his own law and abides by it (wicked, sinner, scoffer all have turned away from God’s law)
To describe the blessed man it goes from actions on the outside to the heart:
But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night
Delight: Extreme satisfaction or desire
Meditate: To reflect or think deeply on (not in the eastern sense, but deep thought: at one time and through out the day)
If you want to know what someone delights in see where his meditation is
The blessed life is someone who meditates on God’s law because it has become his delight
Not because it’s their duty, or its the program they are doing that year, to keep my spouse or pastor happy
But the person is blessed when it is their delight to meditate on God’s law
What happens when (NOT IF) it has shifted away from becoming our delight and meditation?
We remind ourselves of the bounty of Christ’s kingdom
The blessed man is one who delights in God’s law, not their own law (sin)
This selfless way of understanding happiness runs contrary to our natural inclinations: ask people what would make them perfectly happy in this world: God’s law would probably not be found on their lips
Evangelizing the man playing basketball
II. What is the Blessed and NonBlessed Man Like?
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.
Blessed man:
A prosperous, productive tree
Nonblessed man:
Chaff
Four qualities of the productive tree
It is planted in a place where it will succeed (streams of water)
Parable of the Sower
The Father is the sower, the Father is the one who plants
2. It produces as is expected (yields its fruit in its season)
Common in our age of Christian immature to celebrate immaturity and scoff at maturity
11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
1 Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do if God permits. 4 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. 7 For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.
3. It perseveres (its leaf does not wither)
A dead tree looks as if just one storm will take it down
A lively tree looks like it can survive the storms
A blessed man who is a prosperous trees can survive the storms of life
Such a prosperous tree is planted in God’s law: presence
A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath. 1 It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; 2 to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night, 3 to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre. 4 For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy. 5 How great are your works, O Lord! Your thoughts are very deep! 6 The stupid man cannot know; the fool cannot understand this: 7 that though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever; 8 but you, O Lord, are on high forever. 9 For behold, your enemies, O Lord, for behold, your enemies shall perish; all evildoers shall be scattered. 10 But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox; you have poured over me fresh oil. 11 My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies; my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants. 12 The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. 13 They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. 14 They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, 15 to declare that the Lord is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
The blessed man is one who delights and meditates on God’s law which produces a life of lively prosperity like a tree
The final part of this Psalm is what helps us to keep from the prosperity gospel heresy while celebrating blessing and prosperity from God
Most of us would shiver at the thought of following the theology of Joel Osteen
But all of us are capable of seeing God’s prosperity and blessing in physical categories only
If I have a good job, healthy kids and spouse, nice car then I am blessed, if God takes it away my leaf may wither
28 Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.
III. The heart of the matter
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 blessed and prosperous man is the one who will stand at the day of judgement and not be thrown into the oven where the chaff goes
Blessed is the man who does not stand in the way of sinners
If the person stood in the way of sinners he will not stand in the day of judgement
The Lord knows the way of the righteous (intimate with it for it is HIS way, the law).
The way of the wicked will perish (just like useless chaff).
This does not have to be a mystery—Are you living a life right now in keeping with standing at the day of Judgement?
Judgement will just be the natural outcome of how you are living life right now
Either blessed by God, full of life—happy obedience to instruction
Or living a life of doing it your own way which has a certain deathness about it
And finally—if you are going through a season of your life right now that your circumstances are terrible
And you are thinking how am I to be happy right now when this is happening to me
Notice Psalm 1 does not say to be blessed and prosperous you must have good circumstances
You are to delight in the law of God, and meditate on it day and night—this leads to the prosperous and blessed life
You have major illness—you must dwell on the doctrine of the resurrected body
Wife your husband is hard to live with? You get to dwell on the submissive wife that is precious to God (Peter)
Child your parents are ungodly? You get to dwell on obeying your parents for this is right to the Lord
Your bad circumstances are far from keeping you from a prosperous life but are used by God to make you prosper and blessed
But if you take your circumstances for obedience to your own law—this leads to death both now and in eternity
Conclusion
This is quite “the man” isn’t it
And none of us, by our own power are like this man
Nathan’s story to David: you are the man!
Pilot’s words were rich in meaning when he said of Jesus on trial before the people: BEHOLD THE MAN
Jesus IS this man
And he has established a kingdom that enables his subjects to share in his blessedness
