Being Blessed

Being Blessed Psalms 1:1-3 Online Sermon: http://www.mckeesfamily.com/?page_id=3567 “Blessed is the One” Imagine for a moment that the Lord appears and gives you the option of either door #1 or door #2. He explains that behind door number one is the ultimate freedom to live your life in any manner you choose. You have the freedom to create your own morality and change it based on your circumstances. You will feel pleasure living behind door #1 from indulging in the broad path of self-gratification but it will be Tony Evans, “Scripture Gives Spiritual Blessing,” in Tony Evans Sermon Archive (Tony Evans, 2015), Ps 1:1–3. 2 Tony Evans, “Scripture Gives Spiritual Blessing,” in Tony Evans Sermon Archive (Tony Evans, 2015), Ps 1:1–3. 3 Robert G. Bratcher and William David Reyburn, A Translator’s Handbook on the Book of Psalms, UBS Handbook Series (New York: United Bible Societies, 1991), 16. 1 fleeting, forever leaving you an ache in your soul for something more that you cannot define, nor can you satisfy! Jesus then tells you that behind door #2 you will have to choose to forfeit your freedom to live your life your way and submit to His word as the lamp unto your feet. Your morality will be defined the narrow path of His word and as such will be known and unchangeable. You will feel unspeakable joy because you will be blessed beyond all measure and the ache within your soul will be filled with the Lord’s presence who is your Rock, Salvation, and portion forever. Which door would you choose? Those who are born again and have chosen door #2 do you feel blessed beyond all measure?1 Being blessed is not about the accumulation of money, fame or power; for those things are worldly, here today and gone tomorrow (Luke 12:2234).2 Nor is being blessed a product of being in good circumstances3 for many a believer has “suffered pain, or pine in sickness, endured losses and crosses, and yet in it all has been a blessed person.”4 Nor is being blessed a feeling of joy that merely comes from doing philanthropic deeds.5 Being blessed is not only being content in all situations (Philippian 4:11-13)6 but being in a state of overwhelming, indescribable peace and joy that can only come from being in God’s presence and basking in His glory! C. H. Spurgeon, “The Truly Blessed Man,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 57 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1911), 469. 5 Willem A. VanGemeren, “Psalms,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 5 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1991), 53. 6 Tony Evans, “Scripture Gives Spiritual Blessing,” in Tony Evans Sermon Archive (Tony Evans, 2015), Ps 1:1–3. 4 1|P age Being blessed is a “sense of well-being” that comes from having the living waters (John 4:14) flow within one’s soul and the Good Shepherd to guide one’s every footstep (John 10:1-21)! It is the security of knowing one’s life is unshakeable because one is standing upon the Rock (Psalms 18:1-2) of one’s salvation or being under His wings of divine protection (Psalms 91). “Blessedness is not deserved but a gift from God.”7 While access to blessedness is offered unto all those who believe it is only received when one continually rejects door #1, the ways of this world,8 and has one’s mind renewed by meditating and following God’s commands as given in His holy word (Romans 12:1-2)! The following sermon is going to explore the steps we as believers need to take to be truly blessed as given in Psalms 1:1-3. Willem A. VanGemeren, “Psalms,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 5 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1991), 53. 8 C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Psalms 1-26, vol. 1 (London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers, n.d.), 1. 9 Tony Evans, “Scripture Gives Spiritual Blessing,” in Tony Evans Sermon Archive (Tony Evans, 2015), Ps 1:1–3. 7 Does not Walk with Sinners To become truly blessed by God king David begins by stating what we must not do,9 follow the ways of this world. David says believers are “not to walk in step with the wicked or stand in their way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers” (verse 1). While we are called to let our light shine (Matthew 5:16) and become all things to win some to Christ (1 Corinthians 9:22) this does not mean we do so by emulating their walk upon the dark path that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:14).10 While many of this world are not drunkards or swearers but instead easy-going, respectable, good neighbors11 it is easy take their advice, walk in their shoes and eventually find our home in choosing our own path to live12 rather than submitting to the Lord’s right to rule over our lives. David says once a believer no longer seeks or follows the advice of his/her Creator it becomes incredibly easy to indulge in the sins of this world without even knowing that one has done so!13 And with a world rather than a God 10 Gerald H. Wilson, Psalms, vol. 1, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), 94. 11 C. H. Spurgeon, “The Truly Blessed Man,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 57 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1911), 471. 12 Tony Evans, “Scripture Gives Spiritual Blessing,” in Tony Evans Sermon Archive (Tony Evans, 2015), Ps 1:1–3. 13 C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Psalms 1-26, vol. 1 (London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers, n.d.), 1–2. 2|P age centered view14 it becomes very tempting to critique others15 and even mock those who are trying to walk on the narrow path that leads to righteousness. Even though no believer is truly righteous, blessed are those who refuse to “dwell in the tents of wickedness”16 and strive to live holy lives for they truly believe better is a day in God’s court than a thousand without Him (Psalms 84:10)! Remember those who have chosen door #1 can “do a thousand things which the saint cannot do and would not if he (she) could: and the Christian can do a thousand things of which the sinner knows nothing!”17 Delights in the Law Even though there is no one truly righteous (Romans 10:3-12)18 believers can still be blessed by God. It is not the impossible goal of sinlessness but inviting the Holy Spirit to plow furrows of righteousness into one’s heart by reading and obeying His word that leads to receiving God’s blessings! Tony Evans, “Scripture Gives Spiritual Blessing,” in Tony Evans Sermon Archive (Tony Evans, 2015), Ps 1:1–3. 15 Tony Evans, “Scripture Gives Spiritual Blessing,” in Tony Evans Sermon Archive (Tony Evans, 2015), Ps 1:1–3. 16 Chris Benfield, “Are You in the Way?,” in Pulpit Pages: Old Testament Sermons (Mount Airy, NC: Chris Benfield, 2015), 518. 17 C. H. Spurgeon, “The Truly Blessed Man,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 57 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1911), 471–472. 18 James Montgomery Boice, Psalms 1–41: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005), 17. 19 Tony Evans, “Scripture Gives Spiritual Blessing,” in Tony Evans Sermon Archive (Tony Evans, 2015), Ps 1:1–3. 14 “The Bible is the the inerrant, without error, Word of God. It is the Voice of God in print. When you read the Bible, you are reading a letter from the living God. You’re not just reading words by a great writer on pages that are to inspire you.”19 Even though a blood-washed sinner, quickened by the Holy Spirit, cannot read the Bible and be indifferent or unchanged”20 a lukewarm one certainly can. “Do not billions of Bibles exist in many scores of translations”21 and yet they are often left unread, occasionally glanced at, or weighed and manipulated to justify one’s own sin!22 To receive God’s blessings King David says God’s word must be our “companion and hourly guide”23 ordering our very footsteps away from the “wicked devices of carnal men and women”24 into His glorious presence. We are to rejoice in His right to rule over our lives!25 The Bible is not a “self-taught composition of imperfect men 20 C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Psalms 1-26, vol. 1 (London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers, n.d.), 1. 21 James Montgomery Boice, Foundations of the Christian Faith: A Comprehensive & Readable Theology (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1986), 493. 22 James Montgomery Boice, Foundations of the Christian Faith: A Comprehensive & Readable Theology (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1986), 493. 23 C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Psalms 1-26, vol. 1 (London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers, n.d.), 2. 24 C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Psalms 1-26, vol. 1 (London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers, n.d.), 1. 25 C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Psalms 1-26, vol. 1 (London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers, n.d.), 2. 3|P age like ourselves but the words of our eternal God,” 26 a so to speak “holy place where we can meet and have fellowship with Him.”27 One reads the word of God not out of a sense of duty but with the knowledge that to not do so would leave a “vacuum in our lives”28 that would soon be filled with the sinful ways of this world. Those who are blessed do not read His word with dread of His commands29 but instead delight for obeying them is the key to receiving the desires of one’s heart,30 i.e., pleasing and drawing nearer to Him. Contained within God’s glorious love letter are words of justice, wisdom, absolute truth, and the bread by which our souls are fed and when obeyed the key to storing up eternal treasures for all of eternity!31 So, if we want to be blessed let us take delight in His words that often take us on “winds of eagles”32 into His glorious presence of grace not as those condemned but blood-atoned children seeking a crumb from the Master’s table! 26 James Montgomery Boice, Foundations of the Christian Faith: A Comprehensive & Readable Theology (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1986), 495. 27 James Montgomery Boice, Foundations of the Christian Faith: A Comprehensive & Readable Theology (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1986), 495. 28 C. H. Spurgeon, “The Truly Blessed Man,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 57 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1911), 472. 29 R. A. Torrey, The Voice of God in the Present Hour (New York; Chicago; Toronto; London; Edinburgh: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1917), 199. 30 C. H. Spurgeon, “The Truly Blessed Man,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 57 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1911), 473. 31 C. H. Spurgeon, “The Truly Blessed Man,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 57 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1911), 474. 32 C. H. Spurgeon, “The Truly Blessed Man,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 57 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1911), 474. A blessed person is so delighted in God’s laws that he/she meditates on His word’s day and night!33 We are not to read the Bible to amass information with some pharisaic fantasy of knowledge equating to righteousness. We are to meditate upon God’s word by the illumination and power of the Holy Spirit with not only the intent of submission but also the expectation of God keeping us on His narrow, righteous path (Psalms 119:9)!34 In mediation one ponders, recalls and allows God’s beautiful love letter to 35 interact with one’s mind in a manner so intense that His Spirit fed words plow furrows into one’s very heart36 and becomes the food by which one renews one’s mind and stays spiritually healthy.37 In meditating the believer desires the spiritual food of God’s word to become not just words to tickle the ears but become so absorbed into their being that His words become the guiding light by which one lives.38 Meditation is “talking about what you hear, and working on it, rolling it over in your Tony Evans, “Scripture Gives Spiritual Blessing,” in Tony Evans Sermon Archive (Tony Evans, 2015), Ps 1:1–3. 34 James Montgomery Boice, Foundations of the Christian Faith: A Comprehensive & Readable Theology (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1986), 492. 35 Tony Evans, “Scripture Gives Spiritual Blessing,” in Tony Evans Sermon Archive (Tony Evans, 2015), Ps 1:1–3. 36 Tony Evans, “Scripture Gives Spiritual Blessing,” in Tony Evans Sermon Archive (Tony Evans, 2015), Ps 1:1–3. 37 James Montgomery Boice, Foundations of the Christian Faith: A Comprehensive & Readable Theology (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1986), 496. 38 Tony Evans, “Scripture Gives Spiritual Blessing,” in Tony Evans Sermon Archive (Tony Evans, 2015), Ps 1:1–3. 33 4|P age mind”39 from the Lord’s point of view with the glorious expectation that in doing so the Spirit of truth will not let one’s own sins and worldly fantasies give one a bad interpretation that results His words becoming “dull, oppressive or meaningless!”40 Those who are blessed do not “carve out” time in their busy lives to meditate on God’s word but instead choose to place it first on their daily calendars with all other events becoming secondary in importance.41 If Christians are to “live on a spiritual island”42 of being in this world but not part of it then as the song says “heaven must come down and glory fill their souls” 43 with His truth. One is not to merely know His word but live it as one who “wholeheartedly trusts in the Lord (Proverbs 3:1-6)”44 to secure one’s feet on the very best path for one’s life … may His will be done! Tony Evans, “Scripture Gives Spiritual Blessing,” in Tony Evans Sermon Archive (Tony Evans, 2015), Ps 1:1–3. 40 James Montgomery Boice, Foundations of the Christian Faith: A Comprehensive & Readable Theology (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1986), 499. 41 James Montgomery Boice, Foundations of the Christian Faith: A Comprehensive & Readable Theology (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1986), 496. 42 Willem A. VanGemeren, “Psalms,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 5 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1991), 55. 43 Tony Evans, “Scripture Gives Spiritual Blessing,” in Tony Evans Sermon Archive (Tony Evans, 2015), Ps 1:1–3. 39 Prospering on the Right Path The results of rejecting door #1, walking, standing, or siting with sinners, but instead choosing door #2, having delight and meditating on God’s laws, King David says is that we will be like a tree planted by streams of water (Psalms 1:3a). What a delightful horticultural image of God’s blessing!45 To be lifted from the “miry muck of sin” that so easily entangled us and by the mighty hand of our Creator and to be planted beside the still waters of “His pardon and grace”46 that nourish and sustain our souls is a blessing that is of infinite value!47 Though believers live in the dry and barren lands of mockers48 they remain “substantial, prominent, visible”49 and unshakeable in their desire to do the will of God the Father in heaven. The winds of trials and persecution cannot blow and quench the Willem A. VanGemeren, “Psalms,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 5 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1991), 55. 45 D. A. Carson, ed., NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018), 877. 46 C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Psalms 1-26, vol. 1 (London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers, n.d.), 2. 47 Chris Benfield, “Are You in the Way?,” in Pulpit Pages: Old Testament Sermons (Mount Airy, NC: Chris Benfield, 2015), 520. 48 James Montgomery Boice, Psalms 1–41: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005), 17. 49 Tony Evans, “Scripture Gives Spiritual Blessing,” in Tony Evans Sermon Archive (Tony Evans, 2015), Ps 1:1–3. 44 5|P age unspeakable joy50 of such a blessed person because he/she is being continually nourished by God’s divine grace!51 You know you are a blessed person when circumstances of life try to drag you into a well of devastation and depression only to find the sap of God’s grace and being in the root of Christ’s vine52 has made you not only be content in all circumstances53 but having a river of rejoicing that has no limits! Though tribulation often makes those who chose door #1 experience the “winds of uncertainly and unbelief”54 in the god they serve, self; the blessed are able to stand firmly because what their heart truly desires is God’s love and approval which is never taken away from those who stand on the rock of their salvation and His holy word! The blessed can withstand any trial that comes their way with rejoicing for unlike those of door #1 who live a futile, worthless, and godless lives leading to inevitable judgement in hell,55 the blessed wait with great anticipation for the day the Lord will return and take them home to be with Him! Tony Evans, “Scripture Gives Spiritual Blessing,” in Tony Evans Sermon Archive (Tony Evans, 2015), Ps 1:1–3. 51 C. H. Spurgeon, “The Truly Blessed Man,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 57 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1911), 470. 52 C. H. Spurgeon, “The Truly Blessed Man,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 57 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1911), 475. 53 Tony Evans, “Scripture Gives Spiritual Blessing,” in Tony Evans Sermon Archive (Tony Evans, 2015), Ps 1:1–3. 54 Chris Benfield, “Are You in the Way?,” in Pulpit Pages: Old Testament Sermons (Mount Airy, NC: Chris Benfield, 2015), 519. 50 And in conclusion King David says those who delight and meditate on God’s laws will yield fruit in season and their leaves will not wither but in whatever they do they will prosper (Psalms 1:3b)! When David says “prosperity” in this verse he is not referring to worldly things such as money, fame, and power, albeit sometimes God does grant His own these things.56 Charles Spurgeon once said, If the Lord did not look after us in our best days, we should perish by the sunstroke of too much prosperity, and if he did not watch us in our worst days, we should be frost-killed by the cruel Arctic winds of adversity.57 After having been chased by Saul for over a decade David knew full well that “blessings are often concealed in a righteous person’s crosses, losses, and sorrows.”58 Prosperity for a righteous person is found in producing fruit in God’s kingdom! “A person may study everything else in the world, psychology, philosophy, pedagogy, and even theology, but if one does not study the Word of God, one is not fitted for real work for God. One will have no measure of success in winning 55 James Montgomery Boice, Psalms 1–41: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005), 18. 56 R. A. Torrey, The Voice of God in the Present Hour (New York; Chicago; Toronto; London; Edinburgh: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1917), 208. 57 C. H. Spurgeon, “The Truly Blessed Man,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 57 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1911), 476. 58 C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Psalms 1-26, vol. 1 (London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers, n.d.), 2. 6|P age souls.”59 Once one “has been washed in the fountain filled with blood, and clothed with the righteousness of Christ,”60 through the power of the Holy Spirit one can do “God’s good pleasure”61 and bring forth much fruit in the His season. So, let me finish by asking you a few questions to ponder and take to heart. Have you chosen door #2 and are now part of Christ’s vine and if so, can you join king David and fervently say that you are blessed by producing much fruit in His kingdom? If you are not blessed, is this because you are walking, standing, or sitting far too often in the sinners or scourer’s seat or are your dead leaves the result of not delighting and meditating on God’s word day or night? 59 R. A. Torrey, The Voice of God in the Present Hour (New York; Chicago; Toronto; London; Edinburgh: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1917), 207–208. 60 C. H. Spurgeon, “The Truly Blessed Man,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 57 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1911), 470. C. H. Spurgeon, “The Truly Blessed Man,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 57 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1911), 470. 61 7|P age