Psalm 1 - The way of the blessed.

Psalm 1 - The way of the blessed. CT- I am blessed as I delight in the Word of God. This psalm is the introduction Psalm to the book. Similar to how you get a first impression of a book by the preface or the first few pages, this Psalm sets the stage for the largest book in the Bible. The Psalms is the song book of the Bible. Illustration - If you are older, you remember when you bought an album at the music store. For me it was Camelot Music at the mall. Inside the album lyrics were printed in a booklet or back of a cover. People wanted the lyrics. The first band to ever print lyrics in an album was the Beetles, in their Sergeant Pepper album. The Psalms are the lyric book that God gave His people to sing from.

Have you Ever notice how on an album of your favorite group the first song sets the tone of the whole album. Psalm 1 does the very same thing for the 150 Psalms. What is the first word in the Psalms?

“Blessed”

God desires His people to “Be Blessed”

Point 1, Be Blessed Blessed is hung out like a sign in the passage. It’s the first thing you encounter and you can’t miss it.

The first subject or emphasis from God is not sin, not repentance, not judgement, not shame, but Blessed.

-This tells us a little something about God’s Heart for you.

-God desires goodness for His people. What is blessed? -Contented -Satisfied, When your soul is glad. -Not giddy, not silly, but blessed. -Satisfied -It is that experience in your quiet time, after you have read God’s Word and prayed

You are sitting there and you are struck with a very serious joy and peace in the greatness and goodness of God. -A serious joy.

The Joy of a Christ follower is not based on being happy that we shot the biggest deer, caught a trophy fish , have a large bank account, or our favorite ball team won. -A serious joy is a joy that has as it’s foundation treasures that are eternal.

-Treasures that won’t fade away. Treasures that don’t get old and boring. Treasures that won’t ever go out of style. -If you are a Christ Follower you are wealthy beyond measure because you have the love and forgiveness of Jesus. You have eternity in heaven where your heart is continually satisfied in the greatness of God.

-Our blessing is a serious joy in God’s eternal provision that no one can take away. Transition - You know Jonathan, even though I am a Christ Follower sometimes I don’t feel so blessed.

My friend... -To be blessed you must value what God values or you’ll miss the blessing. -To be blessed you must love what God loves, or your affections will be misguided. -To be blessed you must think like God thinks, or your thoughts will land on shallow things. Choose to love now - what God loves -When you are in heaven, you won’t care about your grand children’s base ball record. -When you are in heaven, you won’t worry about if you are good looking enough. -When in heaven you wont care if that someone you are looking for validation from approves of you or not. You will only care about what Jesus thinks. You will only care about what Jesus loves. Why not start now and be blessed. -Learn to soak in the serious joy that loves what God is doing spiritually. Let me ask you this question - -When was the last time that you have been struck with a serious joy and peace in the greatness and goodness of God?

-Maybe you need to spend some prayer time with God.

Sometimes you are struck with this serious joy at the end of corporate worship, or maybe at the end of a prayer time with a friend. -Many times it is after you have spent time with God one on one. At the end of you quiet time you take a minute to meditate on how amazing God is. What does it tell us about God that the first word in His Song book of praise concerns the Blessing of His People. God is a God of blessing. He wants His children to be blessed. He wants you to be blessed. He wants your spirit to be filled up with spiritual goodness. Transition - He goes on to give instructions on how your spirit is to be filled up.

Point 2, The way of blessing There are 2 ways to be blessed. By doing and by not doing.

There are blessing from what we include in our life and blessings from what we remove from our life. First we see that we are spiritually blessed by what we remove from our life. vs. 1

Read verse 1

-You have heard it said that, “You are the sum total of the 5 people you surround yourself with.” -Which means the people around us will powerfully influence our lives. -Teenagers, The people you surround yourself with significantly influence your life. Look at the pattern of sin in verse 1. Notice that the pattern of sin goes from bad to worse. Read Psalm 1:1 Notice the progression - -Walking in the counsel of the wicked. There is a walking and a flirting with sinful thought. -The standing in the way of sinners. standing around taking with and spending time with the sinful. You are positioning yourself with the godless. -Sitting in the seat of scoffers. -You have sat down and taken your place with those who reject God’s way. You are taking up residence with the sinful, allowing your identity to become sinful. Our flesh has a desire to sin. A bent to sin.

You and I everyday have to actively confront the selfish attitude we have on the inside and intentionally remove sin from our lives. Illustration I was witnessing to a man this past week. In sharing Jesus, I was emphasizing that even though I am a pastor my works would never be good enough for salvation. I was telling him that even as a pastor I make sinful mistakes. That every day I sin before 9am and I’m not even trying to sin on purpose. Every wrong attitude or thought I have is sin and I need forgiveness for that... ...that I need Jesus work in my life. Psalm 1:1 tells us that As Christ Followers, we must keep putting to death our sinful & selfish thoughts, attitudes, and actions. Let me ask you 2 questions - What people in your life do you need to remove that are pulling you down spiritually? Question - In the digital world where we spend more and more time on devices, who online is influencing your life that needs to be removed? Illustration - Maybe the illustration of 2 the house on 2 different foundations. Psalm 1 has a very similar connection to Matthew 7:24-27 There were 2 men who lived in a valley with a picturesque large stream that ran through it. On the sides of the valley were rocky mountains. One man wanted to build close to the large stream so he could trout fish out of His backyard. He wanted the area around his house to be grassy & lush, so he built his house there by the stream. The sandy soil leveled out nicely for his foundation. The 2nd man was more of a planner than an artisan. He wanted a house of strength more than beauty. He loved the lush valley, but decided to build his house near the valley, but on the edge of the mountain, on a rock outcropping. It took a lot more work. He had to clear the area, build a road, haul timber high up. Leveling the place for the foundation was more difficult. It took him a year longer and twice the money, but he got it done. Eventually a tropical storm out of the Gulf blew in and they got 20 inches of rain in 24 hours. -The man on the mountain side sat by his fire with his pipe in hand watching the storm. -The man who’s house that was next to the creek evacuated and his house torn apart by creek that turned into a raging river. Summary or transition. Transition - Then in the 2nd verse - we come to a beautiful word in the Bible in the beginning of verse 2. “But”, every good story has a big but in it. the “But” tells us something is about to change. Usually bad news is about to become good news.

A big but is good news. What is that good news. Look at verse 2

Those who “delight” are blessed. (x2) You say, No - No, the blessed get to delight (in the blessing). The reward of being blessed is delighting. NO, this case it is different. God breaks the logic. - The blessing comes after the delighting.

The one who will be bless is blessed because he has chosen that His heart will rejoice that He has God’s Word and that He is directed by God’s Word.

-In fact, He loves God’s Word so much He can’t get it out of His mind. Illustration - Have you ever had someone or something so important happen that you could not get it out of your mind? -If it was a tragedy, it haunted you. -If it was a success it excited you. -Maybe as a child it was a potential Christmas gift you could not get out of your mind. -Maybe as a teenager it was a crush. -Maybe there job that you really wanted...

The one who is blessed is blessed because he can’t get God’s Word out of his mind.

-He delights on it day and night. -Having the very words of God that you can live by is the greatest of blessings. -Without God’s Word we would be lost in a sea of moral and spiritual chaos. -With God’s word our life is given direction and meaning. -With God’s Word we know that we can be saved and be sure of that salvation. -With God’s Word we know we can be loved eternally and be assured of a never ending love by our creator. -With God’s Word our families are directed on how to work together. -Through God’s Word, our life is ordered - healthy boundaries are provided. -Our Soul feeds on God’s Word, is strengthened by God’s Word, it is lifted by God’s Word. -God’s Word is the greatest gift we could be given. What is the response to this amazing gift? Vs. 2

Delighting and meditating. We are to delight & meditate on it day and night. God’s Word is the greatest gift you have been given. Greater than your spouse and your children. Only second to God Himself. God’s Word is so precious that we are to keep the affections of our heart on it.... We are to read it. Study it. Think about it. Teach it to others. Obey it. and memorize it, and follow it. Verse 2 challenges us in one of the most significant areas of our life. Our affections. We are called to delight.

It is easy to control your actions. It is even easy to train your mind. God challenges you to lead you affections toward Him. Do you know what the difference is between the person who follows self in verse 1 versus the person who follows God’s Word in verse 2? One is in love with sin and selfishness, and one is in love with God.

We all worship something. We all delight in something. Transition - What is the consequence to delighting in God and His Word?

Verse 3 tells us.

The Blessed Result, vs. 3 You will be like a mightily nourished tree. illustration - Do you know why it is difficult to fish from the bank of a pond or a river?

Everything wants to grow by it. tall grass, small saplings, big old trees... And why do they want to grow in that spot? There is a nourishment that never runs dry.

Even when the pond or creek dries up the ground the deep soil is saturated.

Not only does the tree get water, but it gets nutrients from the thick organic matter that’s rotting at the bottom of the water. The tree feeds on the nutrients. This is where you find the Christ Follower. Feasting on the nutrients of God’s Word. Delighting in the connection that we have with a holy and loving God through His Word. What is the person like who delights in God’s law?

-Fruitful. God’s Word WILL effect you and you WILL bare fruit in your life.

If you wonder why your life is not bearing spiritual fruit look first at your time in God’s Word. -You know that person that you spiritually admire? Do you know how they go to the place they are spiritually?

-Most are not that way because they are incredibly gifted. There are a lot of gifted, but sorry people around.

-They grew to where they are spiritually by faithfully taking in God’s Word and humbly allowing it to teach them.

-Like a mighty oak, they humbly grew to where they are now.

Vs. 3 tells is -”In all that person does they prosper.” Why?

They live by an eternal supernatural wisdom.

The rudder of their life is controlled by Jesus, not self.

-Who is steering your ship? -AND When the pain of life comes. They are not moved. Illustration - 3 1/2 years ago on the 3rd row a middle age man and wife were in this church. She had a walker. Her name is Donna Morris. She is expected to die in less than 60 days. She has very advanced Parkinson’s disease. She is forgetting how to swallow and drink.

-In the difficulty... -She and her husband have continued to love Jesus until the end. -They planted a church together in the last 3 years. -In the darkest time of their marriage, they are both proclaiming that God is good.

-They both are people who delight in God’s Word. Transition - But there are those who do not delight in God and His Word, who steer their own ship.

The curse of the wicked, vs 4-6

Spiritually unbelievers are like chaff.

There is no spiritual root, spiritually they are blown all over. Wheat - Golden, flowing in the wind, may be useful, but only lasts for a season and is gone. It doesn’t last. Chaff is not useful at all. It has no nutritional value. No spiritual nutritional value. Chaff comes from a hedge row crop (wheat or barley).

Picture of chaff wagon in India.

A large load of chaff.

Indian herdsman feed this to their cattle.

It makes the belly full, but doesn’t bring any strength. No nutrients. The animal gets filled up, all the while it is starving.

Chaff fills you up while you starve. Follow the analogy - Isn’t this exactly like sinful temptation? We feed on what has little or no nutrients. In the moment we feel full, but in reality our soul is starving. -But our unbelieving world pushes worthless things in our face and says, “Worship this”. Spiritually eat this. When you do, you feel full for a little while, but you soon realize that you are spiritually starving to death. Transition - There is blessing in delighting in God’s Word. There is judgement in delighting in sin. The judgement of the unrepentant. -At the queen of Englands recent Platinum Jubilee a 4 year old boy Prince Louis made a lot of very cute faces and inappropriate faces that embarased his mom.

Pictures -Now in the headlines there is debate on if this child is a typical 4 year old boy, or a spoiled Brat.

-Children get spoiled when there are no consequences for misbehavior.

-Our culture does not believe in sin (as God sees it).

Does not believe in consequences for sin. -Certainly doesn’t believe in eternal judgement.

But verse 5 tells us .... There is judgement

The wicked are like chaff. They have no righteous strength on their own. They cannot stand in the judgement of God. They literally will be blown away into the fires of hell.

-There will be judgement and consequence for sin and unbelief.

-At the end of your life your will stand before God and give an account. -You will give an account for your delighted in God and His law. -If you are not a delighter in God and His Word, but delight in sin, God will judge you...

Transition - We close with an encouragement to the Christ Follower.

Close

Here an encouragement from verse 6.

If you are regularly in God’s Word, God sees and knows you faithfulness.

He knows you time in God’s Word is like riding in a glass bottom boat.

Where you look, study, notice, and delight in every detail.

Would you keep: reading

Keep listening to God’s Word.

Keep thinking about God’s Word.

Keep Journaling about God’s Word

Keep Memorizing God’s Word

Pray