We are doing a series in Psalms called Favorite Psalms, and tonight I think a very well-known psalm to many of us, and that's Psalm chapter 1. And I want to talk tonight about how to be blessable. How to be blessable. Look in verse 1. Let's read this together. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord. And in his love doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore, the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. How to be blessable. You know I think a lot of times we pray Lord bless me. I think all of us have probably at times in our life have prayed that prayer Lord bless me. But perhaps what we should pray is Lord make me blessable because I'm convinced that God does want to bless. God is not in heaven reluctantly giving out blessings because he has to. He's a God who truly wants to bless us. He wants to bless His servant. Write down Psalm 35, verse 27. You're aware of this verse? Let the Lord be magnified, which has pleasure in the prosperity of His servants. So God wants to bless. He longs to bless. He takes great pleasure in blessing His people and blessing His servants. And that's what he wants to do as we look at this chapter tonight. In fact, look at verse 3, look at the last phrase in verse 3 where it says, And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. What a promise. Now this is really a scriptural Midas touch. That whatever we put our hand to, it turns to gold. Whatever we touch, God promises to bless it. He will prosper us. Do you know men like that? It just seems like whatever they do, whatever they touch, God seems to honor it. He seems to bless it. He seems to prosper it. The Bible says of Joseph in Genesis 39 verse 2, And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man. In fact, even the ungodly in Egypt saw that because it says in verse 3, and his master saw that the Lord was with him, and he made all that he did to prosper in his hand. Now you might be sitting here tonight saying, man, I would love that kind of blessing. I would love to be able to say that anything that I put my hand to, God just seems to honor it and He seems to bless it. Well, Psalm 1 really is a psalm that teaches us how we can have that kind of prosperity in our life. and have that kind of blessing. Look at the word prosper in verse number three. It's a Hebrew word, sala, which is used 53 times in the Old Testament. Sometimes it's translated success or successful. It's used to speak of a plant flourishing, and no matter what environment you place that plant, it seems to flourish. Several times it's translated to thrive. And so this is real prosperity. Real prosperity results from the work of God in the life of the one who seeks the Lord and who puts himself in the place of blessing. So I want you to see with me tonight three characteristics of the person that God blesses, the man that God blesses. You say, man, I want God to bless me. OK, then you have to be blessable. You say, well, how can I be blessable? Well, let's look in this psalm because it tells us the characteristics of the person God blesses. Number one, he is separated from the world. He is separated from the world. Look at verse number one again. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. So notice in verse one, the person that God blesses is a person that has learned to say no to the world and to the things of the world. He does not walk into counsel of the ungodly. He realizes that the world can offer nothing. The Bible says in 1 John 2, 15, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, which is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passes away. and the lust thereof, but he that does the will of God abides forever." Now, the Bible is very clear, the things of this world, the philosophies of this world, the advice of this world, the riches of this world, all those things are passing away. And so, we have to realize that the world can offer us nothing. And that's what the man that God blesses realizes. Now, it took a little time for Solomon to realize this because Solomon, the great king, you might look at him and say, oh, he prospered, he was rich, but he didn't necessarily prosper. In fact, if you read in Ecclesiastes chapter 2, you're going to find out that he thought that the world could offer him some things, and he went after those things. In Ecclesiastes chapter 2, verse 10, it says, I withheld not my heart from any joy. What is that? That's the lust of the flesh. He said, whatever my heart wanted, I went after it, I got it. By the way, he was rich enough to do that. Someone estimated his income at $75 million a week. I think I could live on that. Whatever he wanted, he could get. He said, whatever my heart desired, and then in verse 10 it says, whatsoever my eyes desired, I kept not from them. What's that? That's the lust of the eyes. He had the lust of the flesh, whatever his heart wanted, and the lust of his eyes, whatever his eyes desired. He said, I got it. If I saw it, I wanted it. I just purchased it. I bought it. That's another third of the world. And then it says in verse 9, so I was great and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem. What's that? That's the pride of life. Solomon literally had the world. He had the lust of the flesh. He had the lust of the eyes. He had the pride of life He literally had the world You say man if I had that I would be happy Well, it says in chapter 2 verse 17 Solomon said therefore I hated life He hated life. It didn't make him happy He finally got to the place where he realized that the world could offer him nothing. He was rich, but he wasn't prosperous and not the way God wanted him to be. And he finally learned to reject the world. In essence, that's really what the book of Ecclesiastes is about, how he learned to say no to the things of the world. In the high priestly prayer of Jesus in John 17, Jesus repeated two words continually in his prayer, the word and the world. You know why? Because Jesus understood that these were the two things that would influence us in this life. You're either being influenced by the word of God or majorly influenced by the world. And these two things are contrary. Jesus said this in John 17. I have given them by word and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. And I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. So Jesus realized we're either being influenced by the world or by the word. And a person that God blesses has learned to say no to the influence of the world. Notice what this man rejects. First, he rejects the world's advice. Look in verse one again. He, blessed is a man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly. Here, the life is compared to a walk. Actually, the Christian life is compared to a walk many times in Scripture. So life is like one long walk. And as we're walking through this world, we're not to be influenced by the world. That is, we have to be careful to reject the advice of the world. You either choose to walk according to the wisdom of the world or the wisdom of God. And here's a man who has learned to reject the counsel of the ungodly. Now, when you think about an ungodly person, don't think about a person that is, you know, a thug that is out there with tattoos and streetwise and is trying to give you all kind of counsel. No, you need to think more about a person who is sitting in an office with a lot of diplomas on the wall with a Ph.D. telling you how you ought to live your life. But what he's telling you is contrary to what the scripture has to say. That's the advice of the ungodly. There's a lot of wisdom out there, a lot of psychology out there, a lot of philosophy out there that is contrary to the Word of God. And you'll get this advice about how you should live your life when it's directly opposed to what God has clearly written in Scripture. Well, if you want to prosper the way God wants you to prosper, you have to reject the world's advice. And so this man's learned to do that. He doesn't trust in man and his wisdom. In fact, I want you to look at a verse. Look in Jeremiah chapter 17 and look at verses 5 to 8. I want you to see this contrast here because I think it's a beautiful parallel to Psalm 1. Look in Jeremiah chapter 17, look in verses 5 to 8. And notice what it says there. Beautiful contrast. Thus says the Lord, Cursed be the man that trusteth in man. Here's a guy who's trusting in man. Here's a guy that's listening to the advice of the world. the ungodly and make it flesh his arm, whose heart departs from the Lord. Verse six, for he shall be like the heath in the desert and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness than a salt land not inhabited. But now look at the contrast of verse seven. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, whose hope the Lord is, for he shall be as a tree planted by the waters that spreadeth out her roots by the river and shall not see when he comes. But her leaves shall be green and shall not be careful in the year of drought. Neither shall cease from yielding fruit. You see the contrast there? Here's someone trusting in man. And it says, if you trust in man, you're cursed. And then the contrast is trusting in God. And if you trust in God, you're what? You're blessed. The one who trusts in man, his heart departs from the Lord. But the one who trusts in God, he hopes in the Lord. It says whose hope is the Lord is the one who trusts in man. He's like a heath in the desert. The one who trusts in God, he's like an oasis in the desert. The one who trusts in men, he's blind to his blessings. It says in verse six, he shall not see when good comes. That's I'd like to be like that. You don't see or I wouldn't like to be that, actually. You don't see when the blessings of God come. You're unable to see that. I'd like to be like the man who trusts in God when he's blind to burdens. That's the contrast. Look what it says in verse eight. He shall not see when the heat comes. And then the one who trusts in man is fruitless, but the one who trusts in God is flourishing. And so we have to reject all of that advice that is man centered, that is from the world, that is contrary to scripture, that counsel that seems to be wise, but it's not. Now, I want to tell you, there's a lot of counsel out there today, beloved. And actually, there are four basic approaches to counseling. And let me just simplify it for you. First, there's Freud. Everyone's heard of Sigmund Freud. And he basically says the problem with man today is his standards are too high. Man has mental illness because someone put high standards in their life. And so the answer then is to lower the standards. And then behind him, there came a man by the name of B.S. Skinner who said, really, you're the victim of your environment. The reason the environment is bad is because the man is bad. And the answer, therefore, is to change the environment. And then there came behind him another man by the name of Carl Rogers, and he said the problem with man is simply that he needs encouragement. He's so down and out all the time. Someone needs to motivate him. Someone needs to encourage him. Now, this is really the basic approaches to modern psychology that is out there today. Well, what does the Bible have to say about that? Well, all you have to do is go to Genesis chapter 3, and you'll see. In Genesis chapter 3, God put Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and he gave them one standard. I don't think it was too high. You remember what the standard was. Don't eat fruit off of that tree. I think I can handle that. Just don't. You know, he didn't say you didn't have to. He didn't say you couldn't touch the tree. I mean, you could build a swing in the tree, but you just don't eat the fruit out of that tree. That was the one standard. So there was the problem with man in the beginning that his standards were too high. No. Well, what's the problem that he was a victim of his environment? Let me ask you a question. What kind of environment did God put Adam and Eve in? It was perfect. It was paradise. You see, the environment doesn't make the man. The man makes the environment. And then the other problem they said was man just needed encouragement and motivation. Well, the Bible says that God came and walked with Adam in the garden every day. Can you imagine? One morning waking up and there's the Shekinah glory in your room saying, hey, I'd like to talk to you. I mean, I think that would encourage me. I think I'd be good for a long time after that. Adam had that every day. The problem with man was not that his standards were too high or that he was a victim of his environment or that he needed encouragement. You know what the problem was? Sin. He sinned against God. He disobeyed God. And with that, everything that God made became cursed. because of sin. And what's the answer to that? Salvation through Jesus Christ. You see, the Bible really does have the answer, doesn't it? And the Bible really is relevant in what we need today. The world provides psychology for the family, philosophy for the school, pragmatism for the church, and we gravitate to all that. And God and the Word of God are left out of all of it. But the man who prospers, he rejects the counsel of the world. He rejects the world's advice. Let's move on. He rejects the world's actions. Look again in verse one. Nor standeth in the way of sinners. He rejects the world's actions. We go from walking to standing. Standing is the idea of a pattern of life. It's doing what others do. It's doing what the world does. It's being lured in by the world. We're not to stand in the way of sinners. We reject the world's actions. We need to learn to do that if we want to prosper. I remember soon after I got saved, I got saved as a teenager. And right after that, I was still going to a public school and I still had the same friends. And I remember that one day, and by the way, kids, don't ever do this, all right? I'm going to qualify this. My friends got together and said, hey, let's play hooky from school. And, you know, I didn't want to go to school. I thought, that's a good idea. And I decided to get with them and play hockey. And this one of my friends, his name was Clayton Wolfe, and he said, you know what? My parents are gone for a few days. We got the whole house. He had a big old pool table down in his basement. So we thought, this is a great plan. We're just going to play pool the whole time and just have fun and not go to school. And everything was going fine until a few of the guys got together and said, I'll tell you what, let's get together and let's put our money in and let's buy some beer. But I didn't think that was a good idea. I didn't say anything. But now I was a Christian. Now I started to get convicted. And I knew I shouldn't be there. But they did. They put their money in and they went out and they bought a case of beer and they brought it in and they started to drink. And they noticed that I was the only one that was not drinking. And they kind of circled around me. And they said, you know, you've been acting strange since you've been going to that church up there. Why don't you join us? And I remember just feeling the pressure from those guys, and they set a beer in front of me. They said, take a drink. And finally, just to get them off my back, I took a drink. And when I did, I felt so convicted. I felt so burdened down for what I had done. And I remember immediately, I just left. I went home, went up to my room, I got on my knees, and I said, God, I'll never do that again. I'll never do that again. I'll never shame you again. You know, what was my problem? I was still standing in the way of sinners. I hadn't learned to say no to them. Now, later on, I witnessed all those guys and tried to lead them to Christ, but I was still standing in the way of sinners. The Bible says, wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate. Once you get saved, you can't do those things anymore. But then notice also he rejects the world's attitudes. He rejects the world's advice. He rejects the world's actions. And then he rejects the world's attitudes. Look again in verse one. Nor sit it in the seat of the scornful. The city is used figuratively, figuratively, excuse me, for a place of influence and power. Scornful means to be critical, to scoff at a lack of reverence, to ridicule holy things, to tear down holy things. You ever meet people like that? They just like to tear down. The other day I was watching TV and there were some scientists on there that was tearing down the Bible and tearing down creation as if evolution has a leg to stand on. They have absolutely no leg to stand on. I would love to debate evolutionists. They make a god out of chance. How did everything get here? Well, it's just by chance. So you're telling me out of nothing something came by chance. They make a god out of chance. Let me tell you something. Chance is a mathematical equation. It's not a force. Chance can tell me if I flip a coin 50 times how many times it can land on heads or tails, but chance can't flip the coin. So you're telling me just by chance out of nothing something came and that this something was just some ingredients that were kind of mixed together, this primordial ooze, and it was struck by lightning? Where did the mud come from, Mr. Evolutionist? Where did the lightning come from? Where did all that come from? They can't answer that. Well, let's just say they're right. Let's just say for a minute that the lightning did strike the mud. By the way, there was a scientist who tried to recreate all that. He put all these ingredients together, what he thought was there and the primordial days, and he struck it with electricity. And you know what happened? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. There's a scientific fact for you. Nothing happened. Let's just give them a little bit of credit. Let's just say that something did happen. Let's just say there was something there. Lightning did strike it and it formed life in a basic single cell amoeba which constitutes 450 proteins or amino acids lined up in a certain sequence. You know what you have to do in order for that to happen? That would be like putting 450 slot machines together, hitting the lever at the same time, and all 450 hitting the jackpot at the same time. What do you think the odds are of that happening? Probably 400 million billion to one. And yet that's what they put their faith in. There was a single cell of life, and all these 450 amino acids happened to line up in a perfect sequence. And chance did it all. Really, you believe that? But you have no reason to scoff at the Bible. The Bible says, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And you know what, Mr. Scientist? You weren't there at the beginning. So you either choose to believe it or not. But you can't use scientific data today to disprove creation. Can't do it. You might sound intelligent about it. It just makes me mad some of these people just scoff at the Bible. Well, let me get off my soapbox here for a little bit. As a Christian, we don't sit in the seat of the scornful. We don't allow those things to influence our lives. And so he rejects the world. He's separated from the world. And notice there's a progression. There's walking, standing, sitting. Remember Peter, he was walking in the Council of the Ungodly when he was walking afar off. He was standing by the way of the sinner when he was standing by the world's fire. But he was sitting in the seat of the scornful when he cursed and mocked and denied the Lord Jesus. And so the idea is there's a progression. We need to be careful not to allow the world to influence us in the least, because if it gets its hold in us, then we will follow that progression. We will end up standing in the way of the sinner. We will end up sitting in the seat of the scornful. So if you want to be blessed by God, you have to be separated from the world. But let me move on. Number two, not only is he separated from the world, but notice, number two, he is saturated by the word of the verse, too. But his delight is in the law of the Lord. And in his law, does he meditate day and night? Here's a man that is a man of the word. He just loves God's word. He appreciates it, his delight. is in the law of the Lord. When's the last time you said, man, I'm going to have a good time. I'm just going to read the Bible. I just enjoy it. He delights in God's word. Remember reading one time about Charles Spurgeon, the great Baptist preacher. And one time he was visiting with a friend in Scotland and had preached for him on a Sunday morning and went over his house Sunday afternoon for dinner. And he was in the library just waiting. And he happened to look on the shelf and saw an old tattered Bible and he pulled the Bible off the shelf and he noticed that on the outside cover there was a little hole and he flipped the Bible open to Genesis and the hole was there. And then he went to Exodus and Leviticus through all the Old Testament and the hole was drilled through all those Old Testament books and then into the New Testament. and then into Paul's letters, and then into the book of Revelation, and then he turned the Bible over on the other side, and he noticed that a bookworm had eaten its way from Genesis to Revelation. And Spurgeon held up the Bible and said, God, make me that kind of bookworm. That's the man who loved God's Word. He delights in it. God's Word is something that we should delight in. Someone said, Spurgeon again, who said that there's enough dust on some Bibles to write damnation with your fingers. Another man said, I have found that my spiritual growth is directly proportionate to the amount of time and effort I put into the study of Scripture. And that is so true. What you do with the Bible will determine what God does with you. And so he appreciates God's word. He loves it. But then he appropriates it. Look again in verse But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law does he meditate day and night. Now, here's the key. It's getting God's Word in you. Sometimes I hear people brag and they'll say, you know, I've read through the Bible this many times. Well, it's really not how many times have you been through the Bible, but how many times has the Bible been through you? That's the question. What is meditation? You know, a lot of times when we think of meditation, we think of the Eastern mysticism and yoga where they tell you, you know, empty your mind. Well, scriptural meditation is the exact opposite. God says, fill your mind with the word of God. Fill your mind with scripture. Meditation, really the Hebrew word means to speak to oneself, to speak to oneself over and over again, kind of like mental digestion. You know, when you eat a meal that doesn't nourish you, it's when you digest it. That's where the nourishment comes. To just kind of use an analogy, you ever drive down the road and look out in the field and you see a cow laying under a tree? You say, what is that cow doing? Well, you say, that cow's resting, right? No, the cow is eating. I don't want to get too graphic here because I'm just a city boy. Some of you country folks know where I'm going already, right? He has two stomachs. Remember, when he's grazing, he's collecting the grass, and then when he's laying down, he's chewing his cud, right? I mean, I understand all about that, but that's what I think happens there, right? I don't understand how a brown cow can eat green grass and give white milk anyway. But he's chewing his cud. That's really what meditation is. It's when you receive the Word of God, you chew it in your mind. You go over it again and again. You allow it to revolve around in your mind. Actually, the word meditation is also a Hebrew word that means to sing, a musical notation, You know, you ever hear a song and it just goes over in your mind again and again? That's a form of meditation. It also means a pleasant reflection. Now, why does God want us to meditate? Have you ever asked that? Well, let me give you a few reasons. First of all, meditation stirs our affections. It warms our heart. When you think about something, it's going to have an emotional response. Someone asked me a while ago, what's your favorite hymn? My favorite hymn is, there is a fountain filled with blood. There's just something about that hymn. When I think of the words, it just stirs my heart. To think about that, it's the truth of that song that I think about that stirs my heart. And the truth is God, when he wants to stir your heart, he puts truth into your mind. Beware of any religion that bypasses the mind and goes straight to the heart. That's wildfire. God starts in the mind. He gives you truth and he wants you to think about it. And when you think about that truth, it'll stir you up. It'll stir your heart. And God wants us, our affections to be stirred. But also meditation is the bridge to application. Listen, it doesn't help you just to come to church and just hear a sermon and then leave, and that's all you do every Sunday. It's not helping you much. You have to meditate on it, because when you meditate on it, it becomes a part of who you are. And meditation is the bridge from information to application. Think about this, this is what Joshua said, Joshua 1.8, this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, listen, to do according to all that is written therein. Why do we meditate? We meditate so that we might do all that is written. We meditate so that we might start doing it. You see, what you think about is what you ultimately will do. Do you know that? That's the power of the mind. Whatever you think about. You will do. I remember one time I was preaching a church in New York and after I got done the sermon, they closed in prayer and everyone just sat down for three minutes. I didn't know what was going on. But the church had trained itself that after they heard the sermon, they were going to sit down quietly for three minutes and just think about what was said. That's not a bad thing. To meditate on the truth of the mind is such a powerful tool. We become what we think about. The Bible says in Proverbs 23, 7, for as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. Sow a thought, reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap a character. Sow a character, reap a life. Sow a life, reap a legacy. And your legacy begins with the things that you think about, the things that are in your mind. Your mind controls how you behave. This was made real to me one time. I went to an amusement park. And some of you probably have been to some of these things. That was a big, giant theater. I went inside the theater. There was no seats. There was only rails. You know, rails that you hold onto with a big, giant screen. You ever been in these things? You walk in. People are standing behind the rails. Somebody put a camera on front of a roller coaster, and you're standing there watching this roller coaster go up. Click, click, click, click, click, click, click, you know. It goes up to the top, and all of a sudden, it comes down. And you know what happened to everyone in that room when the screen showed the roller coaster coming over the hill, pressing the hill, and then coming down? Everyone grabbed onto the rails. You know why? They couldn't help it. I stood there and I said, this is crazy. And when the roller coaster went this way, everyone leaned this way. Went the other way, everyone leaned this way. I'm like, man, we're not going anywhere. We're in the middle of a room. I thought, I'm not going to touch that rail. Folded my arms, went around a curve, and I grabbed onto the rail. You know why? Because what you believe will determine how you behave. The mind is so powerful in that way. God wants the Word of God to be such a part of us, and in order for that to happen, we have to meditate. J.I. Packer, in his classic book, Knowing God, said this, how can we turn our knowledge about God into knowledge of God? The rule for doing this is demanding but simple. is that we turn each truth that we learn about God into matter for meditation before God. And he goes on to say meditation is a lost art today and Christian people suffer grievously. Meditation is the activity of calling to mind and thinking over and dwelling on and applying to oneself the various things that one knows about the works and the ways and purposes and promises of God. And that's true. We need to meditate. Now, let me give you the third thing. First of all, if you want to be blessed, if you want to be a man that's blessed or a man or woman that's blessed, you must be separated from the world. And then, number two, you must be saturated with the word. But the man God blesses, number three, is situated by the waters. Look in verse three. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. that bringeth forth his fruit in his season, and his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." So this man is situated by the waters. Now, water in Scripture is a symbol for the Spirit. The water for cleansing represents the Word of God, but water for drinking represents the Spirit of God. And the water here comes from the rivers. Here's a tree planted by the rivers of water. And again, I think this speaks in a way symbolically about the Spirit of God. And one thing I learned about a river, the river is the master. One time I went with a group of men from around the world down through the Grand Canyon on the Colorado River, this huge river, fastest flowing water in all of North America. We had these big, huge rafts with pontoons on either side, 15 men and a raft, two rafts. And I just remember going down that river at times being scared for my life. Because that thing was so massive, that river. And it could flip us easily. In fact, there had been people who had flipped in that river. And the water is just above freezing, even in the middle of summertime. So you go into that water and you're in trouble. But I remember just holding on and being knocked around by that water. And I learned a valuable lesson. The river is the master. The river is in control. And that's true of God. God is compared in scripture to the river. And the Holy Spirit is the one who we need to yield to and allow him to have control in our life. And we need to make sure that we're constantly in that place where the Holy Spirit of God is in control of our life. Notice this man here. He's compared to a tree that's planted by the river. Notice his permanence. He shall be like a tree. A tree, that's what he's compared to. Now, a tree is permanent, a tree is lasting. And one thing about a tree is it has a hidden life. Its roots go down deep into the soil and they reach out and receive nourishment from that water. And I think that's part of the idea here. He's like a tree planted by the rivers of water. You want to be nourished in your life. You have to have a hidden life. You know, there's a hidden life for all of us. It's the part that no one else sees. It's the time that you spend with God or you don't spend. But it's our hidden life. It's the things that God knows about us that no one else knows. And if you want to be prosperous, you have to have a good root system. You have to be with God in prayer. You have to be yielded to the Holy Spirit. Spurgeon said this. He said, what a man is in secret before Almighty God that he is and nothing more. And that is true. But notice his position. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. He's right there by the river. That is his position and we need to make sure that we are in the place where the Holy Spirit is controlling our life. Notice his productivity that bring forth his fruit in his season. Fruit is seasonal. You say, well, you know, I'm not producing fruit in my life right now, I don't see it. Well, just be patient. Fruit is seasonal. The Bible says, let us not be weary and well doing for in due season we shall reap if we think not. So stay by the river, your season will come. And God will bless you with fruit. But then notice his perpetuity. His leaf also shall not wither. This tree is not affected by the weather around it. It is always the same. It doesn't matter what the circumstances are. It is still full of life, no matter what the season around it. And then notice his prosperity. And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper, whatever he does shall prosper. So the blessed man is like a tree and he's got a good root system. He's got a good hidden life and he's planted right there by the river and he's trusting in the Lord and trusting in the spirit of God. Really, in essence, who does this man represent? Well, really, if you want to know who this man is, really, we can see it in the life of Jesus. One commentator, an excellent devotional writer, wrote about H.A. Ironside. The great Bible teacher H.A. Ironside had the opportunity to be over in the Middle East, and he had the opportunity in Palestine to address a group of men, and he taught from Psalm 1. And after he read the psalm, he asked the men who were there, he said, who do you think this man is? And one person spoke up and said, well, it's Father Abraham. Another person said, no, Father Abraham lied about his wife. That's not the man in Psalm 1. Another person spoke up and said, well, this must be Moses, the lawgiver. Someone else said, no, he got mad and lost his temper. It wasn't Moses. Another one spoke up and said, well, this must be David. And someone said, no, it's not David. He committed adultery. And after a long silence, An older Jewish man stepped forward and he said, brothers, I have a little book here. It's called the New Testament. And if you read this New Testament about this one called Jesus, you'll see that the man in Psalm 1 is Jesus. And you know what? Really, Psalm 1 is just calling us to be like the Lord Jesus. Now, let me, in closing, just, we're out of time, but let me just show you the contrast in verse 4, in conclusion. The ungodly, and here's the contrast, really it's showing two ways. The prosperous way of the godly and then the ungodly, which do not prosper. Look in verse 4. The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. As the godly are Represented by a tree, the ungodly by a chaff, which the wind drives away. Now notice there's a picture here. You know, in Palestine, when they wanted to, after they would harvest the grain, they would put it on a threshing floor. And it was normally on a high hill because the wind would blow through there. And they would get an animal to stomp out the grain. Then take a fork and throw the grain in the air and the chaff would blow away and the heavier grain would fall back down to the floor and they would gather it. And that's the picture here. The ungodly are like that chaff that is scattered. That is driven with the wind, it's rootless, it's weightless, it's worthless. It is a picture of being futile, being empty, being worthless. And later on, they'll be judged. In fact, John the Baptist used this very image of judgment when he talked about God separating the grain from the chaff. And he says he will burn up the chaff. And so this is a sad picture for the ungodly. And one commentator, Tremper Longman, said this, Psalm 1 deliberately draws two portraits in our minds, the portrait of the wicked man and the portrait of the wise man. The question then is posed, which are we? Whose side are we on? Well, Fran, I don't know about you, but I want to be that blessed man. I want to be the one that's blessed. Look at the word blessed in verse one. It means it's a plural in Hebrew, which means double. We could say like this doubly blessed. God wants you to be blessed. He doesn't want you just to be blessed. He wants you to be doubly blessed. He wants to pour out his blessings on you. But you have to choose which one you want to be. You want to be the wise man or the wicked. You want to prosper God's way. That's a choice that you have to make. But if you want to be blessed, you have to be separated from the world. You have to be saturated with the word. You have to be situated by the waters, and it's a choice that you have to make. Remember what Jesus said on the Sermon on the Mount, two roads. The broad road and the narrow road, you have to choose. One time, I read a story of a nightclub in Chicago named the Gates of Hell. It's on Michigan Avenue, not far from a church called Calvary Church. And a policeman was once asked directions for a drunkard how to get to the Gates of Hell. And the policeman responded this, he said, in order to get to the Gates of Hell, you have to go down there right past Calvary. And then he thought about that later and he thought that's true. Anyone who wants to go to the gates of hell will have to bypass Calvary. But once you've made your choice it's fixed. So you have to choose. You want to prosper the way God wants you to prosper. To be godly and wise, or you want to go the way of the wicked, which are like chaff driven in the wind. Ecclesiastes 11 3 says, and if a tree falls toward the south or towards the north, in that place where the tree falls, there it shall be. That's just a poetic way of saying once you've made your choice, your destiny is fixed. Wherever the tree falls. There it's going to stay. Now, what road are you on? Let's bow for prayer tonight. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for this wonderful psalm. There's so much more in here. And Lord, may we truly learn from it. May we be in the place of blessing. Lord, I want to be blessable. I want your double blessing on my life. And I pray that for every person in here tonight, that they would be blessed and prosperous Lord, help us to learn from the man in Psalm 1 that we must be separated from the world, and we must be saturated with the Word, and we must be situated by the waters, drinking in freely the life-giving source of the Holy Spirit. So, Lord, bless us tonight. Help us. Teach us and guide us. And heads are bowed and eyes are closed, and before we leave our service tonight, I just want to take a minute and ask you, do you know Christ? It could be that you're just here tonight and you're visiting, and you're not absolutely certain that you're a child of God. But as I said, Jesus is reaching out. He tells you to make a choice. You could be blessed. You could be prosperous. You can have eternal life, salvation, if you'll come to Christ. And friend, if you haven't prayed and trusted Christ, I'm going to ask you right there where you are to pray a prayer and mean it in your heart, and Jesus will save you right where you are. Pray this prayer. Say, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Save me for Christ's sake. And if you pray that and mean it, you can be saved today. You can have eternal life and be blessed by God. Father, thank You again for Your Word. And Lord, may we take it with us and may we learn to meditate on it and grow and be nourished by it. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.