If you have your Bibles, please turn with me to Psalm 1. Hear now the word of our God. Blessed is the man who 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 law 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 driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. And in the New Testament, please turn with me to 1 Corinthians 2, verse 6. 1 Corinthians 2. Howbeit, we speak wisdom among them that are perfect, yet not the wisdom of this world, nor the princes of this world that come to nought. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery. even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory, which none of the princes of this world knew. For had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, I have not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him. Even so, the things of God knoweth no man but the spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit, for they are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he might instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord abides forever. Amen. Let us pray. Dear Father in Heaven, we do thank you, Lord, for your word. It is a lamp unto our feet, a light unto our path. And we pray that you would teach us from this psalm and make of us that blessed man, the one who delights in your word and meditates in a day and night, prosperous in it, that we may glorify you on the earth and that we may be found standing in the day of judgment, having done all to stand. We ask this now in Christ's name. Amen. You may be seated. You notice the outline title. the way things ought to be, or another way of saying it, God's ideal. What we find in Psalm 1 is just that. As you look at TV, if you watch the television, as you listen to the radio, as you read newspapers, does your heart ever cry out, this isn't the way it's supposed to be? As we have come back into California, one of the things that we've noticed, although we don't watch TV too much, when we have watched the television, the news in particular, one of the things that's so grievous is the number of deaths that are reported. One of the things that we were kind of pleased about in North Dakota, that there was usually only about one murder a year somewhere in the state. And when that happened, you heard about it for a week because it was such big news. Now we come back to California and it's just about every day, right? Somebody is murdered somewhere within the local vicinity. And so it grieves us. How much of the news, when you watch TV, I don't watch TV that much because it's so, you know, your heart is just rent, isn't it? It's all this wickedness. This isn't the way it should be. And so the question is, where does this ought or where does this statement of this isn't the way it should be come from? Where does this ought come from? Does it not come from God? Doesn't he implant that even in our heart? According to Romans chapter two, we read that God has planted in our hearts to know good and evil, to know when we sin and to acknowledge and to see wickedness and to see it. So what we find here today in Psalm 1 is a statement just like what is implanted in our hearts, a description of, a definition of God's ideal. What is it the way that things should be? And then we contrast the way things are in life, contrasted with it. And so my proposition is there before you. This first Psalm describes the purpose of the Book of Psalms, as well as establishes the great contrast that is assumed in the later Psalms, the way things ought to be, the way things should be compared to the way things are. How do we relate the two? The Book of Psalms is a structured book with a message. And what we find here in Psalm 1 is the purpose. Notice in Psalm 1, we find an interesting structure. The structure begins in verse 1 and 2 focusing on the blessed one. The first verse in verse 1. Blessed is the man. And what we find in verses 5 and 6 is also the blessedness of those that are righteous and the judgment or the perishing of those that are wicked. In verses 1 and 2, we see the decision of the righteous man, what he doesn't do, verse 1, what he does in verse 2. Verses 5 and 6, we see the decision of the Lord toward those two groups of people. And then in verses 3 and 4, we find in particular the contrast using the illustration of a tree versus chaff, which the wind drives away. So we will be looking at that. And so, let's look at that center part. Let's look at these two people, the contrast in my first point. There are two types of people and they are compared. Notice the one who is cursed, the cursed man. In verse 1, you could basically say instead of, blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, just switch it. Cursed is the man who does walk in the counsel of the ungodly. Cursed is the one who standeth in the way of sinners. Cursed is the one who sitteth in the seat of the scornful." Now, what does that mean? What is the author here speaking about when he says that blessed is the man who doesn't do this, or in a sense, cursed is the man who does? What does this mean, to walk in the counsel of the ungodly, to stand in the way of sinners and to sit in the seat of the scornful." Well, from what we understand, the word walk in the scriptures has to do with the way that we conduct our lives. And so the first statement is, blessed is the man or cursed is the man who walks or conducts his life in the counsel of the ungodly. He relies on man-made wisdom or resources. He relies on man's counsel. You would say he is listening to the world. He is one who walks in the counsel. The manner of life is guided by the counsel of the world. He stands in the well-worn path of sinners. He participates in the actions and the behaviors of sinners." In other words, habitual sinners. And he sits, he remains, he abides in the assembly, in the seat of the scornful, or another way of translating that is the troublemakers. He has fellowship with those who know and reject the truth. That third set of people, the scorners, are those that know the truth. They're not ignorant. They know the truth and they scorn it. They mock it. They reject it. They rebel against it. It is an arrogant, quarrelsome, mocking person that is described here in the seat of the scornful. And so, as I describe that, it's pretty easy to say, well, I'm not like that. I don't hang out with mockers. Troublesome people, do I? But do you? Let's think about it. These that are spoken of are those that declare there are no moral absolutes. I decide what is right and wrong for me. In essence, as I was reading Psalm 1 recently, and on Wednesdays, we're working through the book of Genesis, and we're in chapter 3 of the book of Genesis right now in our Wednesday study. It was easy for me to all of a sudden see the connection here. And for those of you that are reading Genesis 3, do you hear the statement, the one who walks in the counsel of the ungodly? Isn't that what Adam and Eve did? Didn't they do the counsel of Satan? Didn't they walk in? Didn't they follow? Didn't they practice what Satan said to do? Did they not stand in the way of sinners? Were they not defined or identified In some ways, we find here a description of the fall of man, as well as our own fall. And so, Scripture teaches us that this is the path of the wicked. Furthermore, we find the result of that wickedness in verses 4, 5, and 6, and we'll be looking at that in a moment. Amos is a good summary, though, I would say, of what the psalmist here in verse 1 is stating. In Amos chapter 8 and verse 11, he states, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread nor of thirst for water, but of hearing the word of the Lord. And so what the psalmist is saying in verse 1 is the curse of man is one who is not hearing and coming under the word of the Lord. And so we must beware of this counsel. On the opposite, on the contrast, what the blessed man is, is the one who does not do these things. Now, one of the interesting words here found in this first verse is that word blessed, share. It's never used in the scriptures of the wicked. There are other words for blessed, but this particular word is only used of God's people. There's a reason for the choice in this word. Blessed also speaks of the whole well-being of the person, his state. His state is that of blessed. And notice what the psalmist says about him. Why is he the blessed man? Number one, he does not do verse 1, and number 2, he does, verse 2. But his delight is in the Torah of the Lord, and in his law, in his Torah, in his instruction, does he meditate day and night. Now, some people want to focus on the word law there and say, oh, he's just saying the Ten Commandments. And so all that the psalmist is saying is that this man delights in the Ten Commandments. But the word Torah also is described as or used as instruction. And I think that that would probably fit better our text this morning. But his delight is in not only the Ten Commandments, but the whole word of God. God's law, God's word is his delight. So God's revelation is that which he glories in. that which He finds His delight in. Now, do you see the contrast between verse 1 and verse 2? Verse 1 is the Word of man. And what does the blessed man do with the words of man, with the counsels of men, with the thoughts of the world? He rejects those. He does not walk in them. But on the other side, he delights. His heart's delight is in God's Word. And so the blessed man finds his blessing in the revelation of God. He cherishes it like a lover would cherish a letter from one who is separated from him. If you've ever been separated from your mates, if you've ever been far away from those that you love and you receive a letter from them, You cherish that letter. That is precious to you. Every word of that letter. I've been there. I've done that. I spent six months after being engaged to my wife. I left and served in Micronesia for six months. And basically the only communication for that time was the letters that were sent back and forth. And so you can imagine how excited I was to receive that letter. Do you think I just kind of just blew through it and set it aside and read my other mail? Do you know that I read every letter from that? And I read it many times, didn't I? And I looked and I even looked behind the words and between the lines. What exactly is she saying? Right. Did I study that letter? You better believe it. It was precious to me. I cherished it. To delight means the idea to be excited is God's word. One pastor says that the entering into the very council chambers or the idea is that we In God's Word, as we read God's Word, we're entering into the very Council Chambers of God, of Heaven. When we read the Word of God, we're listening to God speak to us. Should that excite you? That you have the ability to have the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe speak to you? He's given you His Word. We have the privilege. What an exciting opportunity. Notice also the fruitfulness of the one who meditates, who delights in God's Word. The picture there is of a tree planted, or it would be better to translate that word, that he shall be like a tree transplanted by the rivers of water, by various streams of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. Notice the contrast between that tree and the chaff that the wicked are described in verse 4. The grass which are beautiful today and gone tomorrow. One of the things that I found interesting as we came from Minot to California, especially in July, is that one of the things that I noticed was in Minot in July, all the grass was still green. I landed in Sacramento and rented the car and as I'm driving down to Lodi, Oh man, everything is brown, all the grass is brown. Oh that's right, I'm in California again and we have our green time and we have our brown time and I had to remember that and then I flew back into Minot and everything was green again because they get a little bit more moisture at that time. But the idea is that the wicked are like those who do not have those channels of water, they dry up, they are like grass which is beautiful for a short season and then later on perishes. Why? Because the tree is transplanted by the water source. It has so much water. It not only has water for bare survival, but it has enough water that it grows and even an overabundance of water that therefore it could produce fruit. So this tree is drawing from the source of life, the rivers of water, such that not only it's surviving and growing, but it's producing fruit. It has an overabundance. That is the blessed man. This is the same language that we find in Joshua 1 and also in Jeremiah. The third blessing found here in the psalm, in delighting in God's Word, is found in verse 6. The Lord knows the way of the righteous. God knows. His people. God knows that blessed man. And so the summary of verse 1, or verses 1 and 2 and 3, is there's two types of people that are described here in this psalm. The cursed man and the blessed man. What is the end of their manner of life? That's the other thing the psalmist says. He not only describes them in their life, but also the effect of their life, both now and eternal. The difference, you could say, is in the letter P. You have prospers versus perish. What's the last word in Psalm 1? Perish. What's the last word, or actually, in the last phrase of Psalm 2, verse 12, you find in there, kiss the son lest he be angry with you and you He said, I will not perish in the way. Blessed are those who put their trust in Him. Psalm 1 and 2 run together. It begins with a blessing. It ends with a blessing or a curse. Perish. As one man said, one writer described Psalm 1 describing Adam. He was created in blessedness and he sinned and was found perishing or dying because of sin. The end of the manner of life of these two types of people, prosper or perish. Prosper like a tree transplanted by the rivers of water or like a chaff, like grass that dries up and blows away without life and usefulness except to be burned up as fuel for the fire. that it not only speaks of in this life, but also in the life that is to come. Notice in the Psalm, Psalm 1, a couple statements that are made there in verse 4 and in verse 5. Verses 1 through 3 describe the two parties, but notice in verse 4, not so the ungodly. There's an emphasis there in the Hebrew. Not so. He arrests our attention. Not so. The ungodly are not like the person described in verses 1-3. Not so the ungodly. On the contrary, the ungodly are like chaff which the wind dries away. Therefore, because of the state of these two, the ungodly shall not stand in judgment day, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous, the way of the ungodly, shall perish, versus the one who is known, the way of the Lord knoweth, verse 6a, the way of the righteous. And so the ultimate end of the manner of life of the person is described as either perishing or prospering, as either one who is known of God or one who perishes. under the wrath of God. Isn't that not what Christ came to do? If you think about it, what was John the Baptist's message concerning Christ when Christ would come? Recorded in Matthew chapter 3 and verse 12, John the Baptist described Jesus's ministry, Jesus's coming, as one whose hand is in his hand and he will thoroughly purge his floor and gather his wheat into the garner, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Jesus Christ is coming again and he will execute vengeance upon his and our enemies and he will take his people into his garner, into his place, into heaven to be with him. And so the question that we must ask ourselves is where do we fit in to Psalm 1? Are we the man who walketh in the counsel of the ungodly? Do we stand in the ways of sinners? Do we sit in the seat of the scornful? Are we identified with these? Or are you, in particular, are you one of these blessed men? How do we understand? What can we learn from this Psalm, my third point? One thing we can learn is not to listen to the wicked, but to God. Paul, as he writes a phenomenal letter, first found in Romans, he speaks and teaches us the Gospel. And then in chapter 12, he says, okay, now that you know this, now that you understand the mercies of God revealed to us in Christ and in the Gospel, now I beseech you, therefore, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service, and be not conformed to this world." In a sense, do not be the man of Psalm 1, the cursed man. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Basically what the psalmist describes in verses 2 and 3. So how do we do that? How are we transformed by the renewing of our minds. Well, one way to do that is by evaluating our inputs. Sometimes I can't get away from the former job that I did. I worked with computers for 18 years and so sometimes I fall back into thinking along those lines. With computers, do you know the word giggle? Anybody ever hear the word giggle? Garbage in, garbage out. You've heard that? Garbage in, garbage out. Is that true in our lives? As you put in, that is what will come out. Did Jesus ever teach that? Yes, He did. What did He say? Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. And so, what is the inputs in your life? What are you using as that which is bringing in information and thought and teaching you? What is it, the inputs? What is it the music that you're listening to? Do you listen to the words and evaluate them? What are the books that you read, the magazines you read? What television programs do you watch? What movies do you watch? What conversations do you delight in? As you're speaking with those you work with or that you live around, do you actively participate when you do these things? For instance, in television, When you watch television, are you passive or active? I'm not saying it's wrong to watch television, but I'm saying is that when you are watching it, are you passive or are you active when you watch? Are you evaluating and asking questions of what you're watching? Is this right? Is this godly? What does Philippians say? Whatever things are good, lovely, Let's look at that. I don't want to misquote this passage because it's a wonderful one. What are the things that we should be putting in our minds and dwelling on? Philippians chapter 4, verse 8. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things. Dwell on these things. Those things which you have heard and learned and received and heard and seen in me do, and the God of peace shall be with you." I think there's an echo there of Psalm 1. Do you ask yourself these questions as you go to a movie? Do you evaluate movies that you watch? Do you actually come back from there and, okay, what did it teach me that is in agreement with the Word of God, and what did it teach me that's contrary to the Word of God? There's actually good things you can learn from a movie. If you are an active evaluator, an active listener, an active viewer. Secondly, notice what our psalmist is. He's not only one that does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly. What does he do? He delights in God and in God's self-revelation. His attitude. Notice his attitude. What is his attitude? His attitude is one of delight. He delights in the law of God. How do you view God's word? How you view it affects how much you get out of it, what you get out of it. Do you look at the word of God as any other book to be studied, as a textbook for Christian living? Or do you look at it as a devotional book you can give and take or leave? Or is the Bible a talk that must be accomplished I'm sorry, that must be accomplished every day whether you get something out of it or not. In other words, do you read your Bible because that's what I'm supposed to do? That's my duty as a Christian to read the Bible. Do you approach it like that? Well, I'm supposed to read the Bible, so I read the Bible, okay, I got that done, now let's go on with my life. Is that your attitude? Or do you view with excitement the opportunity that you have to listen to the one who is the lover of your soul, who has revealed himself to you and shares with you wonderful truths about himself and about you." In other words, do you look upon the Word of God as a love letter, as something precious, as a precious correspondence? In Proverbs it says that like apples of gold and setting of silver, so is a good word from a far country. Do you look upon God's Word on this Do you hold it as precious? Do you delight in it as the most important thing in your life? Can you live without the Bible? If you had to give up every possession and you only could keep one, you could only keep one possession, what would it be? Would it be your Bible? Or would it be your car or house or what? If you only had one possession, you had to flee for your life. What would be that one possession that you would take with you? I wonder how many of us would grab and say our Bible is the most important. How can we develop a greater love for God's Word? Well, in verse 2 is the answer. And in His law does He meditate day and night. That word there could be translated, He mutters or moans. How do you mutter or moan the Word of God? What does that mean? To mutter the Word of God. Well, in the Old Testament thinking, when they read their Bibles, they read them out loud. Have you ever read your Bible out loud when you do your reading? How many of you, as you're reading, you've read a portion of Scripture and then you ask yourself, what did I just read? Try to do it by reading out loud. Meditating and muttering has that. You read it, And you engage various senses, not just your eyes, but also your mouth and your ears. You meditate on it. You take it and you think about it. You work it, almost like a cow ruminates or meditates on the grass. He works it. To mutter. Psalm 19 says, Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, How can we see that passage fulfilled? By meditating in God's Word, by applying it, by applying and using our mind and our mouth, our ears. Meditation requires mind and mouth. It's the use of multiple sensories. How do we do it? Well, one way to do it is to put it to music. That's one of the reasons why we have these psalter hymnals now, and we have more than enough so you can take it home with you. There's no excuse why I don't have one. There's 700. The Lord has dropped 700 of these in our laps and we're offering to you for free. Please take them. Take them home. Use them as a devotional. The psalms are in there. Start learning how to sing them. One of the things that has touched my heart more than once is when one of my little kids, the 7 year old or the 5 year old, starts singing Psalm 8 while he's playing with his toys. And all of a sudden, out of his mouth comes, Oh Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth. I walk by and I'm going, Okay, Lord, you can take me now. I can't get any better than this. Here's my child singing the Scriptures without thinking about what he's doing. It just comes out of him naturally. Out of the mouths of babes, God has ordained praise. Sing the Psalms. Put them to music. Use both parts of your brain. Jonathan Edwards used to walk in the fields singing out his meditations. Why should we sing the psalms? Because the psalms are the Word of God set to music. Another way, the psalms are a prayer. We should learn the psalms that we may be praying them back to God. That's what they are. They're also an instruction in how to pray and how to commune with God. John Owens promoted praying out loud even when alone. He called mental prayer unrestrained fancy. And it becomes a purgatory in devotions. He said when he... Do you hear what he's saying? He's saying mental prayer. How many pray mentally? Most of us do, don't we? When we pray, we pray mentally. He called it unrestrained fancy. Have you ever had that happen as you're praying? Your mind goes everywhere but what you're trying to do. He called it unrestrained fancy and purgatory, the purgatory of devotions. So how can we overcome that? By praying out loud, by praying God's Word. How do we know that we're praying the prayer of faith? James describes that we are called to pray the prayer of faith. How do you pray the prayer of faith? Well, it's faith in something, not faith in your faith. What is it faith in? The Word of God, the promise of God. How do you pray the prayer of faith? You pray God's Word back to Himself, God's promise back to Himself. How do you know you get what you ask? Do it according to His will. How do you know what His will is? Record it in His Word. You pray His Word back to Himself. Want to know how to pray properly, prayer of faith? Pray God's Word. As we meditate, as we mutter, as we sing, as we pray God's Word concerning God's revelation, we see it also in nature. As we look at God's Word, it gives us the ability to see things clearly. One author, Calvin, describes the Word of God as spectacles or glasses that helps us. It fixes our myopia. It helps us to be able to see clearly creation. And in seeing clearly, we can see God in it. Psalm 19 is an excellent example of David meditating in God's Word and in creation and giving glory to God. In verses 1-6, David focuses his meditations on the works of God in creation. In verses 7-11, he then focuses on God, how He's exalted in His Word. And in verses 12-14, we find him applying the Word of God to his own life. And so Psalm 19 is a fruit of the meditation of David And it has become a blessing to the church for all generations. How do you meditate? Take it slowly. Work it over and over again. Take a verse and just work on it. Think it through. Memorize it. Meditate on it. Cause it to saturate. Make it a study, a place of study in your life. Write out your meditations. My wife is an excellent person here. She has probably rewritten the Bible, I don't know how many times, in her own notebook. As she reads her words, she rewrites it over and over again. That's the way that she learns to write. I'm not as dedicated in that. I read it differently. But maybe that's what you need to do. Just write out your scripture verse. Take it with you on your trip. Another way, family meditation. Do you read the Bible together? A father proposing a subject. Do we read the scriptures together? Do we discuss it? How are your family devotions? One author, Richard Watson, said, the reason we come away so cold from our reading of the Bible is because we do not warm ourselves with the fires of meditation. Do we go to God's Word? Do we find the light in it? Do we spend time meditating on it, not just reading it? This is the blessed man according to verse 2. His delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night. And so the heart of the psalm is Christ. Oh, how I love your law. It is my meditation day and night. Where are you in Psalm 1? Are you the blessed man who delights in God's Word? Who does not listen to the counsel of the ungodly? Or are you one who is found in the congregation of sinners? What is your state? I want to end by also reading a couple passages out of Jeremiah. Jeremiah, I believe, was affected or impacted by this psalm. In Jeremiah chapter 2, verse 13, he says the following, For my people have committed two evils. They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water. Is that a description of your life? Have you forsaken the Lord and have you sought for the waters of life in other places in the world? Have you hewned out cisterns, broken cisterns, according to God's view, that can hold no water? And then in Jeremiah 17, verse 5, thus says the Lord, Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert and shall not see when good cometh, but shall inhabit the parched places of the wilderness in a salt land and not inhabit it." Or he will be like that chaff which the wind dries away. "'Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh. But her leaves shall be green, and shall not be careful or worry in the year of drought. Neither shall cease from yielding fruit." May God make of us, his people, to be like that tree planted by the rivers of water. Let us pray. Dear Father in heaven, we do want to come to you and acknowledge our utter dependence, our need upon you. to sustain us both physically and spiritually. Your provisions to us are beyond what we can even comprehend. Just a portion of that we saw yesterday as we asked the view that you would provide Psalter hymnals and now we have more than we can even handle. you do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to your riches in glory in Christ. And so Lord, we pray that you would do that work in our lives, that you would do that work in our hearts, that we would delight after you and your word, and that in your word we would be found meditating day and night. We do pray that you would make of us trees planted by the rivers of water, that we would bring forth our fruit, or for your glory, the fruit of the Spirit, in your season, in your timing, that our leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever we do, for the glory of God, may prosper. We ask this now for your glory's sake, in Christ's name. Amen.