As we told you last week, the summer ends in Psalms. And it says, blessed is the man. Blessed is the man, is the title of today's. As I mentioned last week, there were three books from which I used to, I don't do it anymore. It's just a habit I've got out of, but I used to read from the Psalms every day for love. I used to read from Proverbs every day for wisdom and Acts for power. And those three things should be at the top of every pastor, every teacher, every leader's prayer list. I used to, while reading the songs, wondered about the circumstances surrounding the writings, the history, the who wrote it, so to speak, and the circumstances surrounding, you know, why they were writing it, and so my intentions is next week to do a message entitled Prelude to the Psalms. And the only reason I didn't do it this week is because Psalms 1, where I intend to start, is a Father's Day message. It's a Father's Day sermon, and I'm notorious not to do that. messages surrounding holidays and Mother's Day and I just, if we're in a series I like to stay right with it, but I felt like the condition of our country and the condition of fathers in our country Folks were in one huge mess when it comes to dads. And it's sad. But I believe the prelude will make our study richer. And as we stand beside the one who authored, as he writes, you can feel their heartbeat when you know what it's about more when you're reading the Psalms rather than just reading through, I gotta get three chapters in. If that's your philosophy, you'd be better off to read two verses than reading three chapters just to say I read my Bible through rather than soak it in. And so next week we'll talk about the prelude to the psalm, but this morning we're gonna be in Psalms 1. because it's Father's Day and this particular psalm, some people think that Solomon wrote it. Scholars vary on Psalms 1. They think Solomon wrote it to his son, Rehoboam, and who Rehoboam succeeded. Yeah, Rehoboam succeeded Solomon on the throne. And yet others think it's really from David to Solomon. But it really doesn't matter because it is a father. teaching His Son the way of blessedness and actually warning Him of the destruction that follows those who follow evil, who do evil. And so I think it is most definitely that Psalms 1 is a preface to the rest of the Psalms. This summary that we'll do next week is what is to come later throughout the Psalms, as all Psalms teach us of blessedness, of living a righteous life, and the danger of living a life for self and for sin. The Jews used this particular Psalm, Psalms 1, as instruction to the children in family worship. I'm sure that children throughout ages have memorized this song. And I can remember when I taught children's church, I used to have 200 kids, 250 kids, and you imagine this, ages six to 12 years old, sitting in a gymnasium, and you're talking about a zoo. But we would memorize this song. And you know, it's very good. And I hope that you enjoy, I don't dedicate stuff often, but I dedicate this series to the people of this church who have stood by us through the years. Many, the folks that are on this stage, Kelly, Michael, they know my heart. and the Psalms is part of my heart. The board members sitting here that have served with us for the last 14 years, God bless you. But this series, The Summer and the Psalms, is for you all. And I hope you enjoy it. Let's read it. Psalms 1. 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 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 chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in 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. It's interesting to note the word blessed. Blessed is the man. That word in verse one is a plural word in the original, which simply stated means that there are a multiplicity of blessings which rest upon the person who observes the five conditions for prosperity and success. That's man or woman. Blessed is the individual if you observe and multiple blessings upon you if you observe these five conditions for prosperity and success. And please listen to this with a mental picture of the fact that, you know, this is a father talking to his son, counseling, giving instruction, advising him about life when he's talking. Do you sit down with your kids and do that? Man, you should. I probably wasn't the best example out of church during the formative years in my children's life. But I still took the time to try to teach them what was right and what was wrong and instruct them in good moral character. And boy, we need that today in the worst way. I struggle with even, I started to say I struggle with going to stroll. I struggle with going out in public when kids are disrespecting their parents the way that they even talk to them and talk back because there's no respect. My mom would have reached from behind the front seat to smack my face in the middle of 64 doing 80 mile an hour or 70 mile an hour if I talked to her. In fact, she's tried before. if I talk to her the way that kids talk to some of their parents today. Folks, I'm not talking about you being child abuse, but I'm talking about you teaching your children to have respect for you. People don't have any respect for anybody anymore. And that's pitiful, just to be honest. As Christians, We ought to be setting the example of why our children should respect their parents, their grandparents, people in authority in schools. It's just pitiful what we see transpiring in this day and age, and even how our government trying to take that authority away from the parents. God have mercy on their soul one day. because God ordained the home long before He ordained the government or even the church. And it's still your job to raise your kids. And so, as you understand that there though is no way that we will be able to expound upon every verse of every psalm. And it's not even my intention to sequentially go through the psalms, however, At the end of summer, I guess, if we are still enjoying the series and there are some Psalms of interest that myself or Michael have not gone through, then we may delve into a few more going into the fall. But I want to look at this Psalm, Psalm 1. and the five conditions for prosperity this morning for success. And they're a telltale about a person's character when you read it. It said, blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly. My wife quotes it, I've quoted it all my life. You show me your friends and I'll show you your future. You show me your friends and I'll show you your future. Because blessed is the person that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly. And if your children and your grandchildren are associating all the time with heathens, then don't expect your kids for that not to rub off on them. Blessed is the person who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly. My pastor used to say, if you lay down with dogs, you're gonna get up with fleas. And if you allow your kids to run with hellions, then your kids are gonna be hellions. And if you, as an adult, take all your counsel from unsaved hellions, then you're gonna act like hellions. I don't care if you're a Christian or not. Blessed is the person that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly. If all your input through your ears comes from unsaved, you are not going to make sound decisions. Amen or oh me, it's just a fact. And who do you seek advice from? Who do you seek counsel from? In my life, and in my mind, this is one of the reasons that small groups are so important. Who are you doing life with? Who influences you? Parents, who are your kids listening to? When I went to school, we had some godly men and women teaching, some of the best. Bob Diamond and Chauncey and George Thacker were just, you know, they No foolishness, they were good godly people and they just set you the way, had good character and people of pristine character. That's not that way, you can't take that for granted in the school system anymore. And I'm not talking about school systems. We're blessed for some of the godly people we have in our Chesapeake school systems. And if your kids don't attend there, that doesn't mean everybody's perfect there, but we are blessed. Nowadays, I'm just not sure that the case that your kids are getting good godly counsel, and you should not expect it's not the responsibility of the school system, nor is it the responsibility of this church. to raise your kids. We're to supplement you, not be your crutch. When it comes to teaching your kids, some of the stuff that you read and even see coming out of schools today is horrendous. And parents, you better know who your children's teacher are. Teachers are. And you better combat some of the garbage that they hear from some people. And dads, you better know who your children's coaches are. Hello? You better know who their coaches are because those are formative years, those guys coaching your kids. They're learning because they're listening. I'm encouraged to see Chase and Chad Higgins and Michael and Brandon and others involved in our buddy league programs because that's godly counsel to those kids that they're playing with. And God forbid that you're not giving godly counsel while you have their ears and teaching them what it is. And that's under attack. If you don't believe it, just go look at the Supreme Court's docket. Just go around. One coach praying after a football game with kids and they've fired him and it's gone clear to the Supreme Court over it. and take the opportunity. But I'm encouraged by those folks that are providing godly influence in our kids, in our community. I was encouraged to see Bobby Hamlin and Kyle Webb on the school board in Chesapeake and running for school board because those are good people that's going to give godly counsel. Because blessed is a man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly. Our kids need godly counsel. And, you know, Glenn Dillon, youth director of First Baptist, our new middle school principal. Not that our one that was there was not a godly person, but I'm glad to see they replaced him with a godly person. And it's awesome. And for years, you know, I can go on and on and on. But at one point in time, there was 14 teachers sitting in this congregation that were leading our kids in the school system, Linda and Kristen. And I can, you know, good Christian people teaching our kids and and taking advantage of that should be happening in school you go tell that garbage to somebody else there's a way to influence and leverage your christianity in the public school system and it's needed it's needed so But the influence of blessed is the man or the individual who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners. Number two, I think a lot can be said about this particular statement, the one that stands not in the way of sinners. What is standing in the way of sinners? Well, I think obviously, It's pretty easy to understand living an ungodly life and one of hypocrisy in front of the unsaved is one of the ways we stand in front of sinners. They're watching you whether you believe it or not. Hey dads, your kids, the video, they're watching and listening to you whether you believe it or not. I also believe good, well-meaning Christians with dogmatic ideas of criticism always hounding their unsaved friends and family members can stand in the way of sinners getting them saved. There's a young lady here that I love dearly. She talked to me about her husband. Her parents constantly cutting his ears off. instead of lovingly just inviting him to church. Standing in the way of sinners. How do you treat the unsaved? What lifestyle do you live in front of the unsaved? What is your goal to speak to the unsaved in your life? Are you kind and friendly to your neighbors that are unsaved? Do you set an example to your neighbors that are unsaved? And I've got one that I'm very cautious about. He's bitter because he lost a brother early in life. And I treat him with kid gloves and try to level him every opportunity I get. And he's warmed up to me. And one of these days I'm praying for the opportunity to have a lengthy conversation. But we've got to be careful the way we treat the unsafe people that we work with, the way that we act in front of the unsafe people that we work with, with our, you know, just the things that we say and do. And we sometimes know, We a lot of times put the cart before the horse by admonishing folks to straighten up and fly right and clean up your life before we talk to them about Jesus. They need Jesus or they're not gonna be able to straighten up their life and fly right. You couldn't have done it unless the Holy Spirit that come to live inside of you helped you by abiding in you and giving you direction And by the way, you pharisaical self-righteous hypocrites that are all the time putting people down and the way they live and yada yada yada, how long did it take you to get from point A to point B where you are now? Your expectations for a newborn Christian are sometimes just way over the top and unbelievable. It's impossible. Your kid didn't learn to walk immediately when it was born and newborn Christians don't either. It takes them a while and takes some people longer than others that are stubborn and hard-headed. Sometimes God has to get a hold of us to get us straightened up and flying right. When we really need to do is invest and invite and introduce people to Christ. And the Holy Spirit, once they trust Christ, He'll help them through that power that only He can give them to just learn what it is to be a Christian. There's folks that they don't have a clue what Christian life is in this day and age. Some of us were blessed to be around godly parents and around church and yadda yadda. Some of the folks we see in this building now, they don't have a clue what Christianity's about. And so we have to nurture them and love on them and help them and direct them. It's a struggle. to break away from the lifestyle that they've lived. So, lest is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. If we are not careful, we are sitting in the seat of the scornful and we don't even realize it. Spurgeon states, we become pestilent teachers doctors of damnation by being scornful. Those are strong words. And when you think about it, we see a lot of Christian people become contemptuous. They're just always condescending on everybody they talk to with a holier-than-thou type attitude, talking down to people. Christian folks do it all the time. instead of a loving, nurturing attitude. It's hard to win people to Christ when they have to face those type of Christian attitudes. Go out and visit some and see how hard that is. Try talking to some folks. It's like, I'll come to church and we just have two or three biting dogs in our congregation. Nobody likes a biting dog if there's only one. Nobody wants their kids around a biting dog either. Sitting in the seat of the scornful, bad attitude. I struggle with folks with a bad attitude. Their delight is in the law of the Lord. Number four, we are not under the law as a curse or condemnation, but we are to delight in it as rules of life. Way to live by. A relational text is what this is. It's a relational text where we literally hear God speaking directly to us. And if you're not reading your Bible, you don't spend some time in, I'm not talking about, oh, because of my history. I gotta read three chapters a day so I can read through and I can tell people I read through. Like I said, you'd be better off to read two verses and take something from it than just trying to read your Bible through. Because the fact of the matter is, you need to be getting instruction from this book. Wisdom, the love and the power that extends to us from the Bible that we read. It's a delight when it's so vividly expressed to you once you come to the understanding of its worth. It's more than a book, it's alive. Folks say to me all the time, I was going through such and such, I was having such and such a hard time, and I opened my daily bread or I opened my Bible that morning to read it, and God spoke to me directly about the current situation. It's alive. He's alive. I've had folks say, man, I was having such a rough time, And I just opened up a page and God spoke to me. Why? Because blessed is the person who delights in the law of the Lord. Folks, what I'm telling you really happens. I don't make this kind of stuff up. If you'll start reading your Bible, He'll speak to you too. Blow the dust off. Get it out, read it. His law that he meditate day and night. Number five, if you live long enough, you will come to a time you will fully understand what I'm telling you to be true about this book. And you will seek God's word and spend time meditating, reading, and memorizing. It's important, why? Because you're trusting and leaning on God then instead of your own understanding in life. And until you get to the place that you're trusting and leaning on God during your life, in in and and inquiring to god about the decisions of life then you're leaving on your own understanding i mean that in in where your kids go to college when you buy a house before you buy a car i'd much rather buy a car that god wants me to buy than one that's i want and it's junk You say, you're crazy dealing with that. No, I'm being factual. Consulting God about the decisions of life. And He'll, you say, well where's it tell you in there about what kind of car to buy? It don't, but He'll give you direction. He'll open and close doors or open and close finance. Cause He loves you and He wants to protect you. from our own stupidity. You'll find God cares about the helpless, the hopeless, the homeless. He cares about us. He cares about your hurts, your habits, your hang-ups. If you'll start spending time in His Word. Jonah wanted to die, yet God engaged him in tender conversation. Elijah asked God to take his life, and yet God refreshed him with food and water underneath his juniper tree. God will approach the downhearted. God will help you during your times of anxiousness, the depressed, through His Word with tender, practical help. But you've got to read it. The longer you live, the more you will learn that you are not self-sufficient. I've got a great job, I've got it all going on, a new house, new cars, I've got all... Yeah, you let God pull the rug out from under that, just how quick it all comes tumbling down. When you quit realizing it's God that blessed you, and it's God that's leading you, and it's God that's providing for you. It only takes one health issue. Ask Job to lose all you have. He cares for you and he'll bless you. He is the giver and taker of life. He is the creator of the universe. He is all in all. And if you are going to be blessed, you need to abide by these five principles. They are a must to true blessings in life. And as parents, it's your responsibility to teach them to your kids. As dads, it's your responsibility. You say, well, I'm just uncomfortable setting my kids down and doing that. okay then go fishing take your daughter to the dance recital and talk to her while you're driving in the car it doesn't have to be some rigorous hammerhead holy holy god's in his holy temple we're now gonna stop and listen to me that ain't gonna work But if you'll teach them these principles while you're just being a parent, it'll make a difference in their life. The things I taught my kids, I am teaching them to my grandkids. Just be a parent. The emphasis must be placed upon not seeking counsel from the saved only, though. I'm going to shock you. Running with the right crowd does not mean that you cannot associate with the unsaved. We can't win them if we're not with them. Jesus ate with Matthew, the tax collector, had dinner with the Pharisees. But the people you do life with need to be Christian people. People of good character, moral standards, and godly influence. Because it rubs off both ways, if there are and if there are not. And if you don't get anything else from this message, you learn to work at not developing a critical attitude, condescending attitude with a forked tongue. Because that rubs off on your kids too. Chuck Swindoll says attitude equals altitude. For all my years in business, if you came into my office, there was a sign behind my desk about three foot by three foot, attitude equals altitude, signed by Chuck Swindoll. Why? Because no one likes a pessimist. No one likes a critic. No one likes condescending, proud, egotistical attitude. Because attitude equals altitude. Folks, bathe yourself in this book. Read it. Study it. Teach it to your children, memorize it, meditate on it. Paul told Timothy, study to show yourself approved. Summer and Psalms, number one, blessed is the man. How? I live by these five principles and that's just half of the first chapter. Go home today and read the second half. Just listen to what he says. Be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth fruit in his season. Take the picture of your dead flowers or you're not watering them. That's what happens to you. if you're not living by these principles. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. Let's stand.