Hello again and welcome to the program. We're here with a little strength for today. We're looking in Psalm chapter 1 in verse number 3. It says we can be like a tree or verse number 4 like the chaff choice is ours. Psalm chapter one, verse one to six, 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 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 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 so we have quite a group of people here in this little portion of Scripture. We have the ungodly in verse 1, verse 4, verse 5, and verse 6. The word ungodly is found in the Word of God 27 times. It's a very interesting study. In our previous program, we talked about what it means to be ungodly. The dictionary says the little word UN here means the opposite of something. In other words, if you're unkind, you're not kind. If you're unhappy, you're not happy. If a lock is unlocked, it's not locked. And to be ungodly is to be not godly. We get the idea sometimes that ungodly means you've got to be really wicked. You've got to be doing something really bad. No, it means not godly. There's a lot of nice people in this world who are not godly. The Bible says the godly, in verse number two, delights in the law of God and he meditates in it day and night. And then in verse number one, and again in verse number five, we have the word sinners. The word sinners occurs in the word of God 48 times. Another very interesting study. Then we also have the scornful in verse number one and in verse number five we have the righteous and the foundation for all of these people has to do with verse one. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. The word blessed has been translated happy in the word of God 16 times. Happiness though is a byproduct and that's what we're looking at here in this portion of scripture. How to be happy? And so we read in one, blessed are happy 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. Now the word but is a conjunction used to introduce a phrase or a clause contrasting with what has just been mentioned. And so what do we need to do in contrast here? But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. Well, does that mean we just sit around all the time and meditate on the word of God? We need to look at these words when we see them in the word of God in the context in which they appear. For example, Joshua 1.8 says, this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." So, what is the context of this portion of scripture? Well, we read in Joshua chapter 1 that God said to Joshua, Now, after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, Moses, my servant, is dead. Moses is dead, Joshua. Arise and go. We've got some work to do. Where are we going? Over the Jordan. Now, we've got some silly idea in some of our hymns that that's going to heaven. It has nothing to do with going to heaven. The first thing they did when they crossed over the Jordan was they fought the battle of Jericho and a whole lot of other battles. And Joshua, if you want to win those battles when you get in there, this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein. Then thou shalt make thy way in this war with all those people over there. Then you will make your way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Meditating in the Word of God isn't sitting in a rocking chair somewhere with your Bible in your hand saying, oh, I'm just so much enjoying the Word of God. Well, you can do that sometimes, and thank God we can do that sometimes, but the context here, Moses, is dead joshua arise and go over this jordan and keep your mind in the book keep your mind on god's will and you'll win the battles as you go joshua won five god said there shall not any man be able to stand before thee you'll win the battles if you go by the word Not only that, if you're in the Word, verse 6, you'll be strong and you'll be of good courage. You'll get it from the Bible. God said be strong. You can't be strong even if God commands you to. It's a byproduct. The way to be strong is exactly what we're studying in Psalm chapter 1. Verse 7 says, Observe to do according to all the law which God through Moses commanded them to do. The by-product, you'll be strong, you'll be strong, you'll be very courageous, and no man shall be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life. Verse 7, you will prosper whithersoever thou goest. Once again, it's not talking about sitting on a rocking chair somewhere with your Bible. It's talking about getting strong by sitting in a rocking chair and getting the Bible and then get out there in the battlefield and win. And so God waits for our action and then he reacts accordingly. Our action, verse nine, be strong and have a good courage. Be not afraid. Again, all byproducts. Neither be thou dismayed. God's reaction, the Lord thy God is with thee, whithersoever thou goest. And so back in Psalm chapter one, happy, happy, blessed, happy 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. What does he do? But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law does he meditate day and night. And then we'll have the strength to handle the battles that we are going through as individuals. Well, there you go. This program's already up to eight minutes. I like to keep them down to five, so we'll stop right here, pick it up on the next program. Be sure and be with us.