I invite you to open your Bibles with me to the book of Psalms and chapter one. If you're using the Bibles in the seat, you'll find that on page 448. If you have your own Bible, you're still finding your way around. It's just about in the middle. So if you open in the middle, you'll probably be in the Psalms. A little bit interesting, just as we, the nomenclature, the naming that we use, it's the Book of Psalms, but we talk about the individual Psalms as Psalms, so Psalm 1. I don't think it's improper if you say Psalms 1. It just sounds a little dissonant in my ears. The Book of Psalms is the longest book in the Bible. It's the God-breathed praise book for His church from all ages. Luther called it a little Bible, believing that it captured the doctrines of the whole of scripture in this one book. It expresses the full range of the emotion of human beings, the wide range of experiences, soaring highs and the crashing lows, sometimes in the same psalm. And many think that Psalm 1 and Psalm 2 serve as a preface and introduction to the book. So we're gonna vary slightly what our pattern has been in this series where I've taken a chapter in the morning and then focused in on one aspect of that chapter in the evening. And we're gonna look at Psalm 1 this morning and, Lord willing, this evening, Psalm 2. Psalm 1 asks the question, how should we then live? The question that was asked by the prophet Ezekiel about 600 years before Christ. The apologist and philosopher and pastor Francis Schaeffer asked it about 50 years ago in a book by that title. And Psalm 1 asks and answers that question, how should we live, as it describes two ways to live. And as we consider these two ways to live, we're gonna be looking for Christ, as we have been in all of this series, and we ought to whenever we read the scripture, Old and New Testament. I've suggested, and I remind you week after week, not because I think necessarily you've forgotten it from last week, but just as a way to keep in mind when you're reading Scripture on your own, how can you look for Christ? I've suggested six words, two Ps, the progress of redemption and promises fulfilled in Christ. two Ts, themes of the scripture, and types, that is people, places, or things that point to Christ, and then two Cs, as we compare and contrast God's working with his people in the Old Testament and God's working with his people in the New Testament. But now we come to Psalm 1, and we consider two ways to live, and so listen to this, the word of God. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. But his delight is in the law of God, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will 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 wicked will perish. This is the word of God, and having heard from God in his word, let us seek him in prayer. Our Father in heaven, would you indeed open our eyes that we might behold wonderful truths from your word? Would you expose to us things about ourselves? And would you expose to us things about you? And particularly, would you help us to see Christ as we consider this passage before us? We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Two ways to live. Really, that is the essence of not just Psalm 1, but of the scripture. They're described here in this language, the way of the righteous, and the righteous receive God's blessing, and the way of the wicked, who receive God's judgment. The way of the righteous, who receive God's blessing, and the way of the wicked, who receive God's judgment. And that contrast has been since very much at the beginning of time. Adam and Eve were made righteous, but were tempted by the evil one, and they fell into sin, and they fell into judgment, and we fell with them. so that now all who are born are wicked. And so we're gonna consider what it is to be able to pass from being one who is wicked to being one who is righteous. We see that traced out in the first sons born in this world, Cain and Abel. Cain's offering was not accepted by God, Abel's was, and Cain was angry God warned him that his anger would lead him to sin, but he didn't heed the warning of God, and so he murdered his brother, having already hated him in his heart. And it will continue this way until the end. And so we read in the book of the Revelation, I heard a loud voice from the throne. Look, God's dwelling is with humanity and he will live with them. They will be his peoples and God himself will be with them and will be their God. That's the description of the righteous who receive God with them, God's blessing. But a few verses later, we read the cowards, the faithless, the detestable, the murderers, the sexually immoral, the sorcerers, the idolaters and all liars, their share. will be in the lake that burns with fire, and sulfur, which is the second death. There are only two ways to live, and one of them will end in the lake of fire, in what we often call hell, and the other will end in the presence of God, receiving God's eternal blessing forever. Two ways to live, righteous, wicked, Submission to God in rebellion against God and we'll see that particularly in Psalm 2 this evening. Belief in Christ, unbelief, heaven as the final destination, hell as the final destination. Often we have those sorts of divisions in the scripture telling us there are only two ways to live. Sometimes as I'm out and I meet unbelievers, you've probably had a similar experience. You ask people, if you ask them, are you righteous or are you wicked? Very few will say, well, I'm wicked. I recognize that. I acknowledge that. Now, not very many will say, well, I'm righteous. And so what they try to do is say, well, I'm somewhere in between. I'm kind of in the middle. But the Bible does not give us the ability to say that. There are two ways to live, the righteous who receive God's blessing and the wicked who receive God's judgment. And so when we consider two ways to live, it demands the question, which way are you living? Which way are you living? And let's consider these two ways, but let's not consider them as sort of an exercise merely in thinking, but let's consider them actively. And so I have in the outline, if you're following along and if that's helpful to you, it's on the back of the order of service. Flee from being the judged one. Flee from being the judged one. In the outline points, I say he, but this is not a men versus women thing. This is humanity. It's the generic him. It's a human being. Men, women, boys, girls. There's clear application in this text for you who are men. There's clear application for you who are women. There's clear application for you who are boys and for you who are girls. Flee from being the judged one. And as we talk about what this one is and isn't, we'll see what the scripture tells us about how to flee. Because since Adam's sin, we all were born as the judged ones. I didn't put a lot of details in the outline. You might have to do a lot of scribbling if you want to keep some of those details, or I can give them to you afterwards. But I wanna consider first, what is the judged one not? What he isn't? And we see in verse five that he isn't gonna stand up under God's judgment. That's not saying that he's not going to be there. but they won't be able to stand under the wrath of God. And so again, we read in the book of Revelation, the kings of the earth, the nobles, the generals, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid in the caves and among the rocks and the mountains. And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of the one seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, because the great day of their wrath has come and who is able to stand? The wicked will not be able to stand under God's judgment. As one writer has put it, in the judgment, they don't have a leg to stand on. This one who is going to face God's judgment is also not going to enjoy the congregation of God's people. And again, we see that in verse five. They won't stand in the congregation of the righteous. They may come to church on occasion, perhaps, perhaps one of you, though I hope not, is still in that camp. But those of you who are not, invite your non-Christian friends to come to church, realizing they may not come, but hoping that they will come, and that they will come to believe the gospel, and that they will, as Paul writes to the Corinthians, fall down on their face as the secrets of their heart are revealed, and proclaim God is really among you. But recognize they won't like the congregation of God's people, and they often won't come. a question that I've sometimes asked when I've been in a setting to be with unbelievers on a Monday, is to ask, what was the sermon about yesterday? If you're going to ask that question, you better remember what your sermon was about yesterday, because they might turn around and ask you. But often, when I've had people respond to that question that I've asked them, there's been a sense of guilt Well, I know I should go to church, but I don't go, or I know I should go to church, but I didn't go to church yesterday. They don't like, they don't enjoy the congregation of God's people. What is this one not? He's not gonna stand under God's judgment, doesn't enjoy the congregation of God's people, and he is not one who has the Son. He's not one who has the Son. John writes in 1 John 5, this is the testimony. God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. The one who has the Son has life. The one who does not have the Son of God does not have life. That's the distinction. There's a danger that you and I might read Psalm 1 as a description of what we need to do in order to be righteous and in order to receive God's blessing and what we need to do to not be wicked and not receive God's judgment. But Psalm 1 is a description of people as they are. And the only way to go from being one who is under judgment to one who receives God's blessing is to have the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the testimony of the whole of Scripture. God has given us eternal life. And this life is in His Son. He who has the Son, has the Son, is righteous, has the Son, is blessed, has the Son, has life. He who does not have the Son, does not have the Son, is wicked, does not have the Son, will go to hell, does not have the Son, does not have life. What is this one not? He's not going to stand under God's judgment. He's not going to enjoy the congregation of God's people, and he does not have the Son. But what is he? Well, verses 1 and 5 tell us that he's a scornful, wicked sinner. It's not just that he's ungodly in the sense that he lives as if God doesn't exist, but he lives in rebellion against God, and we see that more in Psalm 2. It doesn't mean that he's as wicked as he could possibly be, but it means that he is wicked all the way to the core. Radical depravity is a word that sometimes Christians use as they describe what the Bible says about this one. He or she might live an outwardly moral life. And sometimes when we're around non-Christians who live that way, we might be inclined to think, well, if God just saves them, they won't have to change much. They'll have to change everything. Because they will have been living this outwardly moral life thinking that their outward morality makes them satisfied, puts them in a satisfied position before God, and it never can. The only righteousness that the scripture permits and allows is a righteousness that comes by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You've probably had the experience of having friends or family members or neighbors who live that outwardly moral life, who you might even find hard to describe as scornful, wicked sinners, and yet you know that's what they are. And you also know, if you've tried to share Christ with them, that they're sometimes the hardest people to reach with the gospel. Because like the Pharisees in Jesus' day, they don't think they need a doctor. They don't think they need a savior. They think they're okay on their own, but none of us are okay on our own. And second, if these sorts of people do come to Christ, when they do come to Christ, they have to consider all that they had before Christ as rubbish. So what is he? He's a scornful, wicked sinner. Verse four tells us that he's blown away by the breeze. He's blown away like chaff. If you've studied the scripture long enough, you have an idea of what that's about, but we don't live in a manual agrarian society. I doubt if very many of us have threshed the grain and winnowed the grain and watched the chaff blow away. But many of us have read about it. The chaff is what's around the grain of wheat. And to thresh the grain is to pound on it, to beat on it, to separate the wheat from the outer husk, the chaff. And then to winnow is to throw that up in the air, and the wind blows the chaff away, but the grain falls back to the ground. It can be gathered. And God says the wicked are like that chaff. There's no value in them. There's no substantial worth in them. They're just blown away by the wind. There may be some temporary success of the wicked, but ultimately he blows away like chaff. He may gain the whole world, but apart from Christ, he will lose his soul. He's a scornful wicked sinner, he's blown away by the breeze, and lastly, he's headed to destruction, or as verse five says, he will perish. And he will perish eternally. And those of us who know Christ need to tell them. A little while back I sent a lengthy text to a friend, and this is what I said. I won't read his name. Hi. I decided since I didn't know when I would see you again to send you this by SMS. Sorry for the long text, but it's important. I've been thinking about it since your comment the other evening that you don't want to go to hell. I don't say this to judge you, but to warn you. I think that is your destination, the destination of the path that you're heading on. It doesn't matter if you are or aren't better than your sister or your dad, your uncle, your aunt, my daughter who he was friends with, me, anyone. My only hope to escape hell, your only hope to escape hell is repentance of faith, repentance of sin and faith in the work of Jesus Christ. And that involves surrendering your life to him and to his rule no matter what and loving him and his people, the church. I know that you know a lot about the Bible, but I urge you to get a copy if you don't have one and start reading the New Testament. If you get through Revelation, start over. Don't stop until you've settled your life and your eternity with Jesus. And if you're not a reader, let me know and I'll get the Bible for you in online version or in MP3 so that you can listen to it. I care for you, as do many others, your family, your dad, your aunt and uncle. Your cousin, one of the men who was in our church. Even though, to our shame, we don't always show it, as well as some of your non-Christian friends will. I'm praying for your life. I'm praying for your soul. Blessings, Ed. How often do we have those kinds of direct conversation with those who we know are headed to destruction? Flee from being the judged one. Flee to the mercy and the saving work of Jesus Christ so that you can be one who says, I have the Son, and because I have the Son, I have life. Flee from being the judged one and seek to be the blessed one. And both of those happen the same way, through faith in Jesus Christ. Again, Psalm 1 is not describing what you need to do in order to become a blessed one, what you need to do in order to earn God's favor. Rather, it's describing who those people are and what they're like. And so what is this blessed one? Well, what is he not? Let's look at that first. He's not influenced by the wicked. He doesn't walk or stand or sit. There seems to be, although some debate what the intention of the psalmist is here. Is there a progression? There seems to be sort of a physical, natural progression. You walk with someone, you stand with someone, you sit with someone. There seems to be an element of getting closer and closer. But often in the Hebrew, there's a parallelism, and so it may simply be saying something three different, slightly different ways as a way of emphasis. What it is is saying that you need to be careful, that there's a clear warning, and it doesn't mean you can never be around wicked people. What it means is that you may not take their counsel. You may not follow their actions in regards to moral judgments. Some of you need to spend less time in response to Psalm 1 with wicked people. You're coming under their influence. You're letting the world squeeze you into its mold. But I would also say some of you, in response to Psalm 1, need to spend more time with wicked people. need to be willing to speak to those who are perishing, who are rushing headlong to hell, and do what you can, praying that God might be pleased to use you to slow and to stop their descent into God's judgment. You may need to be, I may need to be, like Jesus, a friend of sinners in order to have the opportunity to proclaim Christ to them. What he isn't? He isn't influenced by the wicked. And then he isn't all the things that the wicked is. He isn't a scornful, wicked sinner. He isn't blown away by the breeze. He isn't headed for destruction. And so what is he? Well, the psalmist tells us. And again, these are statements of reality. These are reasons to rejoice. If God has brought you through faith in Christ to be the blessed one, then you can rejoice that these things are true about you. What is he? He's blessed. He's made happy by God. That's what we see in verse one. To be blessed is to be in a position to be happy due to the kindnesses of God. And it's interesting that this word that's translated blessed is in the plural. It's oh the blessednesses of God. To know God's favor, to be in a position to be made happy by God. And then in verse two we see that he's made happy by God's word. And these two go together. They go together like love and marriage. They go together like a horse and carriage. You can't have one without the other. You can't have a love for God without a love for God's word. Now here, the word that's used is the law. He delights in the law of God. And the law is used in many different ways. It's used to describe the first five books of the Old Testament. It's used to describe the moral instruction of God. And it's used to describe the book of God. But this one, this one who is blessed, is made happy by God and is made happy by God's word. Nothing else will ultimately make you happy. Not career, not wealth, not family, not external things. Only the happiness that comes from God himself and from God's word. Why does this one love the law of God? Because it's written by the God that he loves. You get a letter from a friend, from a family member. I've mentioned that before. You treasure it because it's written by someone you love. Maybe it's a grandparent, maybe it's a grandchild. And you treasure that letter because it's written by one that you love. And how does this one treasure it? It goes on to say in the second part of verse two that he's thinking about and talking to himself about God's word all the time. He's thinking about and talking to himself about God's word all the time. He meditates on God's law day and night. You're likely familiar with the expression that some view that meditation in a similar way to a cow chewing its cud. Somehow God made cows so they can put food in a stomach and then bring it back up and chew on it some more and get all the nutrients out of it. And they do that again and again and again. And this blessed one, this righteous man, choose on the Word of God, thinks about it, and talks about it to himself all day long. Sometimes we ask people the question, did you read your Bible today? That's not asking enough. Are you thinking about what you read in your Bible today? Are you meditating on the Word of God today? What are you thinking about? One of the things that Nancy and I have found very useful in our own walk with God, but also in our walk with God as a couple, is we use a Bible app for our Bible reading, and it gives us a place to write something in response to what we've read. And we can read each other's meditation on what we've read, and I find that very useful. You'll have to ask Nancy if she finds it useful or not. But it's this idea of thinking about and talking about God's word all day long. How much time do you spend thinking and talking about the word of God? The word of God that is from the God who loves you and puts you in a position to be happy and the God whose word you love. And do this not simply as a duty, but as a means to happiness. Happy is the man, blessed is the man. What is he? He's blessed. He's made happy by God. He's made happy by God's Word. He's thinking and talking to himself about God's Word all the time. And he's a well-planted, fruitful tree. Verse three, he's a well-planted, fruitful tree. That image of God's care, of one who is transplanted into a well-watered place. If you're going to have green grass in Colorado, we've learned, with the exception of the last couple of weeks, you're going to have to water it. It's going to have to be well watered. If you're, if you have the opportunity to have well water or bore water. then your water bill won't go up as much as it will if you use city water. But it has to be well watered. And if you want to have a green flourishing garden, a green flourishing yard, you have to have water. It has to be well planted. It has to be well watered. And that's the description of this one who is the blessed one. Does that mean that life always goes great? That everything works out exactly the way you want? No. But you can say, knowing that Jesus said, you will have trouble in this world, but be encouraged because I have overcome the world, that even in your trouble, you can say, I am a well watered garden of God. I can bear fruit even in time of drought because my life is watered by the mercy and the word of God. What is this one? He's blessed. He's made happy by God. He's made happy by God's word. He thinks and talks about God's word all the time. He's like a well-planted fruitful tree. And going on in verse three, he's prosperous. And this is where we shift to a name it and claim it gospel. No, it's not. You must always understand what it is to be prosperous by the word of God and understand that prosperity is something that God grants or not as he desires. And so we read in the life of Joseph in the book of Genesis that Potiphar didn't have to concern himself with anything because God had made Joseph prosper. And then Joseph was thrown into prison because Potiphar's wife conspired against him. And the jailer didn't have to concern himself with anything that was under Joseph's oversight because God made him prosperous. Prosperity that's defined by God comes from God. Too often, prosperity that we might pursue in the world ends up being rubbish, ends up being chaff that blows away. Now many have observed in our world today, all of us are prosperous compared to the whole of the population of the world. And so in your prosperity, how are you recognizing God in that? How are you using whatever God has given you to serve God and to serve others? But this one, this one who is the blessed one, is prosperous. And then lastly, from verse six, he's watched over by God. God knows the way of the righteous. Now we need to make sure that we understand what that means. It doesn't mean that God doesn't know the way of the wicked. God does know the way of the wicked. In fact, He tells us that the way of the wicked will perish. This knowledge, as is often used in the scripture, does not merely describe awareness, but describes love and intimacy. And so we read that the man knew his wife. It's a description of the physical intimacy of a husband and a wife. It doesn't just mean that he, oh, hi, you're my wife, let me shake your hand. It means there's a love, there's an intimacy described there. And God knows the way of the righteous. Sometimes when times are hard, you might think, God, where are you? He knows your way. Even in difficulties, He knows your way. He watches over your way. What is this one? He's blessed. He's made happy by God. He's made happy by God's Word. He's thinking and talking to himself about God's Word all the time. He's a well-planted, fruitful tree. He's prosperous, and he's watched over by God. Those are the descriptions from Psalm 1. But just like we looked in the New Testament for the description of the wicked, so we look for the description of the righteous. He's one who has the Son. One who has the Son, Jesus Christ. This is the testimony. God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life. He who has the Son has blessing. He who has the Son is the righteous person, man, woman, boy, or girl. The one who has the Son is the one who is righteous. There are two ways to live. And as I asked early on, let me just ask again, which way are you living? Are you living the way of the wicked? And if you are, I plead with you. I plead with you to repent, to believe the gospel, to believe that there's nothing you can do in and of yourself, but Christ has done everything that you need and you can trust Him. and you can be transferred from the wicked one to the righteous one, transferred from the judged one to the blessed one. And if you are living in the way of the righteous, rejoice. Rejoice in your Savior. Be happy in God, remembering that the only way to be a blessed one is to be in the blessed one, Jesus Christ himself. Pray with me. Our Father in heaven, thank you for describing the two ways to live. And most, if not all of us in this room, can say thank you, God, for having mercy on me, the sinner. On transforming me from being the wicked one to being a righteous one. By giving me a righteousness in Jesus Christ by faith. And Lord, if there are any here who like my friend to whom I sent this text, as far as I know, is still living for himself. Might you, even today, turn them, turn them to trust in Jesus so that they can say, I have the Son. I am the righteous one that's described in Psalm 1, because the ultimately described righteous one, Jesus Christ, is my Savior and my Lord. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.