The Blessed Life

I can't preach up there. I've got to preach down here.

Y'all notice my pattern.

So with this transition into summer, we're transitioning to a new series that's going to last throughout the summer.

It's a series in the book of Psalms.

So this morning we're going to put a pause on the book of John.

We're not finished with it. Obviously we're going to pick it back up after the summer.

Summer tends to be a time when many of us are traveling and it's not consistently here.

The Psalms, each Psalm can stand alone.

Certainly there's a connection of the Psalms.

The first and second Psalm actually sets the scene for all the rest of the Psalms in the book.

But we can preach each one separately for those who will be in and out during the summer because of family and vacations and stuff.

So that's the game plan for us as a congregation over the summer.

And I have the privilege to preach on Psalm 1, which many of us know by heart.

Of all the Psalms we're going to memorize, it happens to be fairly short, six verses, and it happens to be at the beginning.

So we tend to start there and we tend to memorize that one.

So it'll be familiar to you.

But what I hope is going to be powerful to all of us is the truth that's woven into this Psalm.

So this morning it's my privilege to unfold or at least hope that God will unfold to us a beauty of Psalm 1.

And we'll see a depth of what's being said to us through Psalm 1.

So I'd ask you to open to that Psalm.

And I'd ask you to open your Bible.

If you didn't bring a Bible, there's one in the seat back in front of you.

If you want to use that Bible, you would turn to page 418 and you would find Psalm 1 there.

But I would encourage you to keep it open this morning because we're going to look at phrases and words and the truths that are in the Psalm.

And we're going to be referring to it often this morning as we look at this Psalm.

Let me ask you, if you will, to pray with me one more time after we read this.

So let me read it and then I'll pray and then we'll share about the truths here found in Psalm 1.

So read with me starting in verse 1, Psalm 1.

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 the Lord.

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 the 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.

Let's pray.

Father, this morning, open our eyes spiritually that we might see the truth in this passage.

I pray that you'd open our ears that we might hear from you this morning as you speak independently to each of our hearts.

And Father, I pray that you would move us in the depth of our hearts that we might live in a way that honors you, in a way that brings you glory.

Father, open our understanding as we open your word, and I pray in your name.

Amen.

Amen.

You know, this psalm talks about two distinct groups of people.

Do you see it?

It's the righteous and the wicked.

And there's a contrast that is woven into this psalm.

We see an aspect of those who are considered righteous, and we see an aspect of those who are considered wicked.

And so I want us to look and see what the psalm says about the righteous and about the wicked at the contrast here, the vast contrast.

And I would say this.

We know that there's a day coming because the psalm talks about this day of judgment that's coming,

and it talks about this congregation of the righteous, the gathering of the righteous together and the judgment of the wicked.

There's a day coming when that will take place.

And we see the vast distinction as we look at the word of God is that there's going to be a day when Christ is going to gather.

He's going to separate the wheat from the tares.

He's going to separate the sheep from the goats.

And what is he going to do?

He's going to take those who know him, and he's going to say,

Come, and he's going to say, into the kingdom of my Father, those who have been blessed, those who have honored him.

But he's going to say to the wicked, Depart and be away from me, get away from me.

And they will be eternally separated from him.

And this psalm shows us this distinction, these two groups.

And I want to look at what is said about the righteous and what is said about the wicked.

So about the ones who are blessed.

Notice that the psalm starts with this.

Blessed is the man.

Blessed is the man.

So it's talking about this man who has been blessed, not this guy that has achieved.

I want to make the distinction here.

It's not blessed is the man who's done all these good things.

And all these good things have yielded a blessing.

That's not what's being said in this psalm.

You know what's being said in this psalm is,

God has done something to the man such that now he is considered blessed.

This man has been blessed.

And what does this psalm say about the blessed man?

It says the blessed man walks not like this, but like this.

You know, we've seen this before where the negative comes before the positive.

Not this way, but this way.

And in the original language, that's like an exclamation point saying,

this is important.

When the negative comes before the positive, it emphasizes the positive.

So listen at what is said about the righteous man.

It says he doesn't walk like this.

Like what?

He doesn't walk in the counsel of the wicked.

He does not stand in the way of sinners.

He does not sit in the seat of scoffers.

He doesn't do that.

The man who has been blessed, which later that man is called righteous in verse 6.

The righteous man does not live like that.

The righteous man does not make choices in that arena.

What arena?

Do you see the progression of sin here?

Isn't it interesting that if we look closely at what the righteous man does not do,

notice it's walking, standing, or sitting.

It's this progression of sin that's being pictured here.

As we walk in our lives, we see that which is detestable, that which is sinful.

And what do we do?

How do we respond?

Do we walk by it?

Do we just notice it as we walk in?

Do we walk along with others who are participating?

Perhaps do we stop and listen and partake?

Or even worse, do we sit down and say, I'm going to be a part of this?

There is illustrated here this progression of sin.

And do you find that to be true in your life?

Do you find that sin often starts as a fault and a temptation?

And then as that fault and temptation rattles around, it becomes something you meditate on?

And then do you find that often when you meditate, you participate?

It's not uncommon for that to happen in our lives in this way.

But I want to make this distinction.

It says, not this way, but this way.

Not like this, but like this.

And the positive side of this contrast is the blessed man delights in the law of the Lord.

And on his law, he meditates day and night.

So the contrast is this.

The blessed man doesn't live in the sinful way, but instead he lives like this.

He meditates and delights in the ways of God.

I love the way the scripture uses illustrations.

And here we have an illustration of each of these two types of people.

It's the word like.

Do you see it in the text?

The blessed man, the righteous man is like this, but the wicked man is like that.

What is it, David?

What are you saying?

What is the righteous man like?

He says, the righteous man is like a planted tree.

And he's planted by this stream that never goes dry.

And this stream provides the nourishment that that tree needs.

And that tree produces fruit and continues to produce fruit.

And continues to produce fruit.

And continues to produce fruit.

Why?

Because his roots are deep.

And he draws from this water, this source of life.

He draws, the tree draws it.

And it's an illustration of the man who is righteous, the woman who is righteous.

Those who are righteous draw living water from the king, from the provider of living water.

And there's fruit produced in the life of the one who is tied to the vine.

You know the story of the vine and the branches, that we are as branches and God is as the vine.

And as we are tied in, we receive the nourishment from the Lord.

I'll take a look and read out of Jeremiah something very, very similar in an illustration.

It illustrates the exact same thing and gives a little more depth.

And I want you to hear it out of Jeremiah 17.

It says this,

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord.

Whose trust is the Lord.

He is like a tree planted by water that sends out its roots by the stream and does not fear when the heat comes.

For its leaves remain green and is not anxious in the year of drought.

For it does not cease to bear fruit.

Do you see the picture?

Even if there's a drought, even if the circumstances are severe,

the life of the righteous one is always producing fruit.

And even though the circumstances are tough,

they're tied into, they're rooted into the source of the nutrient, the water,

the life-giving of the water, and they continue to produce.

You know, this talks about us.

Right?

For those people who are righteous,

there is a component about their life that is illustrated here,

is that they always produce fruit.

They continue to produce fruit.

Even when circumstances in life are extremely difficult,

you know what happens to the one who's righteous?

Is there's fruit that's still pouring out of their life.

You know what fruit does to others?

Or for others?

It blesses them.

If you ever receive the fruit from the life of another person,

have you ever been loved by someone?

Have you ever been forgiven by someone?

Have you ever seen the joy that is shared by someone?

Have you ever watched their patience as they interact with you?

And we would know the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness.

We see the beauty of those characteristics of the righteous.

And it's illustrated biblically by this concept of fruit.

And fruit spills out of the life of the righteous.

And this illustration in Psalm 1 is beautiful.

And do you see the great contrast?

In the life of the wicked, guess what?

There is no fruit.

It is illustrated with this other picture.

So during the harvest, let's say, during the wheat harvest,

in the nation of Israel,

not that I've ever been a farmer.

So farmers, if I mess this up bad, y'all please tell me,

and y'all can correct me, and I'll do it right next time.

But it's my understanding that when wheat is harvested,

they bring the wheat to the threshing floor.

And they'll take a...

In the old days, they would take this sheet-looking thing that was...

What do you call it?

Like a sieve.

And they would take it, and they would scoop it,

and they would throw the wheat up into the air.

And the husk around the kernel of wheat,

as it was broken, you would throw it up in the air,

and the wind would take the chaff, or those husk,

and it would blow them away off of the threshing floor.

And what would fall, because it was heavier, is the wheat, the grain of wheat.

And so as you continue to do this and continue to do this,

the wind just takes the chaff, and it blows it away.

And what you have left over time is you have this pure wheat that's on the ground,

but the chaff is worthless and is blown away.

It has no stability at all.

Isn't it interesting that it refers to the wicked in this way?

The wicked are like this worthless chaff that has no use,

and it just needs to blow away.

It's just no stability, no worth at all.

That's what the wicked are like.

And we see that displayed in this psalm when it talks about the judgment.

When the ingathering happens,

when the harvest of souls are gathered by the Father,

guess what's going to happen to the wicked?

They're going to be blown away like the chaff.

They're going to end up separated eternally from God.

We've talked about

the intensity of hell.

The intensity of a place without the grace of God.

The distinction here couldn't be greater

between the righteous and the wicked.

One is like this stable tree that gives life to all who come by.

The fruit that gives life.

The fruit that comes from being tied into the source of life.

The other is worthless and should just be blown away.

Do you see the intensity of this?

We go on.

I want you to notice the delight of the righteous.

What is the righteous delight in?

Take a look in verse 2.

His delight is in the law of the Lord.

And in his law, he meditates day and night.

So it begs the question,

what is the law of God?

What is being said here?

So we would know the law of God

as being the first five books of the Bible, right?

The Pentateuch.

The law is often referred to as the law of Moses.

In truth, it's not the law of Moses.

He received it, right?

It's the law of God that was handed to Moses.

And Moses gave it to the people.

And what does the law say?

What is it that the righteous meditate on?

Well, you know, it's interesting.

In the New Testament,

in the book of Matthew,

there was a lawyer that asked Christ

about this very law.

And it's revealing what Christ said

about the law.

He summarized the whole thing

with his answer.

And the question was this.

Out of Matthew 22, it says this.

Teacher, this is a Pharisee,

a lawyer of the Pharisees.

Teacher, which is the greatest commandment

in the law?

And we know what he answered, right?

This is familiar to us.

And he said to him,

you shall love the Lord your God

with all your heart,

with all your soul,

with all your mind.

This is the greatest in first commandment.

And a second is like it.

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

On these two commands

hang all of the law.

In other words,

if we were to summarize the law,

it would be summarized like this.

Love God and love others.

If you do that,

then you're obeying the law.

If you love.

What does love look like?

Real quickly,

I will share out of the book of John,

and this is Christ speaking.

And Christ says this,

if you love me,

you will obey my commands.

You know,

the Father would say that

through his law too.

If you love me,

you will obey my commands.

Why would that be true?

Let me ask this.

If you deeply love someone,

don't you want to do

what pleases them?

You go out of your way

to do what pleases them.

You go out of your way

to gift to them

things that are pleasing them.

Do you all understand

what I'm saying?

In an earthly relationship,

that's what love,

how love displays itself.

And it's true here

in the word of God as well.

If we love God,

what do we do?

We desire to please him.

And how do we please him?

Obey his commands.

Where is commands found?

The law.

Listen,

the righteous man

loves the law.

The righteous man

meditates on the law.

And in summary,

what is the law?

It's the way

to rightly relate to God.

Do you all see this as true?

Is that those who are righteous

desire to rightly relate to God?

You know,

we read,

I think Sean read,

if I'm not mistaken.

Sean,

was that a Deuteronomy you read?

Yeah.

So we're going to read

out of Deuteronomy again.

I want you to hear it again

about this law.

Here's what Moses said.

Moses was the giver of the law.

And Moses said this.

I'm going to just read

a real brief portion

of what Sean read earlier.

But I want you to hear it

about the law.

And this was what God gave

to his people.

What people?

The nation of Israel.

He said,

nation of Israel,

this is how you rightly relate to me.

Israel lived this way.

And Moses said this.

He said,

listen,

he said to Israel,

you shall obey the voice

of the Lord your God,

keeping his commandments

and his statutes

which I command you today.

And if you faithfully obey

the voice of the Lord your God,

being careful to do

all his commandments

that I command you today,

the Lord your God

will set you high

above all the nations

of the earth.

And these blessings

shall come upon you

and overtake you

if you obey the voice

of the Lord your God.

Listen to that.

These blessings

will overtake you.

You know what happens

in the life of a man

who's righteous?

You know what happens

in the life of a man

who obeys the word of God?

But these blessings

of God overtake you.

These abundance,

this extravagant love

that God has

is poured into your life.

Don't hear me say

that you have a smooth life,

you never have a problem,

you never have an issue,

you never have a circumstance.

Don't hear me say that.

But what I want you

to hear me say

is the blessing of God

is spiritual.

The blessing of God

is something that gives you joy

and peace

and rest

and contentment.

It is what we're made for.

God has gifted

to His people

these blessings.

But I want you to hear

the other side of this.

But if

He says,

in a sense to us,

church,

if you'll obey

the commands of God,

you'll experience intimacy

that you've never

even known existed.

But,

if you will not obey

the voice of the Lord your God

or be careful

to do all His commandments

and His statutes

that I command you today,

then all these curses

shall come upon you

and overtake you.

Let me ask this question.

How did they do?

As you've read

the Word of God

and we've read about

the people of God,

if you will,

the nation of Israel

in the Old Testament,

how did they do?

Do you think

that they honored God

and all these blessings

overtook them

or do you think

they turned their back

on God

and all these curses

overtook them?

Well,

it's the latter,

isn't it?

Think about

the nation of Israel.

We have two tribes,

right?

We have the northern kingdom

and the southern kingdom.

What happened

to the northern kingdom?

God whistled,

if you will,

He called

the nation of Assyria

and what did they do?

He sent them down there

to do what?

To destroy the nation.

Why?

Because they went

after other gods

and they would not

go after Him.

They worshipped idols.

They did all these

abominable things.

They did not honor God.

They did not obey His commands.

They chose to go

their own way

and what happened?

They were destroyed.

They were scattered

to every corner

of the wind,

if you will.

And then you have

the southern kingdom.

What happened to them?

At some point,

God was more patient

with them

and we know the story

about Hezekiah

and the prayer of Hezekiah.

when they had the army

outside the walls,

185,000 were killed

at one time

and so they had reprieve

for a period of time.

But what happened?

Nebuchadnezzar happened, right?

And what did Nebuchadnezzar do

to the southern king

and destroyed it?

Why did he destroy it?

Because they did the same thing.

Because they didn't obey

the commands of God.

Because they chose

to go on their own way.

Because they chose

to worship Baal.

Because they chose

to sacrifice their children

to Moloch.

Because they chose

to do these lewd things

on top of every high hill

in the country.

Because they turned

their back on God

and didn't worship Him.

And what happened?

All these curses

came upon them.

So what is being said

in Psalm 1?

So it begs a question.

I'm going to look at

what Paul says about this.

But it begs a question here.

Blessed is the man

who delights in the law

of the Lord.

Did the Israelites delight?

They didn't.

Was there a righteous man

in the nation of Israel?

Well, we might remember one.

At least.

We might remember

more than that.

We remember it was said

of David.

He's a man after God's own heart.

Did David obey the law?

Guess what?

David didn't obey the law.

But he was still a man

after God's own heart.

Let me just make this point.

David had Uriah put to death.

David stole,

David stole,

took,

Uriah's wife,

that's Sheba,

had sexual relations

with her adultery,

then had Uriah killed.

David's guilty.

Nathan had to go to him

and say,

tell this story.

And David

was so overwhelmed

with his own sin

that he was

full of grief.

And for David,

he repented.

And God is gracious

to those who repent.

But my point is this,

David did not obey the law.

So,

therefore,

how in the world

was he considered

a man after God's own heart?

What would have happened

to David

if he didn't obey the law?

Think about what it says

about,

in Genesis 15,

about Abraham.

It said,

and he brought him outside.

That is Abraham

who had no heir.

And he's saying to God,

God,

I don't have a son.

I don't have an heir.

My whole

belongings and everything

that inheritance

is going to a servant of mine.

Are you not going to give me an heir?

He said,

yes,

I'll give you an heir.

He says this,

and he brought him outside.

He said,

look toward heaven

and number the stars

if you're able to number them.

Then he said to them,

so shall your offspring be.

And how did Abraham respond to that?

And he believed the Lord.

And listen to this.

And it was counted to him

as righteousness.

Do you hear the source

of righteousness

in the life of Abraham?

What was it?

It's belief.

It wasn't obedience to the law.

It was belief

that God is who he is.

This concept of faith

was present

in the Old Testament.

Who are those

that were righteous

in the Old Testament?

Those who by faith

believed in him.

What does Paul say

over in the New Testament?

He says this.

Listen to Romans 3.

This is a direct quote

from Psalm 14 and Psalm 53.

Both written by David.

And he says this.

None is righteous.

No, not one.

Wait a minute.

Wait a minute.

Paul, are you saying

there's not a righteous man

on the planet?

That's exactly what I'm saying.

There's not one righteous man

on the planet.

So wait a minute.

Psalm 1 says,

blessed is the man

who's righteous.

And Paul's saying

there's not one

on the planet.

Where's the disconnect here?

Listen further

on what Paul says.

There's none righteous.

No, not one.

There's no one who understands.

There's no one

who seeks for God.

All have turned aside.

Together they've become worthless.

No one does good.

Not even one person.

There's no one righteous.

Unless something happens to them.

Unless something happens

through the power of God.

Unless God touches the man.

Do you think Abraham

was touched by God?

Do you think David

was touched by God?

Do you think there were

any righteous men

in the Old Testament?

Yes, not because

of what they did.

We know from the New Testament

that righteousness

is not achieved.

You know where righteousness

comes from?

It's imputed.

You know what it means

to be imputed?

That means you've received

something that you didn't earn.

It's imputed to you.

Where do we see that

in the New Testament?

Listen to this beautiful picture

of where righteousness

comes from.

For our sake,

He, God,

made Him, Jesus,

to be sin

who knew no sin.

So that in Him

we might become

the righteousness of God.

Can you hear that?

We might become

the righteousness of God.

Do you realize

that God is doing a work

in every one of His children?

You know what that work is?

He's making us righteous.

He's imputing righteousness

to us.

Not by what we did,

but by what Christ did.

The great exchange is this.

In our sin,

Christ came

and He died on a cross

as a righteous man

who had never sinned.

And God did this.

He took the righteousness

of Christ

and He placed it

on those who bowed

their knee to Him.

And their sin

He took

and He put on Christ.

You know that

1 Peter says

that by our stripes

He's healed?

That He hung on a cross

and He took our sins

with Him to the cross.

The great exchange is this.

I'm a sinner

deserving hell.

Jesus went to hell

on my behalf.

He is righteous

and didn't deserve it,

but God took His righteousness

and clothed me in it.

Do you realize

when God looks at me

and you

as those of us

who are born again,

do you know what He sees?

He sees the blood of Christ

poured on us.

He sees the perfect sacrifice

on our behalf

that we are now

considered righteous

because of what Christ

has done on our behalf.

And so we now

as those who are righteous

enjoy what's being said

here in Psalm 1.

Do you realize

that those who are righteous

are like trees

planted by water?

Do you realize

that those who are righteous

that is you and me

on this side of the cross?

Do you realize

that there's fruit

that pours out of our life?

Do you realize

there's an association

with meditating on the Word?

Let me just share

the beautiful picture

of the New Testament

for those who are

His children.

You know what God has done?

You know He's taken

our old man

and He's crucified

the old man.

He's united us with Christ

and He's come

the Holy Spirit's come

to dwell within us.

The righteous one

has come to dwell

within us.

And because the righteous one

dwells within us

and because we're clothed

with the righteousness

of Christ

He looks at us

as pure.

He looks at us

as righteous.

And you know what happens

in the lives of those

who are righteous?

It always happens like this.

There's always fruit.

John 15 says it like this.

When we look at

the concept of fruit

you know what that is?

The fruit is the picture

of practical holiness.

So as I look

as someone would look

at our life

would they see holiness?

Yes they see holiness.

What does it look like?

It looks like fruit.

What do I mean by that?

Listen to what

the Word of God says.

Abide in me

and I in you.

John 15.

As the branch

cannot bear fruit

by itself

unless it abides

in the vine

neither can you

unless you abide in me.

Let me say this church.

I hope we hear this.

This is to me

the most powerful

aspect of the New Testament

when it speaks

about how to live.

Listen there's never

going to be fruit

produced by your flesh.

Never.

It's not possible.

You know where fruit

comes from?

It comes from the Holy Spirit.

You know how it comes

out of your life

when you yield

to the Holy Spirit?

And the Holy Spirit

begins to live

His life through you

and what has produced?

Fruit.

That's what it means

when it says

abide in me.

What does it mean

to abide in me?

It means to say

God here I am

in all my weakness.

I'm not capable

of doing anything good.

Your Word declares it.

But God I give myself

to you

and I ask you

to do whatever you want

in and through my life.

And you know what he does?

To the person

who genuinely desires that?

The person who genuinely

desires to honor God?

To the person

who meditates

on His Word

night and day?

To the person

who wants to rightly

relate to God?

You know what God does?

Through the power

of the Holy Spirit

He does this amazing work

that Philippians talks about.

For it is God

who works in you.

You know how it finishes here?

Y'all know the rest

of the verse?

I hesitate.

I pause

because this is so powerful.

It is God

who works in you

to do what?

Both to will

and to do

of His good pleasure.

Listen to what

the truth is said here.

You know that

if there's any desire

it comes from Him.

A desire for His honor

and His glory

comes from Him.

It is God

who works in you

to will

to give you

the desire

for Him.

The desire

to honor Him.

Both to will

and to work.

The working

of holiness

the fruit

is not yours

it's His.

It's through your life.

As you yield to Him

He lives His life

through you.

Where do I get that from?

John 15.

Again, listen.

I am the vine

you are the branches

whoever abides in me

and I in him

he it is

that bears much fruit.

Whoever abides in me

and I in him

that's the one

that bears fruit.

The righteous ones.

The ones that yield

the ones that are abiding.

For apart from me

that is apart from

my life-giving power

you can do nothing.

Y'all realize

that we in our flesh

don't have the power

to do anything good

but those of us

who yield to Him

we're going to experience

this life-giving

this fruit

that's going to pour itself

out of our life.

It's like we talked about

in Sunday school this morning

it's the overflow.

It's the overflow

of a life

that's saturated with God.

It's the overflow

of one who's yielded

his life to God.

Back to Psalm 1.

Where is Christ

in this passage?

Y'all know

that all the Psalms

point to Christ?

You know

that all the Word

points to Christ?

The Old Testament

points forward

the New Testament

points backwards

but it all points to Christ.

Where do you see Christ here?

Let me just ask

it this way.

Blessed is the man

who delights in the law

who doesn't

counsel with the wicked

or stand with sinners

or sit in the seat of scoffers.

How many people

in the Old Testament

and New Testament

how many people

have rejected

those things?

How many of us

would say

that I've never

ever

received the counsel

of the wicked?

That I've never

ever walked

in a sinful way?

That I've never

ever sat

sat with people

that scoff

and mock God.

How many of us

would say that?

You know

there's not one of us

in this room

that can say that.

There's not one of us

that can say

we've not walked

in these sinful ways.

You know

what's true

in the Old Testament

as well?

There's not one

who could say

that they were righteous

but there is one,

right?

You know

what this is?

This is a picture

of Christ.

You know

Christ

meditate on the Word

of God

night and day?

You know

what it is

to delight?

What is the word

delight connotate?

Is it just

an intellectual consent

or assent?

You know

what delight is?

It's something

that captivates you.

It's something

in the center

of your being

and when you

delight in something

you give it your all.

Is it true

that Christ

delighted

in the things

of God?

You know

it says

He never did

anything

except what

the Father

told Him

to do.

He never

said a word

except what

the Father

told Him

to say.

Do you

think He

delighted

in the

Father?

Do you

think He

would go

up in the

mountains

and pray

all night

because He

didn't

delight in

the Father?

He delighted

in the

Father.

He wanted

to do

the will

of the

Father

and did

He?

Perfectly.

Without sin.

He perfectly

honored.

You know

there's only

one who

truly meditates

and delights

on God's Word

and who is

perfectly

righteous,

genuinely

righteous.

This Psalm

points to

Jesus but

it also

points to

the ones

who have

been affected

by Jesus.

You know

we've been

made righteous

and this is

now true.

We've been

given a new

heart.

We've been

given new

desires.

The old man

has been

crucified.

Behold

we're called

to walk

in newness

of life

that we

would present

our members

as instruments

of righteousness

not unrighteousness.

We're now

capable of doing

that.

We're no

longer slaves

to sin

according to

Romans 6.

And I love

what is said

in verse 6

for the Lord

knows the ways

of the righteous.

What do you

mean he knows?

The word

know connotates

relationship.

Do you realize

that this

scripture talks

about the fruit

that is the Holy

Spirit living

his life through

you and it

talks about

knowing that

we're known

by him

in a relational

way?

Y'all with me?

Am I?

Am I making

any sense at all?

Do you see how

this ties together?

Father,

is that there's

no one that's

ever been

righteous except

Jesus,

genuinely righteous

who genuinely

desired God

with the exception

of this,

the ones who've

been changed

by God.

The ones who've

been made

righteous,

they've been

given a new

heart.

You realize

that God

is growing

us into

the image

of Christ?

It means

a lot of

things,

but one of

the things

it means

is more

and more

and more

and more

and more

we desire

the things

of God.

He's growing

us into

the image

of Christ.

What is

the image

of Christ?

He served

God with

all his

life,

with everything

it was.

He's willing

to die

for the

kingdom.

You know

what God's

working in

our life?

A willingness

to die

for the

kingdom.

A willingness

to say

no to

all sin.

A willingness

to plant

our roots

so deep

that we're

rooted by

the life

giving of

Christ,

the living

water that

the woman

at the

well heard

about.

You remember

the woman

at the

well,

right?

Right?

You don't

have anything

to draw

with and

the well

is deep.

He said,

if you'd

have asked

me,

I would

have given

you living

water.

You know

that's what

we need?

We need

living water.

So how

does this

apply to

us?

Let me

ask you

this question.

If you're

honest with

yourself this

morning,

would you

say this

is true

for you?

Do you

delight in

the law

of God?

Do you

delight in

rightly

relating to

God?

Does it

captivate your

life?

Are you

captivated with

the desire to

be in a deep

right God

honoring relationship

with him?

Is it the

delight of your

soul?

You know

what's true

about this

life?

It's going

to distract

us.

It's going

to tempt

us.

It's going

to lie to

us.

And we're

going to be

walking down

these roads

away from

this place

that we're

called to

that is

this place

of delighting

in him.

Church,

I can't

encourage you

enough to

make this

your passion.

Let me ask

you this as

well.

Is there

any fruit

in your

life?

I'm not

talking about

self-acts.

I'm not

talking about

things you

create.

I'm talking

about genuine

spiritual fruit.

Is there

fruit in your

life?

You know

where it

comes from?

Abiding

in him?

Let me

ask this

question for

each of

us.

If you're

honest with

yourself,

do you

have a

heart's

desire to

truly abide

in Christ?

To walk

in his

strength and

his power?

And then

lastly,

I'll ask

this.

Is there

any wicked

way that's

prevalent in

your life

right now?

Are you

in any

way listening

to the

counsel of

the wicked?

In any

way standing

in the way

of sinners,

the same

way that

they live

and walk,

in any

way sitting

in the

seat of

those who

mock God

and scoff

at religion?

Is any

of that

true for

you?

Have you

confessed

every known

sin in your

life before

God and

repented of

it?

Every known

sin?

I'm not

saying you

know them

all.

I'm just

saying of

every sin

that you're

aware of,

have you

genuinely turned

away and

repented from

those and

confessed?

Do you

have a

delight in

him?

Are you

seeking to

be fully

yielded to

him?

Let's pray.

Father, I

confess that

we are

weak.

And Father,

so easily I'm

drawn away

to look at

or listen

to or even

participate in

things that

are selfish.

Father, I

ask that you

would do a

supernatural work

in each of

our lives.

That Father,

we would not

pursue self to

gratify ourselves.

But God, that we

would truly be

transformed by

you and your

word.

And that

transformation would

be such that we

would present our

bodies as a living

sacrifice to you,

holy and

acceptable.

That we would

set our mind on

things above, not

on things of this

earth.

That God, you

would transform us

by the renewing of

our mind.

And Father, you

would give us a

heart that,

desires to abide.

But Father, we

can't find the

capacity in

ourselves even to

abide.

And so God, I

ask you to do a

work in our lives

that you would

take us there.

Father, you

would do whatever

it takes to take

us to this place

of abiding.

Father, we

desire to know

you in that way

and I pray in

your name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.