Psalm 1

This past summer in India, there was an unprecedented heat wave from about May to June and temperatures

over 100 degrees and hitting regularly 113 degrees Fahrenheit, 118 degrees Fahrenheit.

It's a withering heat.

In God's mysterious ways, He oftentimes turns up the heat through various kinds of trials.

And it's possible to be in those trials and start to spiritually wither.

An extended trial is like an extended heat wave.

It can take a toll.

So when God turns up the heat, where must His people turn?

Psalm 1 answers that question.

Psalm 1 presents two ways to live.

The wicked and the righteous.

The righteous thrive because they're planted by streams of life-giving water.

The life-giving water of God's Word.

They are blessed.

They are joyful because they are depending upon God.

The wicked turn away from God.

Not so the righteous.

So when God turns up the heat, we turn to God's Word.

So would you look at Psalm 1 with me right now and I'll read Psalm 1 for us all.

I'm reading out of the ESV.

And so if you're reading out of the NIV, it'll be a little different.

But you'll be able to follow along just fine.

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 season.

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.

Psalm 1 presents us with two ways to live.

The wicked who turn away from God, and the righteous who depend on God.

And this psalm makes the case through three contrasts.

Contrast of companions, we see that in verses 1 and 2.

Contrast in character, we'll see that in 3 and 4.

Contrast in destinies, we'll see that in 5 and 6.

Psalm 1 presents us with two ways to live.

Either turning from God in his word, or turning to God in his word.

And especially when we experience heat, we must plant ourselves by the life-giving waters of God's word.

Christian, you want to thrive?

Plant yourself by God's word.

So let's look at this 1 and 2.

This first contrast, the contrast of companions.

This is 1 and 2, but I just want you to notice that word blessed first.

You see that first word in Psalm 1, verse 1?

Psalms 1:1

Blessed.

It's literally the first word of the psalm in Hebrew,

and it's the first word of the entire book of the psalms.

It's no coincidence.

It's very purposeful.

What does blessed mean?

Last week, I sought to make a distinction for you between the words joy and happiness.

And just very simply, joy is a settled contentment in God's unchanging character.

That's where joy is.

Settledness in God's unchanging character.

Happiness is seeking contentment in circumstances.

Happiness is kind of rises and falls as you ride the roller coaster of life, going up and down.

So when the psalmist writes the word, blessed is the man,

is he talking about joy or happiness?

He's talking about joy.

Joy in God.

Delighting in God.

Being planted in God's word.

Those who depend on God.

I'm not sure if you've experienced this before, but someone comes up, you go up to someone and you say,

hey, how you doing?

And they say, I'm blessed, man.

I'm blessed.

I'm blessed.

We see where blessing is in Psalm 1.

And blessing is in our God.

So he says, blessed is the man, and then he begins to make the contrast.

Contrast of companions.

We see in verse 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,

and the psalmist tells us that the blessed man, the righteous man,

he tells us the companions we're not to keep.

We're not to walk in the counsel of the wicked.

We're not to stand in the way of sinners.

And those words, wicked and sinners, they're virtually synonymous.

They talk about people who are regularly turning away from God, not living for God.

We're not to walk in their counsel and what they say.

We're not to stand in the way, in their lifestyles.

We're not to stop in their lifestyles, be in their lifestyles.

That last word is a very interesting word.

It says, nor sits in the seat of scoffers.

A scoffer is a click down from the wicked and sinners.

A scoffer is not just someone who turns away from God and is living for everything but God.

But what a scoffer does is he mocks or she mocks those people who are seeking to live for God.

So not only are they denying God and living for things other than God,

but they mock the people who do.

And the blessed man does not sit in the seat of scoffers.

Some commentators think that this, what we see in Psalm 1,

this not walking in the counsel, not standing in the way, not sitting in the seat,

it's this picture of settling into ungodliness.

Walking alongside to stopping to sitting, you're settling into ungodliness.

The righteous, those who delight in God,

are to be discerning of who their closest companions are.

Do you know why?

Because it has everything to do with influence.

Everything to do with influence.

Influence.

Your companions influence.

You listen to them.

Tell you what to live for.

What to tell you to what matters most.

You know you have companions, close companions, when you start talking like them.

You pick up their mannerisms.

You start sharing their goals and their lifestyles.

That's the effect of companions.

And we're being told here that the blessed man, those who trust in God,

they don't live that way.

They're not influenced by the wicked, by sinners, by scoffers.

So the first part of this contrast is that we see the joyful man or woman

is not buying into what these people who don't care about God, what they're saying.

They don't buy into the latest pitch of where happiness is.

Whether that's money or pleasure or prestige or power or possessions.

Anything but God.

And just to be clear, this is not a call to remove ourselves from relationships with non-Christians,

people who don't live for God.

But it will become a call to delight in God as our closest companion.

And might I add, Jesus lived this.

He was able to influence sinners and yet he didn't walk in the counsel of the wicked.

He didn't stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of scoffers.

But he was able to be present in proclaiming the gospel.

Joy is not found in the counsel of the wicked.

Joy is found in the counsel of our closest companion.

God himself.

And so let's see the contrast.

Verse 2.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord.

Blessed is the man or woman who takes pleasure in the counsel,

in the words of his God, of her God.

That's the greatest formative influence in the blessed, righteous man or woman's life.

What God says matters most.

And so joy is found in taking to heart what God says.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord.

The law of Yahweh.

That word law is literally the word Torah.

And it's referring to the first five books of the Bible.

The Pentateuch.

The law of Moses.

Genesis.

Exodus.

Leviticus.

Numbers.

And Deuteronomy.

And so the psalmist is delighting in the Torah.

Those five books.

The psalmist is saying,

I rejoice in knowing that my God is the creator of all

and therefore all are accountable to him.

Delighting in the fact that his God is the promise-making God

who promised to Abraham to bless all the nations.

And mind you, that blessing is joy in God.

That this is the God who revealed himself in those first five books

as a God who loved a people,

not based on anything the people did,

but on God's great love for them.

And he chose them out of the nations.

Israel.

And then he delivered them from captivity.

And then he made a covenant with them.

He bound himself to them.

And said, I'm your God.

You are my people.

All by grace.

And then he gave them his law.

Walk this way.

Because I'm holy.

And you, my people, are to be holy too.

So what we see the psalmist doing here

is delighting in the words of his God.

The God who made a covenant.

The God who bound himself to him.

The God who gives himself to us through his word.

He reveals himself to us.

He makes known his ways.

Joyful is the man or woman who delights

in the very words of their God.

And you know what?

We're just talking about five books of the Bible here.

I mean, as Christians, we've got 66 books of the Bible.

66 books.

I mean, the Pentateuch is a feast in itself.

It's a great buffet.

These 66 books that God has given us

in which he reveals himself to us,

it's like a rich banquet.

It delights our souls.

God's word is like this expansive mansion.

And we go and explore all the different rooms

and delight in them

because God has good for us

in each room we go into.

God continued to reveal himself.

And so, not just in those five books,

those first five books,

but God has been making himself known

for centuries, many times, in many ways,

by different prophets,

revealing himself progressively.

And so, the Scriptures is God revealing himself

over time.

But the ultimate revelation of God

is when God became a man.

Is when God became flesh.

The written word, the Bible,

is all about the living word, Jesus.

Jesus.

The Bible points to Jesus

again and again and again.

The Bible, the Old Testament,

aims at Jesus.

It's all about Christ.

Because in Christ,

God's plan for the fullness of time

is focused.

Riches upon riches.

This book is riches upon riches

to our soul.

The Bible is God speaking to us.

God revealing himself to us.

Our closest companion

seeking to influence us

in the way we should go.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord.

True joy is found

in believing the words of our God.

God making himself known

in the words of this book,

the Bible.

And just a quick thing to mention here.

God saying,

but his delight is in the law of the Lord

and on his law he meditates

day and night.

Meditate.

To meditate is to mull something over.

It's like to mutter.

You ever find yourself talking to yourself?

There's a couple ways in which we talk to ourselves.

And a bygone pastor named Martin Lloyd-Jones

points two out.

Oftentimes we just listen to ourselves.

And so we are aware of our circumstances

and our hearts respond to our circumstances.

We get anxious.

We get fearful.

And we just stay focused on our circumstances.

An old friend of mine said,

well that's kind of stinking thinking.

What biblical meditation is,

is not so much of a listening to yourself,

but a speaking to yourself.

A speaking to yourself the truths about God.

Speaking God's word to yourself.

That's what meditation is.

Constantly calling to mind

what God says about himself.

Constantly calling to mind

what God says about you.

Constantly calling to mind

what God has done for you in Christ.

Constantly calling to mind

what he calls us to

as his holy ones.

Constantly calling to mind

that God is over it,

that he's in it,

that he's working through it.

Constantly calling to mind

that our God is a God of steadfast love

and it never ceases.

This I call to mind

and therefore I have hope.

These are examples of

meditating on the Bible

day and night.

It goes with you wherever you go.

So who are you listening to?

Are you listening to yourself

or are you speaking God's word to yourself?

Mind you,

there is this dynamic of delight

that happens for those

who meditate on God's word.

You remember who God is

and then comes joy.

Then comes hope.

Then comes faith.

And that feeds into

more remembering who your God is.

Calling to mind who he is.

And that has the effect of more joy.

So we see this wonderful dynamic of delight

for those who meditate

on the words of Scripture.

What God says matters most.

And it has an impact

on your heart

at any moment throughout the day.

So what do you find yourself

mulling over?

What do you find yourself

meditating on?

What do you find yourself

thinking about frequently?

Are you anxious?

Are you fearful?

Well, what are you thinking about?

What are you calling to mind?

Who are you listening to?

Whose words are you believing?

This first contrast

is a contrast of companions.

Verse 1, wicked, sinners, scoffers.

Verse 2, God speaking.

And the difference is

whose words are you believing?

It's a contrast.

Two ways to live.

Whose words are you delighting in?

So, we've seen a contrast

in companions.

Let's look at the contrast

in character.

verses 3 and 4 we read,

He is like a tree

planted by streams of water

that yields its fruit in season

and sleep does not wither.

And all that He does,

He prospers.

The wicked are not so.

In verses 3 and 4,

the psalmist

uses some very vivid imagery,

doesn't he?

He's, again,

driving this

two ways of living,

two ways to live.

He's pushing it.

One way is the righteous,

the one planted

by streams of water.

The other is the wicked.

They're like chaff

blown by the wind.

I want you to notice

something about

this tree

in verse 3.

This is an image,

a picture

of someone

who is planted

him or herself

by the Word,

who's meditating

on God's Word.

He's like a tree.

Four things to notice.

Where they're planted,

what they produce,

that they're protected,

and that he or she

prospers.

First notice,

they're planted

by streams of water.

Now,

when I have thought

about this verse,

I'm not sure

if you are like me,

but I imagine

kind of an Israel

kind of mountain brook

with a nice tree by it.

Well,

that's not what's

going on here.

The streams of water

are actually

irrigation canals.

That's what that means.

Those are the streams.

Water is lacking

in Israel.

It's an arid

and dry,

hot place.

And so water

is in huge demand.

And so what we see

going on here is

God is like

this gardener.

And He

plants us

by these

irrigation canals,

these streams of water.

And what's true

about an irrigation canal

is it ensures

a constant

and abundant

flow of

life-giving water.

God plants

us there.

We have a tendency

of pulling up our roots

and moving up

elsewhere.

I know that.

But God

intends for us

to be

by the stream

of water.

That stream

is our life.

God's Word

gives us life.

The water

of God's Word.

And God

has designed

us

to be dependent

on His Word.

To live

by His Word.

He's like a tree

planted.

He produces

fruit

in season.

The idea

there is one

of consistency,

regularity,

consistently

bearing fruit.

Love,

joy,

peace,

patience,

kindness,

goodness,

gentleness,

faithfulness,

and self-control.

The fruit

of the Spirit.

It ends up

blessing those

people around

you

as we

are planted

by God's

Word.

God

yields

fruit

in our

life

that

blesses

others.

We're fruitful.

We produce.

And notice

also

there is

protection.

His leaf

does not

wither.

Again,

Psalm 1

is written

by someone

living in a

hot and arid

climate.

They know

drought.

They know

heat.

And we've

been going

through some

heat as

a church.

A heat

that's been

effective

in me.

Exposing

things in

me.

For which

I am so

grateful,

yet grieve.

What we

see here

though is

a picture

of the

blessed

man.

Planted

by God's

Word.

and

enduring

heat.

Its

leaf

does not

wither.

Why?

Because the

tree is

planted by

streams of

water.

Their

source of

life,

despite the

heat,

has not

been cut

off.

Planted

by streams,

produce fruit,

protected,

endurance from

the heat.

Its

leaf does

not

wither.

He

prospers.

In all

that he

does,

he prospers.

Now when

you hear

the word

prosper,

you might

go immediately

to material

prosperity.

Don't go

there.

Think

spiritual

prosperity.

Spiritual

thriving.

Growing.

Growing.

In all

different areas

of your

life.

Joyful,

living for

God,

despite

circumstances.

Thriving.

Why?

Because you're

planted by

the streams

of water.

Verse 3

points to

the character

of the

one who

is trusting

in God's

word.

And when you

look at it

and you

notice that

this person

is stable,

this person

is fruitful,

this person

is enduring,

that they're

thriving,

it starts

down a

little bit

like Jesus

to be honest

with you.

What a

Savior we

have.

This is

contrasted in

verse 4.

We've got the

character of the

righteous in

verse 3 and

then the

character of

the wicked.

The NIV

says,

not so the

wicked.

The wicked

are not so,

but are like

chaff that

the wind

blows away.

We've got to

understand what

threshing means.

The threshing

process.

In an

agricultural

culture like

this psalm

when it was

written,

there would be

harvesting of

grain.

And that grain

would be brought

to a threshing

floor.

And usually

that threshing

floor was

elevated to

take advantage

of afternoon

winds.

And so the

threshing process

would go something

like this.

Grain would be

spread out on

the threshing

floor.

You take a

pitchfork-like

tool,

you throw it

into the

grain,

and you throw

it up in the

air.

Go up in the

air and fall

down.

And when it

hit, it would

start to

dislodge the

husk from

the seed.

And so you're

threshing.

And you keep

on doing that.

And as you're

doing it, the

wind is blowing,

and you know

what happens?

As the husk

becomes dislodged,

as straw gets

kind of put,

freed up,

debris,

the wind blows

it away.

And so all

the husk and

the straw and

the debris,

that's called

chaff.

It's useless.

And it's blown

away by the

wind.

And that's the

point of the

contrast.

We see the

righteous planted

by streams of

water.

Solid,

growing,

thriving,

enduring heat,

and the

wicked are

compared to

chaff,

empty,

blown about

by the

wind.

Two ways to

live.

Contrasting

characters.

We've got the

tree planted by

the stream,

the righteous,

and we've got

the chaff blown

away by the

wind, the

wicked.

And you know

what it depends

on.

Whose words

are you living

by?

Whose words

are you trusting

in?

Brother and

sister in

Christ, if you

want to thrive,

you must plant

yourself by the

streams of

God's word.

So let me ask

you a question.

As you think

about your own

self, is your

character more

like the tree

planted by the

water, or is

it more like

chaff blown

by the wind?

Is your

leaf withering?

Where are you

planted?

Whose words

are you believing?

What are you

meditating on?

So we've seen

two contrasts.

Contrasting

companions,

whose words

are you listening

to?

Contrasting

characters.

What are you

made of?

And now, the

final contrast.

Two ways to

live, a

contrast of

destinies.

This is 5 and

6.

And what we see

in 5 and 6, we

see some words

repeated.

The wicked, the

righteous.

Again, it's

bringing apart

this contrast.

Two ways to

live.

If you look at

verse 5, it

reads this,

therefore the

wicked will not

stand in the

judgment.

We're talking

about final

destiny here.

The great

final judgment

when every

human being

will come

before God

and give an

account for

their life.

God is just,

He's holy,

and He's going

to hold each

of us to

account.

Just to make

this a little

bit more

concrete,

imagine God

the Father

has a

calendar.

calendar.

And on that

calendar, He

has a date

set.

Permanent

marker.

The day of

judgment.

We don't know

when that is,

but He does.

It is set.

Judgment is

coming.

We're not one

day farther,

we're one day

closer to that

day.

And what we

see here in

verse 5 is

that the wicked

will not stand

in the

judgment

because they

have nothing

to stand

on.

They will

have nothing

to say in

their defense

when they

stand before

the judge.

Rather,

their sins

will stand

against them.

Their sins

will condemn

them.

They will

weep and

they will

wail because

God's judgment

is just and

true and His

recompense is

deserved.

He is going

to judge.

The day is

set.

We go on

to read that

nor sinners

in the

assembly of

the righteous.

It's a

picture,

further picture

of judgment.

On that

day,

Jesus will

separate out

the wicked

from the

righteous,

like sheep

from the

goats.

If you will

turn in your

Bible to

Matthew

Matthew 25 · chapter mention

chapter 25.

Jesus is

teaching about

the end

times and

He's talking

about final

judgment and

in verse 31

He says this,

When the

Son of Man

comes in His

glory and all

the angels

with Him,

then He will

sit on His

glorious throne.

Jesus is

saying,

I'm the

judge.

Before Him

will be

gathered all

the nations,

both righteous

and wicked,

and He will

separate people

one from

another as a

shepherd separates

the sheep

from the goats

and He will

place the sheep

on His right

but the goats

on His left.

Sinners will

not stand

with the

righteous in

judgment.

They will

be separated

out.

So verse 5

in Psalm 1

is a picture

of judgment.

And what

follows in

verse 6

is a picture

of punishment,

of destruction.

destruction.

But the way

of the wicked

will perish.

The NIV

says,

but the way

of the wicked

will lead to

destruction.

If you look

back at

Matthew 25,

46,

speaking of the

wicked,

and these will

go away into

eternal punishment,

but the righteous

into eternal life.

judgment is

coming.

The day is

set.

God is just.

He knows all.

He knows

everything about

you.

So do you

fear that day?

Do you fear

the coming

judgment?

Do you fear

having to come

before God

and to give

an account?

Do you fear

that your sins

stand against

you?

Well, I have

some wonderful

news for you.

Jesus,

who will be

your judge

on the last

day,

He is your

Savior

today.

God has

made a way.

Only in

Christ can

a sinner

be delivered

from the

judgment to

come.

Only in

Christ.

Jesus'

death on the

cross is

able to

pay for

all of

your sin.

Wipe

your slate

completely

clean.

But it's

more than

that.

When a

sinner puts

their faith

in Jesus,

not only are

they forgiven

of their

sin,

but Christ's

righteousness

is credited

to your

account.

It's like

God clothes

you with the

righteousness

righteousness of

Jesus.

All of

Jesus'

right living

for His

33 years

imputed to

you.

The Bible

calls this

justification.

That God

declares a

sinner righteous

in His sight,

fully forgiven,

fully accepted,

forever.

And so if you

are afraid of

the judgment

to come,

run to

Christ,

your Savior,

and you

will not

fear

Christ

when you

face Him

as judge.

The destiny

of the wicked

is judgment

and destruction.

Not so the

righteous.

The wicked

are not able

to stand

in the judgment,

but it's

implied

that the

righteous

are.

We can

stand in

the judgment.

judgment.

How is that

possible?

What was I

just telling

you?

Here's why

it's possible

that we

as those

in Christ

don't need

to fear

judgment.

We will

stand.

The moment

we believed

in Jesus,

at that

moment,

God declared

us righteous

and God

imputed to

us.

He gave

us the

righteousness

of Christ.

And the

moment He

did that,

it was

immediate,

it was

complete,

it was

unchanging,

it's

forever.

You've

got as

much of

the

righteousness

of Christ

now as

the

apostle

Paul

did.

Because it's

God who

declares you

the righteous

in His sight

with the

righteousness

of Christ.

So Christian,

here's how I

want to

encourage you

this morning

in terms of

judgment to

come.

The same

righteousness

that makes

you acceptable

to God

now,

Christ's

righteousness.

righteousness.

That is

the same

righteousness

on which

you stand

at the

judgment.

So you

don't need

to fear.

There is

now no

condemnation

for those

who are

in Christ

Jesus.

We don't

fear being

condemned

because Christ

paid for it

and we've

been given

His

righteousness.

righteousness.

The Lord

knows the

way of

the

righteous.

The Lord

knows the

way of

those He's

declared

righteous.

The Lord

knows that

you are a

sinner.

The Lord

knows you

cried out

to Him

for forgiveness.

The Lord

knows what

He's done

for you

in Christ.

The Lord

knows the

way of

the

righteous.

We have

the promise

of eternal

life.

our

Savior

is also

our

judge.

And we

rest in

that.

So we've

looked at

two ways

to live.

Contrast

and companions

whose words

are you

going to

live by?

Contrast

and characters

is your

leaf withering?

Who are you

trusting in?

Are you like

the tree

or like

the chaff?

Contrasting

destinies,

do you fear

judgment or

do you have

a settled

confidence

that your

Savior today

will be

also your

judge on

the last

day?

He knows

the way

of though

He's made

righteous.

Brothers

and sisters

in Christ,

the righteous

thrive because

they're planted

by the

life-giving

streams of

God's

Word.

Where are

you planted?

Let's

pray.

God in

heaven,

we turn

to you,

we look

to you,

you are

our God,

you are

our close

companion,

you've bound

yourself to

us in

Christ.

You have

the words

of eternal

life,

where do

we go?

We plant

ourselves by

your Word

again and

again and

again.

we trust

in you

and God,

we trust

that you'll

cause us

to thrive

even when

you bring

on the

heat.

In Jesus'

name,

amen.