General Introduction to the Psalms
The Psalms have a wonderful capacity to capture the reality of our human experience. They express the emotions, personal feelings, attitudes, gratitude, and interests of the average individual. One reason people love the Psalms is that we can each usually identify the Psalms with our own experiences. “In every experience of our own, no matter how deep the pain or how great the frustration or how exhilarating the joy, we can find psalms which echo our inmost being, psalms which God uses to bring comfort or to confirm release.”
Psalm 1
Looks at two subjects:
- It declares the blessedness of the righteous
- The misery and future of the wicked
Our spiritual life is set forth:
- Negatively and positively
- Inwardly and externally
- Figuratively and literally
The Psalm begins with the phrase, “Blessed is the man” or “Happy is the man.” We all want happiness. But some look for it in all the wrong places and in all the wrong things. Some look for it in jobs, money, new homes and cars, sex, alcohol, and even drugs. These things are all temporary. What about lasting happiness despite circumstances? How is it that some people who are in the worst of life’s circumstances still claim to be blessed, happy, and joyful. This is very strange. Have you ever met someone who is sick and filled with pain, some in hospital or don’t have anything to eat but yet they are happy?
A person who is separated from the world will not walk in the counsel of the wicked. We must avoid the counsel of the wicked or ungodly. We must not live our lives like the rest of the world. I had often heard of people saying some believers are not able to offer them comfort or correction because they are doing the same thing as the unsaved. A friend of mine said if a woman who he tries to date tell him she is a Christian he would run as fast as possible because of the evil he knows Christian are doing. My fellow brethren this aught not to be. We are to be Christ like. We are to reflect Christ in our lives.
The word “wicked” is the Hebrew word [rasha]. It’s root idea is “to be loose or unstable.” This word carries two ideas. First it means to be loose with morals. It also means loose from God, without Him as an anchor or controlling device. It refers to those who are controlled by their own desires, emotions, and flesh rather than by the Word and Holy Spirit. We are to avoid counsel from those who do not have God as an anchor. How can we who are called by the name of God take council from the unsaved on how to live a Christian life. We have this connect with God that is unique. Jeremiah 29:13 … you will seek me, and find me, when you search for me with all your heart. Without any doubt he will guide us.
The Bible has a lot to say on how we should walk. (Start with a step of faith, leads to a walk.)
(1) We should ask God to show us how to walk. Psalm 143:8 says, “….teach me the way in which I should walk; for to You I lift my soul.”
(2) We should walk in truth (Psalm 86:11).
(3) In Ephesians 4:1-2 Paul says I “implore you to walk in a manner worthy of your calling with which you have been called, with all humility, and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love . . . .”
(4) We should walk by the Spirit (Gal. 5:16).
We are not to walk in the counsel of the wicked.
We are to ask God to show us how to walk.
We are to walk in truth, love, and by the Spirit.
Now it’s not easy to walk according to scripture. It will take discipline, determination, and commitment.
- A person who is separated from the world will not stand in the way of sinners. “Sinners” in Hebrew was an archery term and meant “to fall short or miss the mark.” The mark is the will of God. Sin is the transgression of God’s Law. We are all sinners. We have all missed the mark. This is why Christ had to die for our sins so we might have His righteousness.
But the word “sinners” here refers to those who have deliberately chosen a way of life, a path contrary to the will of God. The man of blessedness chooses to direct his life by God’s will. We should not stand with these people and hold and have their ideas.
How should we stand:
(1) Psalm 33:8 says, “Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.”
(2) We should stand firm in the faith (1 Corinthians 16:13).
(3) We should stand together with one mind and spirit (Phil. 1:27).We are not to stand in the way of sinners.
We are to stand in awe of God, stand firm in faith, stand in unity with other believers.3. A person who is separated from the world will not sit in the seat of mockers. The word “sit” means to dwell, remain, or abide. It emphasizes a settled state or condition. I’m afraid this is the state of the majority even of the majority of the church. Past gallop poles which compare the churched with the unchurched showed there was basically no difference in the way they lived their lives.
“Mockers” is a word that means “to ridicule.” It refers to one who is actively engaged in putting down the things of God and His Word. Mocking can occur not only by declaration of word but by declaration of a way of life. I would even dare to say that most of you here are mockers of God’s Word.
How do people mock at the Word of God?
(1) By blatant ridicule or rejection.
(2) By listening to the Word proclaimed, but then ignoring it. In essence we mock the Word when we fail to obey it and align our lives accordingly.How do we avoid these three things? Our answer is in the next verse. “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night.”
B. A Person Who Is Saturated With The Word (vs.2)
“But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His Law he meditates day and night.”
“The Law of the Lord.” This is the object of our delight. The Law of course refers to the Word of God. Notice this is not something the blessed man has to do but something he loves to do.This is one area where we all are deficient (inadequate).
Some bright, college-bound students came up with these ideas about the Bible:
– Sodom and Gomorrah were lovers.
– The New Testament was written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
– Eve was created from an apple.
– Jesus was baptized by Moses. What about you? What crazy things do you believe about the Bible? Or what is it that you don’t know? Let me quiz you.
Where are these found?
– The Great Commission? (or perhaps I should ask, what is the great commission?)
– The beginning of the church?
– The beatitudes?
– The crucifixion? (what books and where?)
– Where is the life of Christ found in the Bible?
– What is the wisdom book of the Bible?Our Bible knowledge is embarrassingly limited. God doesn’t expect us to be scholars, but He does expect us to school ourselves with His Word. At least, enough to defend our faith and explain what we believe.
How often should we read our Bible? “I don’t have time”.
General Harrison was a soldier’s soldier who led a busy life, but he was also an amazing man of the Word. When he was a twenty-year-old West Point Cadet, he began reading the Old Testament through once a year and the New Testament four times. General Harrison did this until the end of his life. Even in the thick of war he maintained his commitment by catching up during the two and three day rests for replacement and refitting which followed battles, so that when the war ended he was right on schedule.
General Harrison’s story tells me that even the busiest person can systematically feed on God’s Word. No one can be busier or lead a more demanding life than General Harrison.
Vs.2b “. . . and on His Law he meditates day and night.”“Meditate” in our culture often is associated with eastern religions or cults. This is not the idea here. What is meant here is to think about the instruction God has given for life and allow it to shape our thoughts and actions.
“Meditate” is a very figurative word. It pictures a cow chewing on her cud. I’m told that the cow has several compartments in her tummy. She can go out in the morning, graze on the grass, when the dew is out in the cool of the day. Then when it gets hot in the middle of the day, she lies down under a tree and begins to chew the cud. She moves the grass she had in the morning back up and now she masticates it, she goes over it again. That is what we do when we meditate. We go over what we have read again and again.
You can take the most simple passage in the Bible and it will overflow with spiritual truth. If we go to God’s Word in prayer and depend on God and the Holy Spirit, it will behold much more than appears. Usually the first time we read or look at a passage we want see much or nothing at all.
I am reminded of the story when Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal, he climbed to the top of Mt. Carmel. God told Elijah it was going to rain so Elijah told his servant to go look in the sky toward the sea. The first time his servant looked he saw nothing. Elijah told him to go back and look seven times. The servant then saw a cloud as small as a man’s hand rising from the sea. And then the whole sky was covered with clouds. So you may look lightly on scripture and see nothing; meditate upon it, and you will see great things.
God has no plan or program by which you are to grow and develop as a believer apart from His Word. You can become as busy as a bee in your church but you won’t grow by means of activity. You will grow by meditating upon the Word of God. That is, by going over it again and again in your thinking until it becomes a part of your life.
C. A Person Who Is Situated By The Waters (vs.3)
“He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.”
metaphor, a picture. But what does the picture teach us?
(1) A tree has deep roots and is usually sturdy specially when compared to a tumbleweed. A tree portrays stability and the capacity to withstand the storms of life.
(2) It also pictures the concept of growth and time. It takes time to produce a huge oak tree. And it takes time to grow and mature in the Word.
Just as the life of the tree is dependant on a supply of water, the spiritual life of the believer is dependant on the abundant supply of the things of God. The waters we are situated by are the waters of God’s Word, His Spirit, His peace, grace, and righteousness.
vs.3a “He is like a tree planted. . . .”
Also notice that this tree is “planted” and not growing wild. From what I understand, this word “plant” in the Hebrew language means “to transplant.” Transplant means to take a plant out of one environment and place it in another. Like taking a wild tree growing in desert like conditions and carefully transplanting it in rich prepared soil by streams of water.
Before we were saved we were in Adam, dead in sin, but God in His grace has transplanted us into Jesus Christ. He has taken us out of Satan’s domain of darkness and placed us into the kingdom of His Son. With this new position also comes the provisions and resources of life – the Holy Spirit and the Word – both of which are life streams of water.
vs.3b “. . . which yields its fruit in season . . .”
This blessed person is not only like a tree but a tree that produces fruit.
vs.3c “. . .and whose leaf does not wither.”
This is a picture of being green, healthy, in spite of conditions.
Illustration: Years ago a couple who had gone to China as missionaries used this image to describe their life there after the communists had taken over China at the end of the Second World War. Their names were Matthews, and they were the last missionaries of the China Inland Mission to escape from that country. They were under communism for two years, during which time they lived with their young daughter in a small room. Their only furniture was a stool. They could not contact their Christian friends for fear of getting them in trouble. Except for the smallest trickle, their funds were cut off by the government. Heat came from a small stove which they lit once a day to boil rice for dinner. The only fuel they had was dried animal refuse that they collected from the streets. These were indeed dry times. But afterward, when they wrote their testimony to God’s grace in the midst of such privations, they called their book Green Leaf in Drought Time, because they found that those who delight in the Word of God do not wither but instead produce the Holy Spirit’s fruit.
vs.3d “Whatever he does prospers.”
Also notice at the end of verse three, “Whatever he does prospers.” Does God really mean this? Of course, but this is not a blank check to be filled in as we want. The man of blessedness prospers because he always seeks God’s will. Remember this is one who delights and meditates in the Word of God.
II. The Person God Judges (vs.4-5)
“Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.”
In Palestine, as in many other parts of the ancient world, farmers made a threshing floor by picking out a slight depression in the ground or digging one if necessary, usually on a hill where breezes could be caught. The soil would then be wetted and packed down until it was very hard. Around the perimeter of the floor rocks would be stacked to keep the grain in place. After the stalks of grain were placed onto the floor, an ox, or a team of oxen, would drag heavy pieces of wood around over the grain, separating the wheat kernels from the chaff or straw. Then the farmer would take a winnowing fork and throw a pile of grain into the air. The wind would blow the chaff away, while the kernels, being heavier, would fall back to the floor. Eventually nothing would be left but the good and useful wheat.
The wicked are like chaff in two ways. Chaff is worthless, and chaff is burned. This pictures the futile, empty, worthless life of the godless, as well as their future judgement. Matt.3:12 says, “His winnowing fork is in His hand and He will clear His threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
If only those who are running away from God could see this! But they cannot because they will not listen. The world says the things of God are foolishness. Religious people never have any fun the wicked say. The world says go out and have fun; if it makes you feel good do it and do more of it. But it is a lie.
In Eden the devil told Eve that if she disobeyed God by eating of the forbidden tree, her eyes would be “opened” and she would be “like God knowing good and evil.” But she did not become like God; she became like Satan. And her eyes were not opened. Do not believe the devil’s lie. Do not follow the world when it tries to draw you from righteous living.
Unbelievers will face God’s judgement but will not be able to stand its test. Only those who have the robe of Christ’s righteousness because of their faith in Him can stand before God’s throne. As a result of God’s judgment, sinners, those without the righteousness of Christ, will be excluded from the eternal blessings of God’s presence to be enjoyed by all those who stand by faith in Christ.
III. Two Ways (vs.6)
“For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”
This is the destiny of these two groups of people. Prov.14:12 says, “There is a way that seems right to man, but in the end it leads to death.” That is the way of the wicked. The way of the righteous is the way of the Lord Jesus Christ, who described Himself as “the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6).
Did you notice something unusual about this verse? It does not say that the Lord watches over the righteous and punishes the wicked. It says, rather, “…the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” Why this emphasis on the ways of the two rather than on the people themselves? The answer is simple yet profound.
Men are blessed or condemned on the basis of one decision – the way in which they have chosen to walk. There are only two ways from which to choose and every person is in one way or the other. The judgement some receive is the result of their decision to walk in the way of the wicked. The blessings others will obtain are the result of their decision to walk in the way of righteousness. Matt.7:13-14 says, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
God does not show favorites. He blesses some and condemns others on the basis of the way in which they have chosen to walk. Psalm 1 tells us that the way of blessing is the way of righteousness, which involves the avoidance of worldly wisdom and worldly actions, and entails the pursuit of intimacy with God through His Word. Would you desire the blessing of God in your life? Then you must walk in His way.