Psalm 1 - The Way of the Righteous, and the Way of the Ungodly

[Music] glad you could join me today today we're going to take a look at Psalm 1 and if I could give a title to this Psalm I would say that it is a psalm describing the way of the righteous and the way of the ungodly if you kind of want to key to understanding this Psalm I would take a look at verse 6 where it says this for the Lord knows the way of the righteous but the way of the ungodly Shall Perish see that's a contrast there's a contrast between the way of the righteous in the way of the ungodly now I can't come to Psalm 1 without noting that this Psalm begins the great collection of sacred songs that we call the Book of Psalms as a whole the Psalms are they make up the largest book of the Bible there are said to be two thousand four hundred and sixty-one verses in Psalms by the way you're gonna have to take Google's word for that I didn't count on myself and there's well more than forty thousand words my own commentary on the Psalms because I've written a commentary throughout the entire Bible and my commentary just on Psalms alone takes up one thousand two hundred and seventy four pages it's a huge and glorious work now there are different types of Psalms and we're not going to go into the different types of Psalms today and kind of like overview we'll hit them as we make our way through the Book of Psalms but it seems that almost every human emotion and experience find its voice somewhere in the Book of Psalms it's been said that the theme of Psalms is life is hard but God is good and I guess there's some truth to that now this massive collection of beautiful Hebrew poetry begins right here with Psalm 1 now someone is not attributed to a specific author that there are many of the Psalms that will say a psalm of David a son of Asaph a psalm of somebody else now this Psalm as I just said has no attributed author many people would attributed to King David he after all as second Samuel chapter 31 second samuel chapter 23 verse 1 says that he is the sweet psalmist of israel this is certainly a sweet psalm but i have to say as i've read the different bible commentators they have this tendency throughout the book of psalms that wherever a psalm is not attributed to a specific author they say well that was david well that was david well maybe it was maybe it wasn't now i'm going to do something that I wouldn't do for teaching through every psalm but Psalm 1 lends itself to this beautifully let's just read through the entire psalm collectively from beginning to end and then we'll go back and break it down piece by piece ok you ready for this Psalm 1 beginning now at verse 1 blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly nor stands in the path of sinners nor sits in the seat of the scornful but his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law he meditates day and night he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth fruit in its season whose leaf also shall not wither and whatever he does shall prosper the ungodly are not so but are like the chaff which the wind drives away therefore the ungodly shall 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 ungodly Shall Perish there it is six wonderful verses Psalm 1 let's take it break it down verse by verse first of all we have in the first half of the psalm the way of the righteous so verse 1 tells us what the righteous man does not do take a look at here verse 1 it says this blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly nor stands in the path of sinners nor sits in the seat of the scornful you sometimes we can best understand something by understanding what it is not or what it does not do well here were introduced in verse 1 to a blessed man now that key bru word blessed apparently it's the Hebrew word asher which has the idea of happiness or contentment they say it comes from the hebrew word a char which means to be straight or to be right so when it says blessed is the man it speaks of the happiness the blessedness the contentment in the life of the man or the woman who is right or straight with God the righteous man or woman will be a blessed man or woman a happy man it's a beautiful declaration and sort of like a beatitude here in the Old Testament blessed is the man and blessed means to be as James Montgomery Boyce said to be supremely happy or fulfilled matter of fact boys points out in his commentary that in Hebrew this word blessed is actually a plural it indicates either a multiplicity of blessings or an intensity of the blessing blessed is the man who now we need to pause right there to let me read you a quote from Charles Spurgeon I love how he states this he says this remember blessed is the man he says this it is not blessed is the king blessed is the scholar blessed is the rich but blessed is the man this blessedness is attainable by the poor the Forgotten and the obscure as by those whose names figure in history and are trumpeted by Fame you understand what's Bridget saying there dear brother or sister this is for you you can be this blessed person no not the ultimate sense that we're gonna talk about later on but listen you can have the blessing that Psalm 1 speaks about now there's something that you do not do if you have this blessing notice walks not stands not nor sits let me read that to you again from verse 1 who walks not in the counsel the godly nor stands in the path of sinners nor sits in the seat of the scornful the blessed man does not do certain things there's a way he will not walk there's a path he will not stand in there is a seat that he will not sit upon now we can say that walks stands sits speak of the way that we think the way that we behave the way that we belong that the righteous man is different from the ungodly man in how he thinks in how he behaves and into whom he belongs this is different now there's also something we see in this and that there is a progression of sin do you get the thing first you walk in a particular path then you stand in alliance with people and finally you are sitting down together with them this speaks our something of a ungodly progression now notice the three point in here again walks stands sits first he walks not in the counsel of the ungodly but says I want you to know the ungodly have counseled and the righteous man is not gonna walk in it with all the advice that comes to us from so many different sources the righteous man knows how to stay away from the counsel of the ungodly do you understand that listen there is no shortage of people trying to tell you what to do or what you should be or how you should do it you need to know how to stay away from the counsel of the ungodly now first that means that this blessed righteous person will know how to discern the councilmen if you don't discern what the counsel of the ungodly is how are you gonna stay away from it many people fail at that exact point they don't even consider if counsel that comes to them is godly or ungodly they hear advice they hear theories about their problems they find themselves agreeing or disagreeing without considering they don't think is this godly counsel or is this ungodly counsel does this match up what the Bible says or does it not first you need to know how to discern the counsel of the ungodly but then you need to also know that the counsel of the ungodly might just come from you yourself in other words our own conscience our own mind our own heart can give us ungodly counsel there are times when we are filled with fear and anxiety and unbelief and these things sort of find a way to come from within from our own flesh that is the counsel of the ungodly but it's coming to you from the inside so you need to know how to reject that but the righteous man or woman of course also knows where to find completely godly counsel psalm 119 verse 24 says this your testimonies also are my delight and my counselors God's Word is always the best counselor and godly counselors will always bring the truth of God's Word to help somebody who wants counseling so first what do they do they walk not in the counsel of the ungodly but then secondly notice this nor stands in the path of sinners you could say that sinners have a path where they stand and the righteous man or woman knows that he or she that they do not belong on that path you see a path speaks of a way a road a direction and the righteous man is not traveling in that same direction as sinners the righteous man is not afraid to take a less traveled road because he knows that it leads to blessing it leads to happiness it leads to eternal life do you remember what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 7 verse 13 in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said this enter by the narrow gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction and there are many who go by it there is a danger in the path of sinners in contrast the righteous person can have the confidence of Psalm 16:11 you will show me the path of life in your presence of this fullness of joy at your right hand are pleasures forevermore God has a path it's a good road to take so we see that they do not a walk in the counsel of the godly they do not stand in the path of sinners now finally they do not sit in the seat of the scornful I don't know if you notice less scornful people out in the world today and the scornful love to sit and criticize the people of God can criticize the truth of God the things of God the righteous man will not sit in that seat when other people are putting down Christians it's very easy to sit with them and to criticize other believers it's easy because it's true there are many things to criticize among believers but it's wrong because we never want to go and sit in the seat of the scornful you know I think of the modern world and social media and all that it entails I think that social media often times Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and snapchat and all the other social media platforms put together are they not sometimes just scorn machines there are ways that people manufacture and distribute scorn to the best of their ability brother sister that blessed person does not sit in the seat of the scornful remember that again verse 1 blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly nor stands in the path of sinners nor sits in the seat of the scornful but that's all negative now let's look at verse 2 to see what the righteous man does the righteous man but his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law he meditates day and night this is a wonderful beautiful thing the blessed man does not walk in the counsel of and godly sit in the path of the sinners sit in the seat of the scornful but instead his delight is in God's Word did you notice the phrase there in verse 2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord throughout the Psalms the phrase the law of the Lord is used to describe God's entire word it's not to speak about the law portion of the first five books of the Bible you know Leviticus and Exodus and those law portions no and speaking about the Word of God in its entirely to say this the righteous man the blessed man is delighted with the Word of God his delight is in the law of the Lord now let me ask you face a question what makes you happy what gets you excited this is a very good way to see what is important to you if personal pleasure is the only thing that makes you happy you're probably a selfish self-centered person if being with your family or friends delights you that's better isn't it it may show that you're more of an open person that you you think more about others but it still can fall short the righteous man and of course I mean the righteous woman is well the righteous man finds his delight in the law of the Lord in God's Word I remember the words of the great reformer Martin Luther he said that he could not live in paradise without the Word of God but that he could live well enough in hell with the Word of God now how do you know if you delight in the Lord how do you know if you delight in God's Word well if a person delights in something you don't have to beg them to do it or to like it they'll do it all by themselves nobody has to beg me to eat rocky road ice cream I delight in it I'll do it all on my own and you can measure your delight for the word of God by how much you hunger for it now let me make what I think is an important point right here I'm probably speaking to some people right now and as you reflect on your own life and your own desires you say David I don't delight in God's Word not nearly the way that I should listen listen to me carefully here if that's you if you don't delight in God's Word the way that you should don't condemn yourself and don't receive the devil's condemnation because the devil would to hammer you over the head with that condemning thought again and again look at what a terrible Christian you are look at what a terrible person you are you don't love God's Word the way that you should now instead of condemning yourself or receiving the devil's condemnation simply in faith ask God to give you a greater love for his word just make that part of your prayer life make it a regular prayer God would you please give me a greater love for your word I want to delight in your word please work that in me now because this righteous one this blessed one is delighting in God's Word notice what it says in the second line of verse 2 in his law he meditates day and night the blessed man Ponder's the Word of God he doesn't just hear it and forget it he thinks about it Christians should meditate on God's Word now let me make a distinction here in eastern meditation and I mean that which come from mainly Asia and countries like that regions of the world like that in Eastern meditation the goal is to empty the mind now this is dangerous because an empty mind can present an open invitation to deception even to demonic spirits but in Christian meditation the goal is to fill your mind with the Word of God it's not emptying the mind it's filling it and this can be done by carefully thinking about each word and phrase in the scriptures applying it to oneself praying those words and phrases back to the Lord these are wonderful ways that we can meditate on the Word of God and there are many Christians who lack they're weak in their Christian life because they only read the Word of God and they do not meditate upon it now listen I would rather you read the Word of God than not read it read the Bible but but in a sense reading is just the beginning you need to read it and think about it and think about it deeply you need to meditate upon it Charles Spurgeon said this quote it is not only read that does us good but it is the soul inwardly feeding on the Word of God and digesting it that's what we need to do we need to be this blessed person as it's described in verse 2 in his law upon God's Word he meditates day and night by the way you could say that this blessed righteous man has God's Word on his mind only two times a day what are the two times day and night that about covers at all doesn't it okay now let's look at verse 3 how the righteous man is blessed this describes the kind of blessing that comes to this man it says he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth fruit in its season whose leaf also shall not wither and whatever he does shall prosper notice that phrase he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water now everybody knows that the world is geographically diverse there are some places in the world that are drier and get less rain there are other places in the world to get a lot more rain Israel the place where this Psalm where the Old Testament comes from the land of Israel it is predominantly a dry place in the world there is often not enough rain to make plants flourish if you go to a place in the world that has a lot of rain you see that the plants flourish there's huge trees there's lots of big bushes there's grass everywhere plants flourish because there's a lot of rain that's not how it was in ancient Israel in ancient Israel for a tree to really flourish it need to be planted by a river of water and a tree by a river as a continual source of water even if it doesn't rain it'll never wither away because it is always getting what it needs think about that if we're constantly needy if it's constantly true of our life that we're in lack then maybe it's worth examining if we're like a tree planted by the river of water that this tree is strong it's stable it sinks down deep roots and that righteous man that blessed man is marked by strength and stability not only that not only is it a strong flourishing stable tree but notice the next line there it brings forth its fruit in its season the righteous person the blessed person brings forth fruit such as the fruit of the Spirit described in Galatians chapter five and the fruit comes naturally from the tree because it's planted by the rivers of water it is abiding in a life source in Jesus spoke of bearing fruit in John chapter 15 verse 5 to be exact as we abide in him by the way I want you to notice it also says if you notice that verse in verse 3 it says that brings forth fruit in its season do you understand that fruit has a season some people get discouraged when they begin to walk as a righteous person as one of these blessed people they begin to get into God's Word and the fruit is not immediately evident what weight on hold on you'll bring forth fruit in its season you will not be a barren tree in God's orchard though the fruit isn't on there necessarily year-round it'll have its season and we trust it as we grow as we mature in the Christian life those seasons become more and more fruitful as time goes on the leaf does not wither by the way when you see a tree with brown dead withered leaves man that signs of death and dryness that's not belonging to the righteous or the blessed person though leaves so to speak are green and alive and whatever he does shall prosper God brings forth something good and wonderful out of everything that this blessed person experiences even tough circumstances bring forth something that shall prosper it's just an outworking of Romans chapter 8 verse 28 that says all things work together for good for those who love God and are the called according to his purpose now I think he got admit when you take a look at those first three verses of Psalm 1 you see a blessed person they're blessing what they don't do they're blessed in what they do pursue they delight in the love Lord meditate on day and night and there is fruit abounding in season in their life that is a blessed blessed person but that brings us to verse 4 here's the contrast the way of the ungodly look at verse 4 the ungodly are not so but are like the chaff which the wind drives away everything that's true about the righteous man stable as a tree has continual life and nourishment fruitful alive prosperous those things are not so regarding the ungodly now I know somebody may object they say David I see plenty of ungodly people in my life and it seems like they have stability it seems like they have life and nourishment it seems like they're fruitful and alive it seems like they're prosperous and listen sometimes it seems that the ungodly have more of those things than the righteous do but in the big picture of our entire existence especially when you start factoring in eternity it is not so as it says in verse 4 any of those things are fleeting in the life of ungodly is an ungodly person prosperous now yeah they may be prosperous now how long does that prosperity last listen it may not last their entire life but it certainly won't last into eternity it can be said that the ungodly do not have those things at all instead did you see what verse 4 says they're like they are like the chaff which the wind drives away chaff is the light shell around a kernel of grain that's what has to be stripped away before the kernel of grain can be ground into flour chaff is light enough that it can be separated from the grain by throwing a scoop full into the wind and the wind will drive away the chaff that's how unstable how lacking in substance the ungodly are they are like the chaff and like chaff but they're there in that sense worth nothing it does nothing good they have no substance they're easily carried away I'm telling you there's a huge difference between a tree planted by a river and chaff that's what the ungodly are like and then verse 5 causes us to consider the dangerous future of the ungodly look at it here in verse 5 therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous you see they are not gonna stand in the day of judgment because the ungodly have no weight they're like chaff there's no substance to chaff because they have no weight they are going to be found lacking on the day of judgment do you remember what it was said of King Belshazzar in the book of Daniel the writing appeared on the wall this is found in Daniel chapter 5 verse 27 the writing appeared on the wall in this mysterious hand from God wrote this on the wall that the phrase in the original language men men ate Tekel upharsin but this is what it meant verse 5 Daniel chapter 5 verse 27 you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting in other words God has weighed you and he's found out you're a lightweight you have no substance you will not stand in the judgment now nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous now this is true both in the future because sinners don't share in the same glorious future the same wonderful destiny that the righteous have but it's also true in the present but because sinners sense they do not belong in the congregation of the righteous if they insist on remaining sinners but this one of the things we love about the beautiful gospel of Jesus Christ the way is open for anybody if you want to repent of your sin if you want to say I've been walking on this way of the ungodly long enough I'm tired of being the lightweight like the chaff I'm tired of having the wind drive me away I want to be able to stand in the day of judgement then you can put your faith in Jesus Christ you can confess him as Lord you can repent of your sins and you'll go from one path to the other now verse six sort of summarizes the psalm for us are you ready for this let's summarize the way of the righteous in the way of the ungodly it says this in verse six for the Lord knows the way of the righteous but the way of the ungodly Shall Perish that's comforting isn't it that the Lord knows the way of the righteous the righteous can have peace because a loving God in heaven knows their way he's gonna protect them he's gonna preserve them let me tell you something you may not know your way but the Lord does and sometimes I think that there's times in our walk with God where God leads us into a place where deliberately we don't know the way but God says I'll know it for the both of us that's a that's a phrase to commit to memory right here right now Psalm 1 verse 6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous and we can just say back to God yes lord thank you for knowing my way he'll protect you he'll preserve you God knows the way of the righteous but and part of verse 6 the way of the ungodly Shall Perish the way of the ungodly leads to destruction there on a broad path it may seem comfortable now it gives them lots of company but in the end they shall perish listen I want to give a very pointed exhortation to you here your life is on a path your life is on a way and you may be comfortable on that path or on that way right now but you need to see where that path where the way is headed and say I don't want to end up in that place you're the person who experiments with drugs doesn't look down the road and think down the way I'm gonna be a hopeless addict and my life will be totally messed up the person who's unwise with their money and spans and goes into great debt they say the bills haven't come due yet my way is fine know your position on your present place in the way is ok but look down that path it's ruined consider the way your upon did you know that at least four times in the book of Acts Christianity is called the way and certainly to be a follower of Jesus Christ to be a Christian is to be on the way of the righteous not the way of the ungodly let me ask you a pointed question which way are you on there's a path of blessing and righteousness that God has for us and there's a path of ruin that you can choose for yourself you you can have the blessing that God speaks about here in Psalm 1 now before we leave this Psalm I want to consider it one more thing where do we see Jesus in this Psalm isn't it wonderful to consider any passage and say how might this just kind of point my attention to Jesus well first of all wouldn't you say number one that Jesus is the blessed man was there ever a man who fulfilled Psalm 1 in its good parts more than Jesus if there was ever a man who did not walk in the counsel of the ungodly nor sit in the path of sinners nor stand in the seat of the scornful it was Jesus Jesus did it perfectly if there was ever a person who was truly blessed in all their life it was Jesus our Messiah Jesus is the ultimate blessed man but here's the second thing remember what it says in verse 2 it says his delight is in the law of the Lord I told you that that phrase the law of the Lord is used throughout the Psalms as a way to refer to God's Word in general so when we talk about the law of the Lord we're talking about the Bible in its entirety not just the first five books of Moses not just a few chapters that give us laws know the law of the Lord is God's Word in its entirety now if his delight is in the Word of God don't you see that Jesus is the Word of God Jesus is God the word remember what it says in John chapter 1 verse 1 in the beginning was the word and the Word was with God and the Word was God and Jesus Christ is that word to us Jesus is the word of God he is God the word and it is in Jesus whom we delight Jesus meets us in his word and we are so so grateful for it so we see Jesus being the blessed man of the psalm but we understand that when we delight in God's Word we come to the place where we're going to meet with Jesus Christ himself that's the great thing about studying the Bible that's a great thing about meditating on the Bible it isn't just for like intellectual achievement or to pass a test or to beat other people at Bible trivia no be into the Word of God and study the Word of God and learn the Word of God why so that you can meet God again and again in and through his word that is a blessed man or woman I'm gonna pray now at the conclusion here of the psalm and pray a blessing for you that you would receive it and walk in it father in heaven I pray I pray Lord God that everybody who listens to this who've used this would be that blessed man or woman not walking in the counsel of the ungodly not sitting in the seat of the scornful but rather Lord that they would delight in your word and lord I pray that you would build within each purse and who views this who listens to this a greater delight in and through your word not for the sake of intellectual achievement but for the sake of meeting Jesus in and through the word thank you God for this we love you we praise you for the wonder of your word in Jesus name a men [Music]

Channel: David Guzik

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Keywords: psalm, psalms, psalm 1, way of the righteous, way of the ungodly, way of the wicked, david guzik, guzik, enduring word

Id: SlrGdoGfeJk

Length: 33min 55sec (2035 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 03 2020