Important
Read first
- Don’t worry about facial expressions
- Don’t be scared to pause to look at notes
- Keep a slow pace
- Signpost between sections
- Camp on definitions
- Assume audience knows nothing
- Slow down and repeat important one liners
Intro
Talk about studies and four*one project
God really blessed my studies Fun getting to learn alongside Greg Favorite thing from four*one was keeping a sword in one hand and a hammer in the other (building and defending our faith)
Read scripture
- 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 its 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.
Prayer
- Thank the Lord for preparing me in this study
- Ask for wisdom and understanding in discerning His word
- Ask that what we learn will be written upon our hearts
Overview of study
Question
What does it mean to be blessed and what promises are those who are blessed given?
My focus with this sermon is to help us learn how to dwell on God’s teaching in Psalm 1. There are many interesting things to expound upon in these verses, but above all that I want us to simply chew on what is on the surface here.
We are breaking Psalm 1 down into three parts:
- (vv1-2) Description
- (vv3-4) Analogy
- (vv5-6) Result
What is the context
Likely written by David although we are not certain.
Sung as acts of worship and to help remember the teaching. Which we will come back to in a minute.
The Blessed Man (Description)
Signpost
Psalm 1 opens with the description of the blessed man. But first, what does it mean to be blessed?
Scripture
- 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.
What does blessed mean?
Hebrew word (as-re: ash-re) meaning blessed or happy.
Fun
The tribe of Asher was named after this word.
This word is often used to describe how blessed and happy those are who put their trust in the Lord
- Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, Whose hope is in the LORD his God,
- Happy is the man who finds wisdom, And the man who gains understanding;
- Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
“Now understanding what it means to be blessed we can look at what defines the blessed man”
“We have five actionable verbs, three don’ts and two dos”
“We are going to dive into some of the Hebrew definitions here to achieve a better understanding”
Walking
“Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly”
What does it mean to walk?
The Hebrew word for walk can also mean to “behave” or “be lead by”. When thinking of walking in the counsel of someone, ask “who am I being lead by” or “who is influencing my behavior”.
Counsel - who are you seeking advice from? (Do you turn first to the world’s wisdom or God’s?)
Standing
“Nor stands in the path of sinners”
What does it mean to stand?
The Hebrew word for stand can also mean to “set in position” or “establish”.
The path (or “the way”) - manners, customs, and behaviors?
Many of our mannerisms, traditions, and behaviors become habits. Because of that should take account of what we are setting in position. Are we allowing ourselves to “stand in the path of sinners”? Or are we setting for ourselves biblical mannerisms and behaviors? Which is chiefly love.
Sitting
“Nor sit in the seat of the scornful”
What does it mean to sit in the seat?
The Hebrew word for sit also means to dwell in, and the word seat likewise can be interpreted as dwelling place or habitation.
We should ask ourselves “who is our community?”, “who are we spending time around?” If we are dwelling with the scornful, we will become a scorner as well.
Signpost
We have covered the three don’ts, now here are the two dos
Delighting
“But his delight is in the law of the Lord” Delight - desire, matter, or business
The law of the Lord means the Word of God.
Example of God’s Word being used as the law
- You have dealt well with Your servant, O LORD, according to Your word.
- Teach me good judgment and knowledge, For I believe Your commandments.
- Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word.
What is another way we could say this?
“Is God’s word what we are all about?” “Is it what matters to us?” “What importance does it have in our lives?”
Meditating
“And in His law he meditates day and night” Again law is used here in place of the Word. We are called to meditate both day and night.
What does the word meditation mean?
What are we filling our mind with? Are we giving ourselves pause to reflect on scripture? The Hebrew word “selah” is used to place a pause in a song and embodies this idea of reflection.
Analogy
Another kind of odd way to think about meditation is like a catchy song that gets stuck in our head. It takes more effort not to dwell on it than it does to try and remember it. I’m sure we can all think of songs we’ve tried hard to forget: Whether it’s the newest hit on the radio, music from the 80’s, or in my opinion the worst of the worst “baby shark”. (innocent kid’s song, banned in many homes because it’s too catchy)
How to make scripture easier to remember
Scientists have studied and struggled to figure out what exactly makes a song stick in our mind. But one of the things they discovered was the familiarity of a song. Songs that use patterns we hear more often are more likely to stick in our minds.
We should consider how familiar we are with scripture. The more time we spend in God’s word, the more we dwell on His teachings, the easier it becomes to have scripture stick in our minds. I believe this is likely why scripture, especially the Psalms, were often sung.
Example
Shield of faith conference
Recap
We’ve gone over the three don’ts of not conforming to the world, and the two dos of dwelling on scripture.
The Tree and the Chaff (Analogy)
Signpost
To better illustrate what the blessed man looks like compared to the ungodly we are given the analogy of the tree and the chaff in verses 3-4
Scripture
- He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its 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.
How is the analogy of a tree used in scripture?
The analogy of a tree is often used to signify whether or not someone’s faith is flourishing. The value of a tree is often seen by the protection and fruit that it bears.
Story
Talk about my father being an arborist. Working for him I have gotten to pick up on pieces of information about trees.
Todo
Three things about this tree (outline)
Planted by rivers of water
Scripture is our nourishment. Being planted Don’t be a cactus
Brings forth fruit in its season
Think of scripture as the nutrients that turn into fruit. We are not told to bring forth fruit 24/7. There is a time and a season for it.
- But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
- gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
Whose leaf does not wither
We should be seeing evidence of growth in our life. When looking at a tree how do you determine it’s health?
Give examples of how love and joy indicate our walk
- Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
Whatever he does shall prosper
“Prosperity in scripture is often misunderstood by our culture so let’s examine what this means a little closer”
What is it not?
Not the prosperity gospel. Also called “health and wealth gospel”, “name it and claim it gospel”, or “the word of faith movement”.
Note
The prosperity gospel is mysticism bundled to appear as Christianity because it places power in a “force” that we can use for our own means. (That is the force of faith)
Then what is it?
True prosperity in Christ comes when we seek to align our will with His.
- Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
- Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.
- “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
- For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
- But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Those two verses show we must “commit our way to the Lord” and “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness”
- You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.
- Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
Why is biblical prosperity better?
Having defined what the world sees as prosperity compared to biblical prosperity. Why should we seek true biblical prosperity? Matthew 6:19-20 explain this well.
- “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;
- but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
How is the analogy of the chaff used in scripture?
Signpost
So that is the analogy of the tree. In stark comparison we have the analogy of the chaff.
The analogy of chaff is used to describe someone as ungrounded and without value. (fragile, temporary, ready for destruction) Chaff is the husk found around a seed. It is discarded during the threshing process and seen as worthless.
Which the wind drives away
Chaff has no roots. There isn’t any way for it to draw in nutrients or stay firmly in place. Chaff has no hope for growth.
How often do you hear of someone who has had their entire worldview changed because of some event in their life? Being like chaff there is truly no hope for the future.
Chaff can’t expect any of the benefits a tree has
- The ungodly won’t have nourishment
- The ungodly won’t bear fruit
- The ungodly will wither
Expectations of the tree vs the chaff
The chaff (ungodly) are undependable
In the midst of a trial would you rather be surrounded by chaff that are unpredictable because they have no root? Or would you rather seek shelter under the deeply rooted tree that bears good fruit?
As trees we can be shelter for those around us
By becoming firmly planted in the Word like trees, those without root tend to turn toward us. Let’s point them toward our source of nourishment, the rivers of water, God’s word.
Consequences of Being Ungodly vs Godly (Result)
Important
Give a refresher on the outline
Signpost
Now having read through the description of the blessed man in verses 1 and 2, then looking at how being blessed is as to being like a tree compared to chaff in verses 2 and 3. We reach the end result of being ungodly verses the blessed righteous man in verses 5 and 6.
Scripture
- 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.
What do the ungodly have to look forward to?
All of their pursuits will vanish. In contrast to the first verse they will no longer be able to stand, there will not be a seat for them among the righteous, and the way they walk will perish.
Interestingly this final section mirrors the first verse
We should not stand in the path of sinners, because they will not stand in judgement
We should not sit in the seat scornful, because they will not be in the congregation of the righteous
We should not walk in the council of the ungodly, because the way the of the ungodly will perish
What promise does God make the righteous?
- The Lord knows the way of the righteous.
- We have a promise here that God knows us and establishes us.
- This promise is given in a bit more detail in 2 Timothy 2:19.
- Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”
Closing
Give final recap of the outline
- (vv1-2) Description of the blessed man
- (vv3-4) Analogy of the tree and the chaff
- (vv5-6) Result of being ungodly verses godly
One last exhortation
- Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let such as love Your salvation say continually, “The LORD be magnified!”
Prayer
- Thank God for how amazing His word is
- Pray that He will bring to remembrance the Word as we go about our week
Links:
References: “Sit, Walk, Stand” by Watchman Nee