Namibian trees such as these are fed by huge underground aquifers
“The Psalms can and should be part of the constant practice of the
presence of God. Regularly read from beginning to end, they lead us again and
again to consider aspects of life and of God’s will that we might not otherwise
choose to remember or confront—let alone to embody in our living. Memorized in
chunks the Psalms can provide ready response to the pressing realities of our
days. When I have wakened in a panic in the darkness of the early morning
hours—submerged in fear, self-pity, or self-doubt—the Psalms have often
provided the assurance that my anxieties are known by God, who enlightens my
dark places. So, I encourage you to make the Psalms your constant companion.
Keep a copy at hand, and keep their words in your mind and heart and on your
lips as you meet the challenges of your days and nights.”
Gerald Wilson, The NIV Application Commentary,
Psalms Vol. 1
Preliminary
Observations
This Psalm divides all of humanity into two categories:
the blessed man and the wicked man.
This is a familiar division in
the Scriptures:
·
children of God and children of the devil
·
saved and lost
·
light and darkness
·
sheep and goats
This division is as ancient as the seed of the serpent
and the seed of the woman in Genesis 3. We must hold to these two
distinctions in our preaching. Our people must be very conscious as to
what category they belong to.
The theme of this Psalm is the present and future
blessedness, and the present and future misery of the wicked. The
structure is very simple: it divides into two parts: 1:1-3
is about the blessed man, and 1:4-6
is a description of the wicked man.
The word “blessed” carries the meaning of a deep-seated
joy, delight, satisfaction, and contentment in God. It refers to a “holy happiness.”
1 . THE
BLESSED MAN (1:1-3)
Negatively: 1:1 What a godly, happy man does not do and where
he does not go.
a. “he does
not walk in the counsel of the ungodly” - the blessed man is not a follower of the teaching of the wicked. The basis of our knowledge is very
important. What we believe leads to what we do and what we become. Epistemology
always gives birth to ethics. When we
begin in the wrong place we will end up in the wrong place. When we
listen to what people say about the origin of man we can plot their course. Those
that believe that our origin is from random evolution generally
will have a low view of man, and a low view of life – especially the life of
the unborn. Those that believe that our
origin is from God, and particularly those that understand the doctrine of the
image of God in man, generally will have a high view of man and of life. Your
starting point determines the outcome. The place where the believer begins is
with the revelation and knowledge of God’s Word. He walks not in the counsel of
the wicked. Sadly, many that call
themselves Christians, who claim to have Christian hearts, have non- Christian
minds because they walk in the counsel of the wicked. There is a 30 centimeter gap
between the head and the heart. They are not connected. Their thoughts are off
the world. They are not God’s thoughts.
b. “he does
not stand in the way of sinners” - the blessed
man does not desire to hang
around with the wicked, the sinners, the scoffers. This does
not mean that he spends no time in their company - in that case he would have
to leave the world (1 Cor. 5:10) It also does not mean that the blessed or
righteous man refuses to reach out to sinners with the gospel. No! It is just that the company of the ungodly is
not attractive to him. It will therefore not be his first choice. He finds no
fundamental agreement with them.
c. “he does
not sit in the seat of scoffers” - A scoffer is one who mocks and
despises someone or something. In this case we see scoffers despising God’s
Word, God’s cause, and God’s people. A righteous man cannot sit around their
fire. He cannot do both, bless God and curse God. Peter tried that and wept
bitterly. James wisdom asks
perceptively, “Does a spring pour forth
from the same opening both fresh and salt water?“ (Jas. 3:11)
Please note that there is a downward progression in verse 1: walk, stand, sit. You cannot help walking through an ungodly
world. You cannot avoid the wicked man, the sinner and the scoffer. But
when at once you stand still and sit and camp among ungodly people, and when you begin to take your direction from there, then you
will be tempted to lose your
spiritual direction, and therefore you will
lose the experience of blessedness. This however, we are assured,
is not where the blessed man finds himself.
Positively
(1:2)
a. “his
delight is in the law of the Lord” - Again, please note that apart from standing aloof
of the company of the ungodly, he also does not first seek the company of godly people, as good as that
may be. His first companion is the Word of God! That is what he delights in
supremely. To delight in the Word of God is to delight in the God of the Word. Delighting in the Word of God is essential.
What is it essential for? For our blessedness – our happiness – our true
joy – our heart’s anchor. When we delight in the law of God we are finding
ourselves in the company of God. That is what our salvation is ultimately all
about. It is essential for our happiness, for our fruitfulness, for our
perseverance, and for our prosperity (all found in 1:3). The danger of camping
in the company of the godly, without being a healthy feeder on the law
of God, is that you can easily begin to live off the spirituality of others,
and the danger is that when they crash, you crash. The blessed man is the
person who has learned to develop a robust relationship with God through His
Word.
b. “on
his law he meditates day and night ” - His life is clearly directed by one Word ! All the issues of life are
settled for him by this one Word. He makes it his aim to be a man of one word.
When you prick him, His blood is bibline. This was said of John Bunyan. His
responses to life’s challenges, the
facing of the wicked, the sinner and the scoffer along life’s highway, littered with so many
challenges, is one of returning ( even
after failure) to the Word of God, again
and again.
c. “This man is like
a tree planted by streams of water…”. He is planted in an environment that
will produce fruit. This is true biblical prosperity. (cf. Lk 18:29) Those who walk with Jesus, though they have forsaken all
things in order to follow Him , will ultimately lack no good thing in this
life, and in the age to come eternal life.
2. THE
WICKED MAN (1:4-5)
With regard to this person we observe the following…
1. He is
spiritually bankrupt: The
wicked man‘s greatest deficiency
is not only in the moral
sense as he walks in the counsel of the wicked;
stands in the way of sinners; sits in the seat of scoffers. His greatest
deficiency is his absence of delight in the law of the Lord - the Word of God.
2. He
has no weight to hold him down when the storms of life assault his foundations: “He is
like chaff that the wind drives away “ (1:4). The New Testament analogy may be found in Matthew 7:24-27. His foundations are woefully insufficient to
withstand the ultimate tests of life. He finds himself unable to stand, because
his insufficient foundations cannot uphold him. A man or woman may be naturally
strong, but something happens - a crisis moment, or perhaps the day when their
bodies become frail, when they are reduced to nothing, finding themselves woefully unprepared for the
ultimate questions of life. This leads us to the next thought in 1:5 .
3. The downfall of the wicked man: “the wicked will not stand in the judgement,
nor sinners in the congregation of the
righteous“ (1:5). Two things
are worth considering here:
A wicked man (better described as a godless man) strong and capable in this
life as he was, suddenly finds that he has no advocate before the great white judgement throne of Jesus. He suddenly will find that he has no basis for
entrance into heaven. He has no place in the congregation of the righteous, for
the righteous on earth ALONE will be the congregation of the
righteous in heaven. The blood of Christ - the sign and seal of the eternal covenant,
received by grace through faith in Christ alone will be our only access into heaven.
3. THE BOTTOMLINE - 1:6
The Lord
knows the destinies of both – the righteous, blessed man and the wicked man.
However,
experientially, and from our perspective the basis of knowing deciding where
we stand begins with what we make of the law of God – and therefore
the God of the law- Christ being the end of the law.
If you love
the world and worldly wisdom, that will lead you to into an everlasting
perishing. You will not stand in the judgement; you will not be found in the
congregation of the righteous.
But if you
love the law of God, and the God of the law – the end of which is the Lord Jesus,
you will stand in the judgement. You will not be accused, and you will stand in
the congregation of the righteous .
Who is
shaping your thinking?
Your eternal destiny depends upon an accurate
, honest answer to this question !
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