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 already seen in Genesis 3 - the seed of the
serpent and the seed of the woman!
We must hold to these two categories in our preaching.
The people we preach to 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 are a description of the blessed
man
1:4-6 are 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
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. Your starting point is important. The
place where the believer begins is
with the knowledge of God’s
Word and not with worldly wisdom.
b. “he does not stand in the way of sinners” - the blessed man is not one who desires 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. 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, and it will not be his first choice.
c. “ he
does not sit in the seat of scoffers” - A scoffer is one who mocks and despises God’s Word, God’s cause in the world, and God’s people. A righteous man cannot be found there. It is impossible for Him to
do both, bless God and curse God. James wisdom helps us here: “Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh
and salt water? “
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. Once you stand
still and sit and camp among ungodly people and when you begin to take your direction from there then you very rapidly begin to loose your spiritual direction and therefore your 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 avoiding
the company of the ungodly, he also does not first seek the company of godly people; his first companion is the Word of God! That’s what he delights in. 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 salvation. If we do not
delight in the Word of God at all, we have no reason to believe that we are
saved. It is essential for our happiness, for our fruitfulness, for our
perseverance, and for our prosperity (all in verse 3). The danger of
camping in the company of the godly, without being a healthy feeder yourself, is that you live off the spirituality of others, and
the danger is that when they crash, you crash. You must 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!
c. “This man
is like a tree planted by streams
of water….” . He is planted in an
environment that will produce fruit, and this is true biblical prosperity.
2. THE
WICKED MAN
a. He
is spiritually bankrupt: The
wicked man‘s greatest deficiency
is not only in the moral sense.He walks
in the counsel of the wicked; he stands in the way of sinners; hesits in the seat of
scoffers BUT his greatest deficiency is
his absence of delight in the law of the Lord,the Word of God.
b. The
consequence is that he has no
weight to hold him down when
the issues of life begin to unsettle him. “He is
like chaff that the wind drives away “ (v.4). The New Testament analogy may be found
in Matthew 7:24-27. His foundations are woefully insufficient to
withstand the real and ultimate issues of life. He cannot stand before God by
his own wisdom and strength. A man or woman may be naturally strong all their
life, but the day will come when their
bodies will become frail, and they will be reduced to nothing, and when they
die, they will find themselves woefully unprepared for the
ultimate questions of life. This leads us to the next thought in verse 5.
c. The downfall of the wicked man: “the
wicked will not stand in the judgement , nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous “ (v.5). Two things are importan to considering here. A wicked man, (better described as a godless man)
has no advocate in the great
judgement of the last days. He also has no basis for
entrance into heaven. The
congregation of the righteous on
earth 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 alone provides for our access into church membership. Unfortunately many churches have not been good in discerning this. The blood of Christ applied to us by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone will provide our only access into heaven.
3. THE BOTTOMLINE
The Lord knows
the destinies of both – that of the righteous, blessed man and that of the
wicked, miserable man. However experientially, and from our perspective the
basis of deciding where we would sit and stand begins with what we make of God and the law of God.
If you
love worldly ways and worldly wisdom
more, 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. You will not enter heaven. The law of God will accuse you, and no attorney will be able to deliver you from its righteous charges.
But if by grace you
love the law of God, you will
stand in the judgement. You will
not be accused and you will stand in
the congregation of the righteous.You will have your great attorney, the Lord Jesus Christ to justify and defend you.
But there is more.
Through the work of the Holy Spirit who is the Sanctifier you will also be able to gladly love and obey the law, thus showing yourself to be an obedient child of God.
Who and what is shaping
your present thinking?
Your eternal destiny depends upon an accurate, honest answer to this question!
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