WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:10.060 Amen. Amen. Children, you can go to Children's Church and by the looks out there, people looking at their watches, I do know what time it is. 00:00:10.060 --> 00:00:22.160 And it is a promise is going to be very, very quick. But but I did want to just have a few minutes right here where we share a little bit from Psalm one this summer. 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:29.119 We're going to be doing like we did last summer, a summer in the Psalms where we go through a Psalm a week. 00:00:29.119 --> 00:00:35.160 And so this week we're going to start off the book of Psalms with Psalm one. 00:00:35.159 --> 00:00:44.679 And this Psalm, it's important that we started off, start this summer with this Psalm, because essentially what this Psalm does is it prepares us for the rest of the Psalms. 00:00:45.079 --> 00:00:51.979 It's essentially a gateway into the rest of the book. It helps us to understand the rest of the Psalms. 00:00:52.079 --> 00:01:01.759 In fact, James Montgomery Boyce, he talks about Psalm one as being as it is a text, which is the remaining text of Psalms are essentially exposition. 00:01:01.759 --> 00:01:09.939 And so basically what he's saying is this is where it starts. And it's and we understand the rest of the Psalms based on this Psalm. 00:01:10.060 --> 00:01:22.579 And so when we look at the Psalms, we must understand that they're not just a collection of of greatest hits of Hebrew songs, because really they wouldn't even be that to be more like a mixtape, 00:01:22.579 --> 00:01:27.299 because they have all kinds of different artists and different things and different writers of these. 00:01:27.299 --> 00:01:35.140 And so when we look at these, we don't just see them as songs, but we see them as God's word. 00:01:35.560 --> 00:01:39.519 We see them as scripture. We see them as life changing. 00:01:39.719 --> 00:01:49.259 And so this morning I want us to read Psalm one. And this is a Psalm that I feel is is very easy to understand, but it's very important to understand. 00:01:49.260 --> 00:01:53.980 And so if you have a copy of God's word, I want you to to open with me to Psalm one right here. 00:01:54.000 --> 00:02:02.760 And we're going to read this and just make a couple observations this morning that I think will be helpful for us to think about as we prepare for the rest of the book. 00:02:02.760 --> 00:02:32.740 It says this, it says, 00:02:32.759 --> 00:02:54.479 Now there's one statement that I want us to look at this morning from this passage, and it is this. 00:02:54.479 --> 00:03:01.399 That is for I want us to understand the importance that we must focus on what draws you closer to God. 00:03:01.959 --> 00:03:08.799 The importance of focusing on what draws you closer to God when it comes to living the life that God has called us to. 00:03:08.899 --> 00:03:14.839 We must understand that there are things that God has called us to flee from, and there are things that God has called us to draw near to. 00:03:15.339 --> 00:03:20.639 There are things that we should be saying no to, but there are many things that we should be saying yes to. 00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:26.599 And oftentimes wisdom is as much about knowing when to say no as it is when to say yes. 00:03:26.679 --> 00:03:32.599 And so from this, we see that a wise person knows when to avoid a situation. 00:03:33.359 --> 00:03:35.979 A wise person knows when to avoid that situation. 00:03:36.119 --> 00:03:39.419 There's a progression in the warnings that you see here. 00:03:39.779 --> 00:03:42.879 It says the blessed man must not walk with the wicked. 00:03:43.099 --> 00:03:48.679 He must not stand with sinners, and he must certainly not sit with scoffers. 00:03:48.680 --> 00:03:58.300 And so when we let sinful people have influence in our lives, we must see that this often leads to a progression of us going further and further away from God. 00:03:58.960 --> 00:04:01.300 First, a person walks with the wicked. 00:04:01.480 --> 00:04:02.400 He's walking with them. 00:04:02.480 --> 00:04:05.219 Then he stops, and he stands there with them. 00:04:05.260 --> 00:04:07.819 It's not just that he's walking by and seeing them anymore. 00:04:08.080 --> 00:04:10.439 Then he begins to get interested, and he stands there. 00:04:10.520 --> 00:04:15.240 And before you realize it, he's taking a seat with those who are living this lifestyle. 00:04:15.240 --> 00:04:23.759 And so what you see here is this progression of going further and further away from God, this warning that the blessed person doesn't do this. 00:04:24.120 --> 00:04:25.360 The blessed person doesn't. 00:04:25.540 --> 00:04:26.960 He says no to these things. 00:04:27.060 --> 00:04:29.120 He doesn't walk with these sinners. 00:04:29.220 --> 00:04:30.540 He doesn't stand with them. 00:04:30.720 --> 00:04:35.199 And he certainly does not take a seat and live in this lifestyle with them. 00:04:35.639 --> 00:04:39.000 Now, this isn't to say that we must not befriend people. 00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:43.839 Well, oftentimes we justify our actions and say, well, Jesus was a friend of sinners. 00:04:44.019 --> 00:04:45.259 Jesus went and hung out with everybody. 00:04:45.779 --> 00:04:49.439 Yes, but who walked away changed when Jesus did that? 00:04:50.420 --> 00:04:52.480 Jesus changed lives. 00:04:52.800 --> 00:04:56.959 He was that salt and light, that flavor that gave life to people. 00:04:57.060 --> 00:05:00.699 And so when we understand that, yes, we must still befriend people. 00:05:00.699 --> 00:05:06.800 We must not act like a monk or a nun and just completely remove ourselves from this world. 00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:11.379 But when we go into situations, we realize the importance of what we're there for. 00:05:11.599 --> 00:05:15.240 We're there to influence and not be influenced by it. 00:05:15.560 --> 00:05:20.000 And so what we see here is this progression that we must not get caught up in. 00:05:20.339 --> 00:05:26.120 But on the flip side of this, there's something very important that we must see here. 00:05:26.120 --> 00:05:29.959 And that is a wise person will draw near to God. 00:05:30.579 --> 00:05:33.060 A wise person will draw near to him. 00:05:33.139 --> 00:05:40.959 This happens primarily as we delight in the law of the Lord and meditate on his word day and night. 00:05:41.780 --> 00:05:45.259 It is important for us to know and grow in God's word. 00:05:45.819 --> 00:05:50.620 This sets us on a right path and direction that God wants to lead us on. 00:05:50.620 --> 00:06:00.560 And over the last couple of years as pastor, one of the things that I've done over these last couple of years is I've spent more time studying God's word than I ever have in my life. 00:06:01.040 --> 00:06:08.480 Preparing sermons each and every week is I've spent more time studying God's word than I ever have, including time in seminary. 00:06:08.579 --> 00:06:13.199 And what I have found is that the more I study God's word, the more I love it. 00:06:13.199 --> 00:06:18.120 The more I grow in, the more it just, it really does become sweeter than honey. 00:06:18.219 --> 00:06:21.279 It really does become alive in our life. 00:06:21.339 --> 00:06:22.159 It's something that I love. 00:06:22.360 --> 00:06:23.360 And this is a true story. 00:06:23.439 --> 00:06:33.159 There were times in college and seminary and pretty much all of college and seminary that the first day of a class in college or seminary, you get that syllabus. 00:06:33.339 --> 00:06:34.500 What's the first thing you do? 00:06:35.180 --> 00:06:36.339 You look at the assignments. 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:40.300 And I'll be like, all right, how many pages of a paper do I have to write for this class? 00:06:40.379 --> 00:06:41.360 That was the first thing I did. 00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:46.420 And I kid you not, I have dropped classes before when I looked at the assignment, I'm like, I'm not writing that. 00:06:47.040 --> 00:06:51.520 I mean, I dropped the class after the first day when I looked at it and said, nope, not doing this. 00:06:51.740 --> 00:06:53.139 We'll take a different class. 00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:59.360 But now what I've found is that I'm writing essentially papers each and every week with these sermons. 00:06:59.500 --> 00:07:00.759 And I love it. 00:07:01.439 --> 00:07:04.660 It's one of my favorite things to do as a pastor. 00:07:04.740 --> 00:07:09.080 One of my favorite things in this role is studying God's word and preparing these messages. 00:07:09.079 --> 00:07:15.139 And it's something that just really gets inside of you once you take time to study God's word. 00:07:15.199 --> 00:07:17.060 It's probably why I'm a little long-winded at times. 00:07:17.419 --> 00:07:21.019 Because it's just so exciting to get into God's word. 00:07:21.139 --> 00:07:23.379 So exciting to be a part of it. 00:07:23.459 --> 00:07:26.259 And so this is what changes our lives. 00:07:26.259 --> 00:07:33.500 And when you look at these two types of living, we see that we are talking about a direction that you're going to take with your life. 00:07:33.899 --> 00:07:40.500 What you see when you look at this passage is there's two roads that are divergent, two paths that you can take. 00:07:40.740 --> 00:07:44.779 And you have to make a decision which path you're going to go down. 00:07:45.259 --> 00:07:46.120 And here's the thing. 00:07:46.180 --> 00:07:47.339 A decision has to be made. 00:07:47.360 --> 00:07:50.120 Because not making a decision is making a decision. 00:07:50.120 --> 00:07:55.300 Not making a decision, you're following the path that leads away from God. 00:07:55.720 --> 00:07:57.939 And so a choice has to be made. 00:07:58.280 --> 00:08:00.120 Which path are you going to go down? 00:08:00.340 --> 00:08:05.939 The path of the wicked that leads away from God or the path of the blessed man that leads towards God? 00:08:06.259 --> 00:08:11.699 And what we must remember is that direction always determines our destination. 00:08:12.480 --> 00:08:16.860 The wicked, if we choose the path of the wicked, it leads to sitting with scoffers. 00:08:16.860 --> 00:08:19.639 The other way delights in the law of the Lord. 00:08:19.780 --> 00:08:26.439 And that direction leads to blessing and being like a tree planted by a stream that produces good fruit. 00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:32.139 And so we must remember that it is your direction that leads to your destination. 00:08:33.000 --> 00:08:36.440 Joby Martin, a pastor that I like to listen to at oftentimes, he says it this way. 00:08:36.539 --> 00:08:41.879 He says, your direction, not your intention, determines your destination. 00:08:41.879 --> 00:08:49.639 And much of this comes down to the fact that if you don't head in the right direction, you'll never get to where you want to go. 00:08:49.700 --> 00:08:52.840 And I've used an illustration similar to this before. 00:08:52.939 --> 00:08:56.500 But it fits so well with the message that we're talking about today. 00:08:56.539 --> 00:08:58.159 I want you to think about it like this. 00:08:58.620 --> 00:09:04.220 Last night, there was a team from our church that got back to Atlanta pretty late. 00:09:04.340 --> 00:09:07.399 And we had one destination in our mind. 00:09:07.460 --> 00:09:08.600 We wanted to get home. 00:09:09.000 --> 00:09:09.799 We were tired. 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:11.059 It had been a long day. 00:09:11.059 --> 00:09:14.259 We were all thinking about our beds that we wanted to get into. 00:09:14.479 --> 00:09:16.799 And we had one thing on our mind. 00:09:16.879 --> 00:09:18.699 And that was to get home. 00:09:19.199 --> 00:09:21.879 Now, when we left the airport, we had a decision to make. 00:09:21.959 --> 00:09:24.259 There was a, that we could get on I-85. 00:09:24.679 --> 00:09:27.759 And there's two directions that you can get on when you get on I-85. 00:09:28.099 --> 00:09:32.479 You can either get on I-85 north or you can get on I-85 south. 00:09:33.099 --> 00:09:36.259 Now, Tekoa is north, right? 00:09:36.619 --> 00:09:37.759 Now, we didn't take the wrong direction. 00:09:37.859 --> 00:09:39.199 I know some of you are already thinking we did the wrong. 00:09:39.200 --> 00:09:42.940 But no, I-85 north goes towards Tekoa. 00:09:42.940 --> 00:09:50.700 And if we're all wanting to go there, if we're all wanting to get home, then we've got to take I-85 north. 00:09:50.700 --> 00:09:55.840 Because if we get on I-85 south, it doesn't matter if we've prayed about it. 00:09:55.860 --> 00:09:57.840 It doesn't matter if we feel good about it. 00:09:57.840 --> 00:10:01.920 It doesn't matter if everybody around us tells us, hey, this path is going to take you home. 00:10:02.080 --> 00:10:06.240 It doesn't matter if you get goosebumps and you think, oh, this is going to be the right path. 00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:09.700 That direction will never get you to your desired destination. 00:10:10.500 --> 00:10:12.759 And it's the same way in our walk with God. 00:10:12.820 --> 00:10:19.879 If we don't follow His word, if we don't follow what He's called us to do, we're never going to get to where we want to be. 00:10:19.940 --> 00:10:27.659 If we want that strong relationship with God, that deep, intimate relationship with Him that produces joy in our lives, 00:10:27.659 --> 00:10:30.740 then we've got to follow the path that leads to that. 00:10:31.079 --> 00:10:36.539 We've got to follow the path that God has called us to live if that is our desired destination. 00:10:36.719 --> 00:10:39.879 If that's where we want to go, then we follow His path. 00:10:40.059 --> 00:10:45.679 It doesn't matter how many people in our life will try to justify it and say, hey, you can do that later on, 00:10:45.740 --> 00:10:47.639 but you'll enjoy life more if you do this. 00:10:47.819 --> 00:10:48.980 You can do that later on. 00:10:49.059 --> 00:10:51.259 Just think about yourself right now. 00:10:51.259 --> 00:10:58.519 No, we've got to follow the path that God has called us to do if we want to arrive at the destination that He's called us to. 00:10:58.899 --> 00:11:00.539 And so that is what is important. 00:11:01.019 --> 00:11:04.159 We must follow what God has called us to do. 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:12.439 And one of those ways that we talked about already that helps us to do that is to think about investing our treasure in the things of God. 00:11:12.840 --> 00:11:16.840 If you want your heart to be in the things of God, then invest your treasure there. 00:11:17.299 --> 00:11:19.000 That's the direction you want to go. 00:11:19.000 --> 00:11:23.320 Then invest your treasure there because that is what changes everything. 00:11:24.100 --> 00:11:31.100 From these few verses, we see that the blessed man, the one who is like a tree planted by the stream, 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:40.779 is the one who not only flees from the way of this world, but also at the same time draws near to God by delighting in His Word. 00:11:41.639 --> 00:11:47.399 This year and the years to come, I'm excited about seeing what God continues to do in the life of this church. 00:11:47.399 --> 00:11:58.059 We as a church must follow the wisdom of Psalm 1 right here to flee from the things of this world and at the same time delight in the things of God. 00:11:58.500 --> 00:12:06.319 One of the ways that we do this as a church is by doing this individually in our lives, practicing this each and every day. 00:12:06.320 --> 00:12:16.620 Not letting sin creep into our lives, but not letting our lives be influenced by ungodly people or ungodly lies that the world is telling us. 00:12:16.700 --> 00:12:18.840 We focus on the things of God. 00:12:18.920 --> 00:12:24.200 Instead, we set our minds, fill our minds and our hearts with God's Word. 00:12:24.200 --> 00:12:29.460 If you want to help in learning to grow in God's Word, we would love to provide you with resources. 00:12:29.840 --> 00:12:34.379 If you want to help in learning how to serve God and invest your time and resources in those things, 00:12:34.620 --> 00:12:37.340 then we would love to give you avenues to serve God. 00:12:37.660 --> 00:12:44.480 In fact, this coming semester and this fall semester, we're all going through a book called Love Your Church by Toni Morita. 00:12:44.480 --> 00:12:50.180 And it's a way, it gives you some very practical ways in which you can be involved in the life of the church, 00:12:50.519 --> 00:12:57.899 that you can be involved in serving, that you can follow the path that leads to righteousness, follow the path that leads to God. 00:12:57.960 --> 00:13:00.519 And so I want to encourage you with that this morning. 00:13:00.519 --> 00:13:06.820 If you want to, if we want to be a church that sees people coming to faith, that sees people change, 00:13:06.920 --> 00:13:13.740 that sees people growing in their relationship with God, that is on mission for God, then our direction matters. 00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:20.720 If we want to be families that are raising children to love Jesus more than anything else in this world. 00:13:21.200 --> 00:13:28.800 If we want to be husbands and wives where our relationship with our spouse is the relationship that's described in Scripture, 00:13:28.800 --> 00:13:30.920 then our direction matters. 00:13:31.340 --> 00:13:36.519 If we want to live a life that's described here in Psalm 1, 00:13:36.840 --> 00:13:41.960 where we are like a tree planted by a stream that produces fruit that does not wither, 00:13:42.340 --> 00:13:44.220 that prospers in all that we do. 00:13:44.480 --> 00:13:46.759 Then our direction matters. 00:13:47.659 --> 00:13:51.259 Your direction, not your intention, will determine your destination. 00:13:51.920 --> 00:13:57.600 If you want to live a life that follows God closely, then direction matters. 00:13:58.000 --> 00:14:00.100 What direction are you taking in this life? 00:14:00.279 --> 00:14:04.680 A direction that leads you closer to God or a direction that leads you further away? 00:14:04.679 --> 00:14:07.259 And so I want you to think about that this morning. 00:14:07.259 --> 00:14:12.959 And this will be kind of a gateway into our understanding the rest of the Psalms this summer. 00:14:13.120 --> 00:14:15.279 But again, thank you so much for being here. 00:14:15.339 --> 00:14:16.079 Let me pray for us. 00:14:16.139 --> 00:14:20.359 I'm going to ask Sean if he'll come up and close us with a word of, with a song. 00:14:20.579 --> 00:14:21.839 But let's go to the Lord in prayer. 00:14:21.840 --> 00:14:26.180 Father, we thank you again for all that you do for us each and every day. 00:14:26.300 --> 00:14:27.519 Lord, thank you for your word. 00:14:27.660 --> 00:14:34.340 Thank you for the mission team that was able to be here today to share some of the stories from the trip. 00:14:34.500 --> 00:14:39.759 And Lord, we know there are so many other stories, so many other lives that were impacted. 00:14:39.759 --> 00:14:44.299 And so we were able to just catch a little glimpse of what took place there. 00:14:44.439 --> 00:14:49.299 And so, Lord, I pray that you be with us, be with this team, be with those that are here today. 00:14:49.539 --> 00:14:56.960 And Lord, as we think about Psalm 1, and as we think about the difference that it makes in our life of the direction that we take, 00:14:57.439 --> 00:15:00.500 Lord, help us to take the direction that leads to you. 00:15:01.240 --> 00:15:06.259 Lord, we know that direction because it's told us over and over again throughout Scripture. 00:15:06.259 --> 00:15:14.259 And so, Lord, help us to have the boldness and courage to follow you, to follow the direction that you lead, 00:15:14.319 --> 00:15:15.720 no matter where that takes us. 00:15:15.779 --> 00:15:17.539 Help us to follow you. 00:15:18.059 --> 00:15:24.039 Because we know that that's how we experience joy and happiness in this life, is by following you. 00:15:24.679 --> 00:15:26.600 Lord, we thank you so much for Jesus. 00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:28.439 And it's in his name we pray. 00:15:28.740 --> 00:15:29.100 Amen. 00:15:29.840 --> 00:15:30.899 We're going to invite you to stand. 00:15:30.960 --> 00:15:33.159 We're going to stand and sing a song of invitation. 00:15:33.159 --> 00:15:36.600 If God is speaking to you this morning, won't you respond as we sing?