we're following our school calendar and we've been preaching through the gospel according to
John the fourth gospel and then bouncing back about once a month to an Old Testament book.
We preach through the book of Ruth and halfway through Jonah. But now we kick off what we're
doing over the summer which is one psalm per week. I'm really excited and preparing for the psalms
was way harder. So we'll begin with Psalm 1 today. The genre that we're going to read here is
it's wisdom for life in God's kingdom. There are 150 psalms. The psalms they cover a span of
1,000 years. They're arranged into five books. Most likely was begun with David the first book.
The next two books by under the leadership of King Hezekiah and then the last two books under the
leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah. So five books and the genre I think is really important. That's
the biggest thing I've been learning to rightly understanding it especially on how to apply it.
There's a great variety in the psalms. There's variety in length. Psalm 117 has only two verses.
Psalm 119 just too later has 176 verses. There's variety in mood, style, purpose, variety in metaphor.
Every psalm is going to take us to Israel. We're going to be in Israel. There are going to be metaphors
that will open up that ancient middle, yeah like that part of the world in a way that I think for
us will be so enriching for our life now in the spiritual kingdom of our Lord Jesus. There's also
variety in purpose. There are hymns of lament, hymns of thanksgiving. There are hymns of confidence like a
battle cry or an anthem for an army. There are hymns of wisdom and there are hymns of divine kingship.
John Calvin said of the psalms, they are in anatomy of all the parts of the soul. All emotions of which
anyone can be conscious are here in the psalms represented as a mirror. The Holy Spirit has
depicted for God's people in the Psalter all the griefs, fears, doubts, hopes, cares, perplexities,
all distracting emotions by which the minds of men become agitated. That's the end of Calvin's quote.
So as we read Psalm 1, remember this is the inspired, inerrant, infallible, clear, and sufficient
word of God for you, his people. When I'm done reading, I'll say this is the word of the Lord.
You can respond by saying, thanks be to God. Psalm 1.
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law
doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth
forth fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly
shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord
knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God. Indeed, you may be seated.
We read in Isaiah 40 that the grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord
abides and remains forever. Would you pray with me?
Amen.
Oh Father, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, we ask.
For Christ's sake, amen.
Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, there are two ways to live.
That's why Psalm 1 says, there are only two ways to live.
C.S. Lewis wrote, if you, see if you and I, if we live for the next world, we get this one in the deal.
But if you only live for this world, you lose them both.
There are two ways to live, and only two.
I'd like to walk through Psalm 6 with six different, Psalm chapter 1, sorry, Psalm 1 with six questions.
There we go.
I gave you whiplash there, didn't I?
Flipping forward a few pages.
Psalm chapter, Psalm 1, and it's going to be six questions.
The first question is, how does Psalm 1 describe the two ways?
That's the first one.
What does it say?
How are these two ways described?
This is poetry, and it's meant to be a prayer book, a song book, a devotional meditation for God's people.
So how are the two ways to live described in Psalm 1?
Well, the two ways, what are they?
First of all, there's the blessed way, the way that is blessed.
And then secondly, there is the way that perishes.
Now you'll notice, the very first word in Psalm 1, what is it?
Blessed, blessed.
And what is the very last word in Psalm 1?
Perish.
There's the contrast set up.
Not only are those the first and the last words of this psalm, it's arranged beautifully as a little poem.
It's very symmetrical in that way.
But in the Hebrew, the first letter of the word blessed is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
And the first letter of the word perish is the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
So the beginning, focus on blessed.
The end, the contrast, the opposite end, as far away as could be from a blessed life.
Let's talk about the blessed way first.
So the blessed, that word blessed, it's found in all five books of the Psalter.
Remember, 150 Psalms divided into five books.
And I do believe that in the editing, in the arranging of the Psalter, the Holy Spirit was working.
So even though the context and the way that every single song and hymn was arranged was under the oversight of the Holy Spirit.
And so this is a very important theme that will be found throughout the entire Psalter, to be blessed.
So the question I want you to reflect on as we look at the two ways is, why is this Psalm number one?
When you open up a great Psalter, whatever you read first is very significant.
I want you to think about why is that?
Why is it Psalm one?
Well, the word blessed is used in the plural.
Thrice blessed.
The blessednesses, as one translator put it.
And it's not to be changed in the gender of who this refers to.
It says literally would be, oh, the blessednesses of the man.
That's what the first line says.
That's how the entire Psalter begins.
It's a man who is not influenced by pagan thoughts or words.
Verse two, the blessed man's delight.
The delight of his heart is in the law of the Lord.
And in this law does he meditate day and night.
The word meditate, it means to murmur, to be talking back through it in undertones.
The Orthodox Jews to this day, as they have the Torah in front of them, they're reading it with their eyes,
but they're also reciting, they're talking back, they're getting it inside of them using their lips as well.
That's the picture of meditating on the law, to memorize it, to rehearse the law, to get it inside of you.
Verse three, the blessed man shall be like a tree full of life, planted by the rivers of water.
A tree that's planted by water like that, you picture a desert in Israel, but then you see this constantly flowing stream.
This part that will always have green and life all around it, where the birds will find shelter and food.
And this entire little ecosystem develops along the river.
This is that great tree that rises up, and there will not be a moment in the year where this tree lacks water.
Endurance, abundance, resources that are plenty.
He brings forth his fruit in his season.
His leaf also shall not wither.
So this is true even into old age of this blessed man.
Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Verse five, the blessed man stands in the judgment.
He has a place.
He is welcome.
He is not cast out of the congregation of the righteous.
And notice verse six, the Lord.
It's the Lord himself who knows the way of the righteous, the blessed man.
A professor at Reformed Theological Seminary, Mark Futado, said,
The purpose of the book of Psalms is to serve as an instruction manual for experiencing the abundant life that God intends,
both in creation and redemption.
And this description of this blessed man who is flourishing in this life,
he is a man who walks in the way of the Lord.
But there's two ways to live, the blessed way and the way that perishes.
So let's look at that second way to live, the way that perishes.
Look at verse four.
The ungodly are not so.
See, the ungodly walk in a way that is not blessed.
Verse one, the way that perishes is a way that walks in the counsel of the ungodly.
Some have observed that when you're walking with someone, your focus is on what you're hearing.
You're usually looking ahead, but your conversation, it's through the ears that you're being influenced.
The ungodly stand in the way of sinners.
When you're standing, you are looking.
Now it's the focus on the eyes.
And sits in the seat of the scornful.
When you're seated, you're comfortable, you're contributing, you're part of that conversation.
It's a focus on the mouth.
That's the way that perishes.
Proverbs 9.7 says, you correct a scoffer and you're getting abuse for yourself.
Verse two, the way that perishes does not delight in the law of the Lord,
does not meditate on the law of the Lord.
No, all the influence, all the stimuli is coming from scornful, sinful men.
Verse four, the ungodly do not prosper.
They are not rooted.
They do not bear fruit.
They're not like the blessed man.
But they are like chaff, which the wind drives away.
So you picture a barley field in Israel.
And at harvest time, they come through with a sickle and they cut off the grain.
And then what's left is the straw that's been cut off, the roots that are dead and dry.
And that chaff, it's so lifeless that even the wind blows it to nothing.
Verse five, if you walk in this way, the way that perishes, then you shall not stand in the judgment.
You will be like the chaff cut down, blown away by the wind.
John the Baptist taps into this image.
He says, you will be thrown into the fire.
I was pulling weeds this time of year.
Weeds are popping up everywhere.
And I pulled some big ugly ones before someone complains to me through the HOA.
And we had this little fire pit.
And I just pulled these weeds out and I put them straight inside the fire pit because they're going to wither up.
They're going to be dry.
And they'll serve as kindling.
That's the picture of the way that perishes.
It's like a weed.
It amounts to nothing.
See, verse six, the Lord does not know the wicked who walk in this way.
This way, it goes the opposite of the way that the Lord knows.
The Lord knows not those who walk away from him.
And it's the way of the ungodly that will perish.
The word perish means comes to nothing.
I'm reminded of that little phrase.
You'll see it sometimes displayed on a window.
I adapted it a bit.
And it says this.
This one life will soon be passed and only what's lived in Christ will last.
All else perishes, you see.
That's what the Bible teaches.
All else comes to nothing.
That's an unhappy life.
That's a life that is not blessed.
There are two ways to live.
If you look at your life now, what is it that will last?
That's how you know which way you're on.
As you're living your life, what will last and what will perish?
I want to draw one final contrast between the two.
It's this.
This trajectory is set.
And I'm wondering, what is it that directs the path?
That you will stay on that path?
So first of all, what directs the way of the man that is blessed?
Verse 2, his delight is in the law of the Lord.
And in his law does he meditate day and night.
The way that's blessed is directed by the law, the word, the Psalter, the Torah.
It's directed by the word of the Lord.
That's what directs the path day and night of the way that is blessed.
Some have observed how just as there are five books of the law, the Torah is the first five books of the Bible.
So that's the editors here dividing the Psalter into five books of the law.
And so by meditating on the Psalter, you're taken into all of God's counsel.
You're taken into the Torah.
And the Psalter will trigger you of the history of God's people, the history of redemption, how God has been so faithful.
You're meditating through his word on all of redemptive history.
Calvin said the psalmist exhorts the faithful to read the Psalms as you read all of God's word.
That's the way that's blessed.
What about the way that perishes?
What directs that way, the way that perishes?
Well, we see it in verse 1.
It's directed by the counsel of the ungodly.
It's directed by words and thoughts that are flooding into your mind.
You're standing in the way of sinners.
So you're putting yourself where you know sin will be.
And you are gazing at temptation and sitting with the scornful,
so comfortable in this world that there is no evidence that you are not of the world.
There are two ways to live, the way that is blessed and the way that perishes.
There are only two ways, and it matters how you live this life.
So let me ask you this question before we move on to our second point.
You see the two ways.
Which way do you want to live?
Second observation.
What's the context here?
We saw how the two ways are described, but why is this the first psalm, and what's the context?
I've mentioned that the Psalter is divided into five books.
Richard Gaffin, another seminary professor, he pointed out that this first grouping of books,
we could call it the book of confrontation.
The main theme is this.
The first book presents the divinely called king in his struggle over against the enemies of the Lord and his people.
That's why I emphasize that this is really directions for a king.
Blessed is this type of man, this type of king.
Psalm 1 is a song for God's law to rule over the king of Israel.
That's the immediate context.
So it's like saying, listen, all of Israel, all you people, you need to know.
You need to know the law of the Lord because that law rules over your king.
So it's for all the people.
But it's an exhortation on the king.
There are two ways for God's appointed king to live.
Let me give you a bit broader context.
Deuteronomy 17.14 says this.
Now, Deuteronomy, this is from the pen of Moses.
And Moses didn't even get into the promised land.
It would be much later that Israel would become a nation with a king.
But listen to what God told the people through Moses way back before they even entered.
Deuteronomy 17.14.
When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you will say, this is the people, they will say,
we will set a king over us like all the other nations.
God says to them, you may set a king over you whom the Lord will choose.
See, but Psalm 1 gives us this insight.
I will only bless the king that is not like all the other nations, that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly pagan nations without God and without his law.
I will only bless a king who does not stand in that way like those sinful nations, nor sits in the seat of the scornful, thinking that they're above the law or above God.
That's not the king God will bless.
Deuteronomy 17 says, when the king sits on the throne of my kingdom, he shall write for himself a book, a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests.
See, the king's first job when he sits on the throne is to make a copy with his own hand of the law of God that is over him.
And his copy of the law must be approved by the Levitical priests.
That's the role of the law through the king over the people of Israel.
It's a king under the law.
And the law, it shall be with him and he shall read it in all the days of his life that he may learn to fear the Lord, his God, by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes and doing them.
That's what the king of Israel was to do.
That's what the law called for.
Psalm 1 verse 2 says, the delight of this blessed man shall be in the law of the Lord and on his law he shall meditate day and night.
Do you hear that similarity of language?
There's a theological implication for the people of God.
It's that God's blessings upon the divinely appointed king are conditional upon the king's keeping of God's law.
That's a very important point.
God's blessings upon this divinely appointed king are conditional upon that king keeping God's law.
Well, who can do that?
We know David, who's often held up as the most God-fearing man.
Did he keep God's law perfectly, personally, and perpetually?
No.
No, he was considered himself like Paul, the worst of sinners.
Who can keep God's law perfectly this way?
Who can meditate on God's law day and night?
God's blessings upon the divinely appointed king are conditional.
And it's a condition that no man can keep.
So the condition of the law upon the king of Israel, it's a law that slays.
Romans 3, 10, 11 confirms this.
As it is written, so here's Paul writing to the church in Rome, but he's citing Psalm 53.
None is righteous.
No, not one.
No one understands.
No one seeks after God.
Who can keep the law?
I was talking to a guy at work, and he just said with his new job, his new role, I won't give details to not make you guess, but he just said he's had to change how he acts in public.
He said, you know, I go to the store, I know I got eyes on me, and here's how he said it.
Everywhere I go, I need to be on my best behavior all the time.
He said, I might just start shaking and blow up because I have to be so good.
See, the law slays.
Who can be that good?
We just sang this, didn't we?
Your perfect law exposes me.
I feel my sin and desperate need.
My best good works are powerless to satisfy your righteousness.
There are two ways to live.
There's the way that's blessed and the way that perishes, and it matters how you live.
Let the law slay you right now.
Do you meditate on God's law day and night?
Do you think you're a little bit better than those failed kings over Israel?
Can you earn one blessing, one blessing by law keeping perfectly for yourself?
I can't.
Well, the next question then is, what did Psalm 1 mean for all of God's people?
What is the principle then?
If this is the first Psalm to set the tone over the nation,
what did this mean for the nation?
And here's the principle in the words of Myles Van Pelt,
one of my favorite Old Testament guys to learn from.
He's a Hebrew scholar.
Here's the principle, and I'll prove this next, okay?
As goes the king, so goes his kingdom.
Why should the people of Israel care?
Why does it matter?
Because as goes the king, so goes the kingdom.
Don't you see that principle as you read through the Old Testament?
God's blessings will only flow to God's people through His divinely appointed king who is under God's law.
Now let me show you something super cool.
I would have never picked this up on my own.
See if you agree with this.
Look in Psalm 1, and then Psalm 2 is right next to it.
You've got to ask, why is this Psalm 1?
And then why is that Psalm 2?
And you'll notice as well, Psalm 1 and Psalm 2 don't have a superscription.
They don't have a reference to say who wrote it, or what the context was, or what style it should be sung.
So Psalm 1 and 2 are very special.
They're almost like the introduction.
Some have even seen them as one psalm.
It's kind of like part A, part B of the introduction.
Now, we looked at how blessed is the first word in Psalm 1.
Notice what the last verse of Psalm 2, how it starts.
Psalm 2, verse 12.
Blessed are they that put their trust in Him.
And next week we'll look at Psalm 2 to see exactly who this Him is.
This great king, God Himself over the people.
So many have pointed out all of David's psalms, when he starts with blessed, he ends with blessed.
That's called an inclusio.
He's creating bookends.
He's showing you there's unity here.
Everything I'm going to say here is going to be related.
So what does Psalm 1 mean for the people?
As goes the king, so goes the kingdom.
Only the blessed king can bring blessing on all the people.
See how Psalm 2 ends with, blessed are all of you who put your trust in this great king.
The theme continues from Psalm 1 into Psalm 2.
Now, before we jump too far ahead in redemptive history, we can't skip back these other kings to set up this contrast of the two ways to live and the two ways that a king can live.
Let me show you this contrast in the book of 2 Kings and in 1 Kings.
2 Kings 22, 2.
I want to give you the positive example first.
Josiah.
What's a king in Israel that walked the blessed way?
Josiah, 2 Kings 22.
He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.
He walked in all the way of David his father and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.
That sounds like the command in Deuteronomy 17, doesn't it?
Sounds like Psalm 1.
You could say Josiah, though not perfectly, the pattern is being set up for us.
As goes the king, so goes the kingdom.
When was the time when Israel was blessed?
Well, Josiah, again, not perfectly or perpetually or personally, but Josiah, in comparison to all the other kings of Israel,
he was like a tree planted by rivers of water.
And he bore fruit in season and through him came blessing on the land.
Israel prospered.
The Lord was teaching them this pattern.
As goes the king, so goes the kingdom.
But there's the contrast to the other side, which is the majority of all the kings of Israel.
1 Kings 11, 3.
God says this of all the people.
He says, they have not walked in my ways, doing what is right in my sight and keeping my statutes and my rules.
What's the consequence for the king and the people forsaking God?
It's that they will be banished.
They will be cursed.
Well, Israel followed that way.
Then the prophecy comes to Judah, the two remaining tribes.
Which way will you walk?
Will you walk in the way that's blessed or will you walk in the way of Israel and go to banishment?
And in 2 Kings 16, 3, we're told of a wicked king, Ahaz, to give this other contrast.
Ahaz walked in the way of the kings of Israel.
He walked the way that perished, being from the two tribes in the south as well.
Listen to how wicked he became.
He even burned his own son as an offering,
according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before Israel.
See him sitting in the way of the wicked and the counsel of like all the other nations,
to the point of offering his own son.
Psalm 1, verse 4 describes King Ahaz.
He was not so.
He was not like the blessed man.
He was more like the chap that the wind would drive away.
He did not stand in God's judgment.
Instead, he was banished from God's righteous congregation in the land.
First Israel, then Judah.
There's no king over Israel that could fulfill God's law,
that could truly become the blessed man.
Now, Psalm 1 gives us some images of a river and of tree and fruit.
And then he gives us the image of chaff and judgment.
For the Israelites, this would have brought back to mind creation.
Psalm 1, placed at the very beginning, loaded with these images of Eden.
Adam was told to rule and subdue all creation.
He was like the king over Eden.
And instead of enjoying the tree of life and the abundant fruit,
Adam rebelled.
And he was banished east of Eden.
Just as Israel was taken east to Assyria,
Judah was taken east into Babylon.
Would there be a second Adam?
Would there be one great blessed king?
Because God's blessings will only flow to God's people
through a divinely appointed king who is under God's law.
A new Adam, a new king is needed for God's blessings to flow to his people.
A new Adam is needed to enter into the holy of holies.
The temple represents the presence of the holy God meeting with sinners.
And you know which way the door of the temple faces.
It's east.
Christ would be the one to reenter,
to bring his people back into the fellowship,
the kingdom of his father.
And Psalm 1 makes this clear.
There are only two ways to live.
And as goes the king, so goes his kingdom.
Romans 5 says,
All are under the federal headship of Adam.
And as Adam went, so went all of humanity.
We are all cursed, banished.
We are in the domain of darkness.
We are in the kingdom of chaff.
We are in this perishing fiefdom.
And it matters how we live.
Which kingdom dominates the way you live now?
Are you still under the curse of Adam in the wilderness?
Well, the fourth observation here
is how does Psalm 1 speak of the great king?
It matters for us how our great king lived.
Not only that he died for us.
How did our great king live for us?
Look at Psalm 1 verse 6.
See?
I think this is a gospel hint.
Verse 6 says,
The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous.
God himself knows the blessed way.
It's God alone who knows the way of righteousness.
All other men are wicked
and know only the way of the ungodly that perishes.
But Jesus came as the true and better Joshua.
He would be the one to lead them into this kingdom.
This spiritual kingdom of peace and bounty and abundance.
Listen to Joshua chapter 1 verse 8.
This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth,
but you shall meditate on it day and night.
I read this from Joshua
because this is what Christ knew he had to fulfill.
To be the greater Joshua.
To enter and lead the people out of banishment and exile
into God's promised kingdom.
This is what he had to fulfill with his life.
Know God's law so that you may be careful to do
according to all that is written.
For then you will make your way prosperous
and then you will have good success.
Jesus knew that he had to take on the flesh
and he had to live the perfect sinless life.
And the way to do that
was by having the law of God on his mouth.
See, we saw that this law of God,
it slays us in our pride, doesn't it?
Our law keeping.
We come up short every time.
John Gill, he pointed out,
the law of Moses was a fiery law.
It was a law of works, a law of wrath.
It accuses of sin.
It pronounces guilty.
It curses and condemns you to death.
So then we have a problem.
Psalm 1 verse 2 says,
the delight of the blessed man.
The delight is on the law of the Lord.
And if that's how the law is,
how can you delight in that type of a law?
And Gill goes on to write,
unless the law is in the hands of Christ
and as fulfilled by Christ,
who is the end of the law,
as it is written on the heart of the regenerate man,
only then can anyone delight in the law of God.
It becomes a law that changes his delights.
It changes your desire.
It's a law inside you,
in the inward being.
And it serves.
It serves as the voice of God,
the Holy Spirit directing the way
that you walk in the blessedness of Christ.
We can sing,
praise God,
there's one who lived for me.
His life,
my only victory.
His death,
forever,
sealed in time,
that I am His
and He is mine.
See, it's the righteousness of God
lived on earth,
in history,
by Jesus Christ.
That is your righteousness.
The good news is that
the righteousness of Christ
cannot be corrupted.
It is sealed in time.
Christ will not sin.
He never did sin.
He lived.
The Father rose Him from the dead
to confirm.
He merited,
not because of anything He lacked,
but He merited for you and for me
the righteousness
we could never hope for.
That's why it matters for us
how our great King lived.
Now the way of the wicked perishes.
The ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation
of the righteous one.
See, when the kingdom of heaven
is pictured on earth,
it's the church.
This kingdom,
this kingdom of heaven,
it's represented in the church.
And Jesus says,
this is the day of salvation.
Go out into the highways
and the byways,
shake the bushes,
compel sinners to come to Christ now.
Now is the hour of His salvation.
Come into this congregation
of those who have been clothed
with the righteousness of Christ.
But there is a day of judgment coming
when Christ comes for the second time.
There is a day where
unless you are covered in Christ's righteousness,
you cannot stand before God.
Listen to how Jude describes this.
Jude 15, 16.
Behold, the Lord comes
with 10,000 of His holy ones
to execute judgment on all
and to convict all the ungodly
of all their deeds of ungodliness
and of all the harsh things,
the mocking things,
the scoffing things
that the ungodly sinners
have spoken against Him.
There is a day of judgment coming.
Unless you are covered
in Christ's righteousness,
you cannot stand
on that day of His judgment.
So how do you respond?
Well, let's let the Psalter
teach us how to respond.
Psalm 32, 1 and 2.
Listen to how it picks up
on this same theme.
Blessed.
Blessed is the one
who is blessed.
Blessed is the one
whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the one
against whom the Lord
counts no iniquity,
in whose spirit
there is no deceit.
Blessed is the one
who can acknowledge
my sin to you.
I did not cover up
my iniquity.
I said,
I will confess
my transgressions
to the Lord.
And look at the response
of God.
You forgave
the iniquity
of my sin.
Praise the Lord
that He forgives
and He blesses
sinners like me
and like you.
Now the final response
in Psalm 32
is says,
I will,
I will now
out of gratitude
standing in His righteousness
blessed because
He is gracious.
I will instruct you
and teach you
the way you should go.
He doesn't send you
back into the wilderness
without His law.
If you're in His kingdom,
His law rules over you
and His Spirit
gently instructs you
and makes you
to delight
in what pleases Him.
Do you see how
Psalm 1 makes this
very clear?
There are two ways
to live
and it matters
how you live.
And it matters
how we live
because it mattered
how our Lord Jesus
lived for us.
The value of your life now,
how you live,
the fruits that He's bearing
in your life,
it matters so much.
That's why He came
to live for you.
It matters how He lived
for you.
And now it matters
how you live in Him.
Well, the fifth observation
is what Psalm 1 means
now for His global kingdom.
Because you remember
that principle in Israel?
As goes the king over Israel,
so goes the kingdom.
This has to be true
now of Christ.
As goes Christ
in glory,
so goes His kingdom
on earth.
This gives us hope.
King Jesus said,
the other kings
are like hirelings.
All the other kings
of the nations.
Why would you go after them?
That's the way that perishes.
Do you remember
in John chapter 10?
He says,
all the other kings
that went before me,
they're like thieves
or hirelings.
They're like wolves.
But King Jesus came
not to kill and destroy
like those thieves.
He came that you
may have life
and that you may have life
abundant.
All the blessings
of being in the tree
of King Jesus
are now for you.
After Jesus conquered death,
listen to His words
when He came back
and told His disciples
in Luke 24.
He said,
these are my words
that I spoke to you
while I was still with you
that everything
written about me
in the law of Moses
and the prophets,
listen,
and the Psalms
was written about me.
It must be fulfilled.
So who were the Psalms
written about?
King Jesus.
And He came to fulfill
the Psalms.
Then,
this is still Luke 24,
then Jesus opened
their minds
to understand
the Scriptures.
And He said to them,
thus it is written,
that the Christ
should suffer
and on the third day
rise from the dead
and that repentance
for the forgiveness
of sins
should be proclaimed
in His name
to all nations
beginning from Jerusalem.
You're going to proclaim
forgiveness
and repentance
from all of the Bible
including the Psalms.
That's how the Psalms
are meant to be
proclaimed now.
Psalm 1,
look at verse 3.
King Jesus,
He transformed
this tree planted
on the hill
of the skull
into a tree
planted by rivers
of water.
Through His tree,
through His cross,
He brings forth
His fruit
in His season.
This is the season
of the tree of life.
It's life abundant.
It's life that does not
wither in Christ.
It's life that abounds
and prospers.
Hear that same imagery
now at the end
of all of Revelation.
Revelation 22,
verse 2.
John,
the apostle,
saw the tree of life
in the midst
of the street of it
and on either side
of the river.
See this tree,
it fills the city
on either side
of the river.
And listen to the description.
this tree,
it bore 12
manner of fruits.
12 represents
the fullness,
restoring all
that God had promised
to His people.
And it yielded
her fruit
in every month.
See,
it was always in season
with all the types
of fruit
that you would ever need.
And the leaves
of the tree
were for the healing
of the nations.
King Jesus
became for us
like a tree
planted by the rivers
of water.
King Jesus
brings forth
His fruit
of the Spirit
in us.
This is the season
of King Jesus
working in you
and your life
all that God
has promised.
His leaf
does not wither
and whatsoever
King Jesus does
shall prosper.
That's why He could
tell His disciples,
I am the vine.
You are the branches.
Abide in me
and enjoy life abundant.
See,
from the deep
root system,
the sap
fills up the trunk
to the branches
and the vines.
What is the sap?
What is that?
That source of water
and nourishment
that fills
and supplies.
Psalm 1 verse 2
is the word
of the Lord.
It's a delight.
You might feel
like a withering branch.
You need more sap.
You need more life.
It's a delight
to be fed,
to be nourished,
to be kept
by the vine.
See,
all the promises
of God
come to you
through Jesus Christ.
He does this
by the ministry
of His word
applied to you
personally
in your soul
by the Holy Spirit.
You see Christ
in all of Scripture.
You hear
His glorious gospel
from all of the Bible
like He told them
in Luke 24.
You sit
in the presence
of Christ
and His word
is the delight
of your heart.
His word
is on your lips.
You're meditating
on Christ
through His word
day and night
and He replenishes.
He heals you.
Psalm 1
makes it very clear.
There are two ways
to live.
Only two.
It matters
how you live.
As King Jesus
so goes His kingdom.
His promises
are trustworthy.
His law
nourishes.
My last one
number six.
What does Psalm 1
now
looking back
on the whole
what does it mean
for you
for your life?
It means that
if you are
in the kingdom
of King Jesus
if you are
in His kingdom
you will live
the way
of the blessed man.
You will follow Christ.
You won't follow
the wicked men
of the world.
You will follow
King Jesus.
Yes, the law
exposes our sin.
Yes, the law
makes us feel
hopeless
to keep it
on our own.
The purpose
of the law
in the first use
is to drive you
to the cross.
And through Christ
your desires
are transformed.
His blood
flows to heal you.
But then His law
His law then
becomes like a trellis.
You know what a trellis is?
Like a wooden frame
that would go around
a beautiful grapevine.
His law
it gives you stability.
You're not left
to wander
or to be stuck
on the dirt.
He lifts you up.
It becomes a rule
or a guide
for how you will grow
how you will mature
belonging to His kingdom.
His kingdom
is a kingdom
of a good law
over the land.
He was the king
under the law
fulfilling it.
He is the law
and He only gives
the law
from the hand
of the gracious
kind
patient
King Himself
to you.
Verse 2
He makes you
to delight
in His law.
It's in the law
of the Lord
and in His law
He teaches you
to meditate
day and night.
Hasn't that been true
when you've tried
to memorize something
in the Bible?
You just find yourself
trying to say it
over and over
and it starts
a bit like a discipline
but before long
you find yourself
it's just unlocking
you're thinking
of connections
you read something else
in a different part
of the Bible
just by meditating
on His law
He changes you.
He totally changes
the way you view
His word
and the way you view
your life.
He feeds your roots
with the law
it becomes that
life giving
nourishment
and He blesses you
abundantly
as you learn
to depend on Him.
So take up
the Psalter
take up
your Bible
John Gill said
this little book
these 150 Psalms
they're like
like a rich
mine of grace
and evangelical
truths
if we read them
the way Christ
wants us to read them
it's hard to get it right
we labor at it.
He said
the Psalms
are a large fund
of spiritual experience
and it's abundantly
suited
in every case
state and condition
that the church
of Christ
or particular believers
are in at any time
so long as you read it
as pointing to Christ.
Martin Luther
called the Psalms
a little Bible
the whole Bible
is there
even in Psalm 1
you can see almost
the history of redemptive
history right
like the history of Israel
in six verses
and that's when
we can agree
with Psalm 19
verses 7 through 11
the law
of the Lord
truly is perfect
reviving the soul
the testimony
of the Lord
is sure
making wise
the simple
the precepts
of the Lord
are right
rejoicing the heart
the commandment
of the Lord
is pure
enlightening the eyes
the fear of the Lord
is clean
enduring forever
the rules of the Lord
are true
and righteous
all together
more to be desired
are they
than gold
even much fine gold
sweeter also
than honey
and drippings
from the honeycomb
moreover
by them
is your servant
warned
in keeping them
there is
great reward
our Lord Jesus
kept God's law
he needed no reward
but the reward
he earned
he yearned for you
as a gift
and a blessing
that you would receive
freely
Jesus walked
the blessed way
he lived it
and he made it
possible now
by putting this
love
this desire
this delight
inside of you
and feeding you
by his power
to walk
with him
and to delight
in his word
now remember
we're still
surrounded by
the world
we will be
mocked and jeered
and Jesus said
we read this
earlier
Matthew 5
11
blessed
are you
when men
shall revile
you and persecute
you and say
all manner
of evil
against you
falsely for
my sake
blessed are you
who are
persecuted
for righteousness
sake
for yours
is the kingdom
of heaven
the kingdom
of heaven
all my blessings
are yours
there are two
ways to live
in only two
ways
if you are
in the kingdom
of Jesus
you will live
the way
of the only
perfectly
blessed
man
the only
blessed king
the king of kings
the way
the truth
the life
and the fount
of all blessings
for his people
let's pray
oh lord
help us
to walk
this way
we praise you
lord
glory be to
god
father son
and holy
spirit
in matthew
7
you call us
to enter
by the
narrow
gate
for the
gate
is wide
and the
way is
easy
that leads
to destruction
the way
that perishes
and those
who enter
that way
are many
but you
king
jesus
you are
the narrow
gate
you say
your way
is hard
and few
find it
we praise
you that
you have
found us
and you
have called
us to
enter through
you
and to
walk
in the
way
that leads
to life
for the
glory
of god
please give
us the
strength
to do
this
we ask
amen