This past summer in India, there was an unprecedented heat wave from about May to June and temperatures
over 100 degrees and hitting regularly 113 degrees Fahrenheit, 118 degrees Fahrenheit.
It's a withering heat.
In God's mysterious ways, He oftentimes turns up the heat through various kinds of trials.
And it's possible to be in those trials and start to spiritually wither.
An extended trial is like an extended heat wave.
It can take a toll.
So when God turns up the heat, where must His people turn?
Psalm 1 answers that question.
Psalm 1 presents two ways to live.
The wicked and the righteous.
The righteous thrive because they're planted by streams of life-giving water.
The life-giving water of God's Word.
They are blessed.
They are joyful because they are depending upon God.
The wicked turn away from God.
Not so the righteous.
So when God turns up the heat, we turn to God's Word.
So would you look at Psalm 1 with me right now and I'll read Psalm 1 for us all.
I'm reading out of the ESV.
And so if you're reading out of the NIV, it'll be a little different.
But you'll be able to follow along just fine.
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in season.
Its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
Therefore, the wicked will 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 wicked will perish.
Psalm 1 presents us with two ways to live.
The wicked who turn away from God, and the righteous who depend on God.
And this psalm makes the case through three contrasts.
Contrast of companions, we see that in verses 1 and 2.
Contrast in character, we'll see that in 3 and 4.
Contrast in destinies, we'll see that in 5 and 6.
Psalm 1 presents us with two ways to live.
Either turning from God in his word, or turning to God in his word.
And especially when we experience heat, we must plant ourselves by the life-giving waters of God's word.
Christian, you want to thrive?
Plant yourself by God's word.
So let's look at this 1 and 2.
This first contrast, the contrast of companions.
This is 1 and 2, but I just want you to notice that word blessed first.
You see that first word in Psalm 1, verse 1?
Blessed.
It's literally the first word of the psalm in Hebrew,
and it's the first word of the entire book of the psalms.
It's no coincidence.
It's very purposeful.
What does blessed mean?
Last week, I sought to make a distinction for you between the words joy and happiness.
And just very simply, joy is a settled contentment in God's unchanging character.
That's where joy is.
Settledness in God's unchanging character.
Happiness is seeking contentment in circumstances.
Happiness is kind of rises and falls as you ride the roller coaster of life, going up and down.
So when the psalmist writes the word, blessed is the man,
is he talking about joy or happiness?
He's talking about joy.
Joy in God.
Delighting in God.
Being planted in God's word.
Those who depend on God.
I'm not sure if you've experienced this before, but someone comes up, you go up to someone and you say,
hey, how you doing?
And they say, I'm blessed, man.
I'm blessed.
We see where blessing is in Psalm 1.
And blessing is in our God.
So he says, blessed is the man, and then he begins to make the contrast.
Contrast of companions.
We see in verse 1, blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers,
and the psalmist tells us that the blessed man, the righteous man,
he tells us the companions we're not to keep.
We're not to walk in the counsel of the wicked.
We're not to stand in the way of sinners.
And those words, wicked and sinners, they're virtually synonymous.
They talk about people who are regularly turning away from God, not living for God.
We're not to walk in their counsel and what they say.
We're not to stand in the way, in their lifestyles.
We're not to stop in their lifestyles, be in their lifestyles.
That last word is a very interesting word.
It says, nor sits in the seat of scoffers.
A scoffer is a click down from the wicked and sinners.
A scoffer is not just someone who turns away from God and is living for everything but God.
But what a scoffer does is he mocks or she mocks those people who are seeking to live for God.
So not only are they denying God and living for things other than God,
but they mock the people who do.
And the blessed man does not sit in the seat of scoffers.
Some commentators think that this, what we see in Psalm 1,
this not walking in the counsel, not standing in the way, not sitting in the seat,
it's this picture of settling into ungodliness.
Walking alongside to stopping to sitting, you're settling into ungodliness.
The righteous, those who delight in God,
are to be discerning of who their closest companions are.
Do you know why?
Because it has everything to do with influence.
Everything to do with influence.
Influence.
Your companions influence.
You listen to them.
Tell you what to live for.
What to tell you to what matters most.
You know you have companions, close companions, when you start talking like them.
You pick up their mannerisms.
You start sharing their goals and their lifestyles.
That's the effect of companions.
And we're being told here that the blessed man, those who trust in God,
they don't live that way.
They're not influenced by the wicked, by sinners, by scoffers.
So the first part of this contrast is that we see the joyful man or woman
is not buying into what these people who don't care about God, what they're saying.
They don't buy into the latest pitch of where happiness is.
Whether that's money or pleasure or prestige or power or possessions.
Anything but God.
And just to be clear, this is not a call to remove ourselves from relationships with non-Christians,
people who don't live for God.
But it will become a call to delight in God as our closest companion.
And might I add, Jesus lived this.
He was able to influence sinners and yet he didn't walk in the counsel of the wicked.
He didn't stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of scoffers.
But he was able to be present in proclaiming the gospel.
Joy is not found in the counsel of the wicked.
Joy is found in the counsel of our closest companion.
God himself.
And so let's see the contrast.
Verse 2.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord.
Blessed is the man or woman who takes pleasure in the counsel,
in the words of his God, of her God.
That's the greatest formative influence in the blessed, righteous man or woman's life.
What God says matters most.
And so joy is found in taking to heart what God says.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord.
The law of Yahweh.
That word law is literally the word Torah.
And it's referring to the first five books of the Bible.
The Pentateuch.
The law of Moses.
Genesis.
Exodus.
Leviticus.
Numbers.
And Deuteronomy.
And so the psalmist is delighting in the Torah.
Those five books.
The psalmist is saying,
I rejoice in knowing that my God is the creator of all
and therefore all are accountable to him.
Delighting in the fact that his God is the promise-making God
who promised to Abraham to bless all the nations.
And mind you, that blessing is joy in God.
That this is the God who revealed himself in those first five books
as a God who loved a people,
not based on anything the people did,
but on God's great love for them.
And he chose them out of the nations.
Israel.
And then he delivered them from captivity.
And then he made a covenant with them.
He bound himself to them.
And said, I'm your God.
You are my people.
All by grace.
And then he gave them his law.
Walk this way.
Because I'm holy.
And you, my people, are to be holy too.
So what we see the psalmist doing here
is delighting in the words of his God.
The God who made a covenant.
The God who bound himself to him.
The God who gives himself to us through his word.
He reveals himself to us.
He makes known his ways.
Joyful is the man or woman who delights
in the very words of their God.
And you know what?
We're just talking about five books of the Bible here.
I mean, as Christians, we've got 66 books of the Bible.
66 books.
I mean, the Pentateuch is a feast in itself.
It's a great buffet.
These 66 books that God has given us
in which he reveals himself to us,
it's like a rich banquet.
It delights our souls.
God's word is like this expansive mansion.
And we go and explore all the different rooms
and delight in them
because God has good for us
in each room we go into.
God continued to reveal himself.
And so, not just in those five books,
those first five books,
but God has been making himself known
for centuries, many times, in many ways,
by different prophets,
revealing himself progressively.
And so, the Scriptures is God revealing himself
over time.
But the ultimate revelation of God
is when God became a man.
Is when God became flesh.
The written word, the Bible,
is all about the living word, Jesus.
Jesus.
The Bible points to Jesus
again and again and again.
The Bible, the Old Testament,
aims at Jesus.
It's all about Christ.
Because in Christ,
God's plan for the fullness of time
is focused.
Riches upon riches.
This book is riches upon riches
to our soul.
The Bible is God speaking to us.
God revealing himself to us.
Our closest companion
seeking to influence us
in the way we should go.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord.
True joy is found
in believing the words of our God.
God making himself known
in the words of this book,
the Bible.
And just a quick thing to mention here.
God saying,
but his delight is in the law of the Lord
and on his law he meditates
day and night.
Meditate.
To meditate is to mull something over.
It's like to mutter.
You ever find yourself talking to yourself?
There's a couple ways in which we talk to ourselves.
And a bygone pastor named Martin Lloyd-Jones
points two out.
Oftentimes we just listen to ourselves.
And so we are aware of our circumstances
and our hearts respond to our circumstances.
We get anxious.
We get fearful.
And we just stay focused on our circumstances.
An old friend of mine said,
well that's kind of stinking thinking.
What biblical meditation is,
is not so much of a listening to yourself,
but a speaking to yourself.
A speaking to yourself the truths about God.
Speaking God's word to yourself.
That's what meditation is.
Constantly calling to mind
what God says about himself.
Constantly calling to mind
what God says about you.
Constantly calling to mind
what God has done for you in Christ.
Constantly calling to mind
what he calls us to
as his holy ones.
Constantly calling to mind
that God is over it,
that he's in it,
that he's working through it.
Constantly calling to mind
that our God is a God of steadfast love
and it never ceases.
This I call to mind
and therefore I have hope.
These are examples of
meditating on the Bible
day and night.
It goes with you wherever you go.
So who are you listening to?
Are you listening to yourself
or are you speaking God's word to yourself?
Mind you,
there is this dynamic of delight
that happens for those
who meditate on God's word.
You remember who God is
and then comes joy.
Then comes hope.
Then comes faith.
And that feeds into
more remembering who your God is.
Calling to mind who he is.
And that has the effect of more joy.
So we see this wonderful dynamic of delight
for those who meditate
on the words of Scripture.
What God says matters most.
And it has an impact
on your heart
at any moment throughout the day.
So what do you find yourself
mulling over?
What do you find yourself
meditating on?
What do you find yourself
thinking about frequently?
Are you anxious?
Are you fearful?
Well, what are you thinking about?
What are you calling to mind?
Who are you listening to?
Whose words are you believing?
This first contrast
is a contrast of companions.
Verse 1, wicked, sinners, scoffers.
Verse 2, God speaking.
And the difference is
whose words are you believing?
It's a contrast.
Two ways to live.
Whose words are you delighting in?
So, we've seen a contrast
in companions.
Let's look at the contrast
in character.
verses 3 and 4 we read,
He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in season
and sleep does not wither.
And all that He does,
He prospers.
The wicked are not so.
In verses 3 and 4,
the psalmist
uses some very vivid imagery,
doesn't he?
He's, again,
driving this
two ways of living,
two ways to live.
He's pushing it.
One way is the righteous,
the one planted
by streams of water.
The other is the wicked.
They're like chaff
blown by the wind.
I want you to notice
something about
this tree
in verse 3.
This is an image,
a picture
of someone
who is planted
him or herself
by the Word,
who's meditating
on God's Word.
He's like a tree.
Four things to notice.
Where they're planted,
what they produce,
that they're protected,
and that he or she
prospers.
First notice,
they're planted
by streams of water.
Now,
when I have thought
about this verse,
I'm not sure
if you are like me,
but I imagine
kind of an Israel
kind of mountain brook
with a nice tree by it.
Well,
that's not what's
going on here.
The streams of water
are actually
irrigation canals.
That's what that means.
Those are the streams.
Water is lacking
in Israel.
It's an arid
and dry,
hot place.
And so water
is in huge demand.
And so what we see
going on here is
God is like
this gardener.
And He
plants us
by these
irrigation canals,
these streams of water.
And what's true
about an irrigation canal
is it ensures
a constant
and abundant
flow of
life-giving water.
God plants
us there.
We have a tendency
of pulling up our roots
and moving up
elsewhere.
I know that.
But God
intends for us
to be
by the stream
of water.
That stream
is our life.
God's Word
gives us life.
The water
of God's Word.
And God
has designed
us
to be dependent
on His Word.
To live
by His Word.
He's like a tree
planted.
He produces
fruit
in season.
The idea
there is one
of consistency,
regularity,
consistently
bearing fruit.
Love,
joy,
peace,
patience,
kindness,
goodness,
gentleness,
faithfulness,
and self-control.
The fruit
of the Spirit.
It ends up
blessing those
people around
you
as we
are planted
by God's
Word.
God
yields
fruit
in our
life
that
blesses
others.
We're fruitful.
We produce.
And notice
also
there is
protection.
His leaf
does not
wither.
Again,
Psalm 1
is written
by someone
living in a
hot and arid
climate.
They know
drought.
They know
heat.
And we've
been going
through some
heat as
a church.
A heat
that's been
effective
in me.
Exposing
things in
me.
For which
I am so
grateful,
yet grieve.
What we
see here
though is
a picture
of the
blessed
man.
Planted
by God's
Word.
and
enduring
heat.
Its
leaf
does not
wither.
Why?
Because the
tree is
planted by
streams of
water.
Their
source of
life,
despite the
heat,
has not
been cut
off.
Planted
by streams,
produce fruit,
protected,
endurance from
the heat.
Its
leaf does
not
wither.
He
prospers.
In all
that he
does,
he prospers.
Now when
you hear
the word
prosper,
you might
go immediately
to material
prosperity.
Don't go
there.
Think
spiritual
prosperity.
Spiritual
thriving.
Growing.
In all
different areas
of your
life.
Joyful,
living for
God,
despite
circumstances.
Thriving.
Why?
Because you're
planted by
the streams
of water.
Verse 3
points to
the character
of the
one who
is trusting
in God's
word.
And when you
look at it
and you
notice that
this person
is stable,
this person
is fruitful,
this person
is enduring,
that they're
thriving,
it starts
down a
little bit
like Jesus
to be honest
with you.
What a
Savior we
have.
This is
contrasted in
verse 4.
We've got the
character of the
righteous in
verse 3 and
then the
character of
the wicked.
The NIV
says,
not so the
wicked.
The wicked
are not so,
but are like
chaff that
the wind
blows away.
We've got to
understand what
threshing means.
The threshing
process.
In an
agricultural
culture like
this psalm
when it was
written,
there would be
harvesting of
grain.
And that grain
would be brought
to a threshing
floor.
And usually
that threshing
floor was
elevated to
take advantage
of afternoon
winds.
And so the
threshing process
would go something
like this.
Grain would be
spread out on
the threshing
floor.
You take a
pitchfork-like
tool,
you throw it
into the
grain,
and you throw
it up in the
air.
Go up in the
air and fall
down.
And when it
hit, it would
start to
dislodge the
husk from
the seed.
And so you're
threshing.
And you keep
on doing that.
And as you're
doing it, the
wind is blowing,
and you know
what happens?
As the husk
becomes dislodged,
as straw gets
kind of put,
freed up,
debris,
the wind blows
it away.
And so all
the husk and
the straw and
the debris,
that's called
chaff.
It's useless.
And it's blown
away by the
wind.
And that's the
point of the
contrast.
We see the
righteous planted
by streams of
water.
Solid,
growing,
thriving,
enduring heat,
and the
wicked are
compared to
chaff,
empty,
blown about
by the
wind.
Two ways to
live.
Contrasting
characters.
We've got the
tree planted by
the stream,
the righteous,
and we've got
the chaff blown
away by the
wind, the
wicked.
And you know
what it depends
on.
Whose words
are you living
by?
Whose words
are you trusting
in?
Brother and
sister in
Christ, if you
want to thrive,
you must plant
yourself by the
streams of
God's word.
So let me ask
you a question.
As you think
about your own
self, is your
character more
like the tree
planted by the
water, or is
it more like
chaff blown
by the wind?
Is your
leaf withering?
Where are you
planted?
Whose words
are you believing?
What are you
meditating on?
So we've seen
two contrasts.
Contrasting
companions,
whose words
are you listening
to?
Contrasting
characters.
What are you
made of?
And now, the
final contrast.
Two ways to
live, a
contrast of
destinies.
This is 5 and
6.
And what we see
in 5 and 6, we
see some words
repeated.
The wicked, the
righteous.
Again, it's
bringing apart
this contrast.
Two ways to
live.
If you look at
verse 5, it
reads this,
therefore the
wicked will not
stand in the
judgment.
We're talking
about final
destiny here.
The great
final judgment
when every
human being
will come
before God
and give an
account for
their life.
God is just,
He's holy,
and He's going
to hold each
of us to
account.
Just to make
this a little
bit more
concrete,
imagine God
the Father
has a
calendar.
And on that
calendar, He
has a date
set.
Permanent
marker.
The day of
judgment.
We don't know
when that is,
but He does.
It is set.
Judgment is
coming.
We're not one
day farther,
we're one day
closer to that
day.
And what we
see here in
verse 5 is
that the wicked
will not stand
in the
judgment
because they
have nothing
to stand
on.
They will
have nothing
to say in
their defense
when they
stand before
the judge.
Rather,
their sins
will stand
against them.
Their sins
will condemn
them.
They will
weep and
they will
wail because
God's judgment
is just and
true and His
recompense is
deserved.
He is going
to judge.
The day is
set.
We go on
to read that
nor sinners
in the
assembly of
the righteous.
It's a
picture,
further picture
of judgment.
On that
day,
Jesus will
separate out
the wicked
from the
righteous,
like sheep
from the
goats.
If you will
turn in your
Bible to
Matthew
chapter 25.
Jesus is
teaching about
the end
times and
He's talking
about final
judgment and
in verse 31
He says this,
When the
Son of Man
comes in His
glory and all
the angels
with Him,
then He will
sit on His
glorious throne.
Jesus is
saying,
I'm the
judge.
Before Him
will be
gathered all
the nations,
both righteous
and wicked,
and He will
separate people
one from
another as a
shepherd separates
the sheep
from the goats
and He will
place the sheep
on His right
but the goats
on His left.
Sinners will
not stand
with the
righteous in
judgment.
They will
be separated
out.
So verse 5
in Psalm 1
is a picture
of judgment.
And what
follows in
verse 6
is a picture
of punishment,
of destruction.
destruction.
But the way
of the wicked
will perish.
The NIV
says,
but the way
of the wicked
will lead to
destruction.
If you look
back at
Matthew 25,
46,
speaking of the
wicked,
and these will
go away into
eternal punishment,
but the righteous
into eternal life.
judgment is
coming.
The day is
set.
God is just.
He knows all.
He knows
everything about
you.
So do you
fear that day?
Do you fear
the coming
judgment?
Do you fear
having to come
before God
and to give
an account?
Do you fear
that your sins
stand against
you?
Well, I have
some wonderful
news for you.
Jesus,
who will be
your judge
on the last
day,
He is your
Savior
today.
God has
made a way.
Only in
Christ can
a sinner
be delivered
from the
judgment to
come.
Only in
Christ.
Jesus'
death on the
cross is
able to
pay for
all of
your sin.
Wipe
your slate
completely
clean.
But it's
more than
that.
When a
sinner puts
their faith
in Jesus,
not only are
they forgiven
of their
sin,
but Christ's
righteousness
is credited
to your
account.
It's like
God clothes
you with the
righteousness
righteousness of
Jesus.
All of
Jesus'
right living
for His
33 years
imputed to
you.
The Bible
calls this
justification.
That God
declares a
sinner righteous
in His sight,
fully forgiven,
fully accepted,
forever.
And so if you
are afraid of
the judgment
to come,
run to
Christ,
your Savior,
and you
will not
fear
Christ
when you
face Him
as judge.
The destiny
of the wicked
is judgment
and destruction.
Not so the
righteous.
The wicked
are not able
to stand
in the judgment,
but it's
implied
that the
righteous
are.
We can
stand in
the judgment.
judgment.
How is that
possible?
What was I
just telling
you?
Here's why
it's possible
that we
as those
in Christ
don't need
to fear
judgment.
We will
stand.
The moment
we believed
in Jesus,
at that
moment,
God declared
us righteous
and God
imputed to
us.
He gave
us the
righteousness
of Christ.
And the
moment He
did that,
it was
immediate,
it was
complete,
it was
unchanging,
it's
forever.
You've
got as
much of
the
righteousness
of Christ
now as
the
apostle
Paul
did.
Because it's
God who
declares you
the righteous
in His sight
with the
righteousness
of Christ.
So Christian,
here's how I
want to
encourage you
this morning
in terms of
judgment to
come.
The same
righteousness
that makes
you acceptable
to God
now,
Christ's
righteousness.
That is
the same
righteousness
on which
you stand
at the
judgment.
So you
don't need
to fear.
There is
now no
condemnation
for those
who are
in Christ
Jesus.
We don't
fear being
condemned
because Christ
paid for it
and we've
been given
His
righteousness.
The Lord
knows the
way of
the
righteous.
The Lord
knows the
way of
those He's
declared
righteous.
The Lord
knows that
you are a
sinner.
The Lord
knows you
cried out
to Him
for forgiveness.
The Lord
knows what
He's done
for you
in Christ.
The Lord
knows the
way of
the
righteous.
We have
the promise
of eternal
life.
our
Savior
is also
our
judge.
And we
rest in
that.
So we've
looked at
two ways
to live.
Contrast
and companions
whose words
are you
going to
live by?
Contrast
and characters
is your
leaf withering?
Who are you
trusting in?
Are you like
the tree
or like
the chaff?
Contrasting
destinies,
do you fear
judgment or
do you have
a settled
confidence
that your
Savior today
will be
also your
judge on
the last
day?
He knows
the way
of though
He's made
righteous.
Brothers
and sisters
in Christ,
the righteous
thrive because
they're planted
by the
life-giving
streams of
God's
Word.
Where are
you planted?
Let's
pray.
God in
heaven,
we turn
to you,
we look
to you,
you are
our God,
you are
our close
companion,
you've bound
yourself to
us in
Christ.
You have
the words
of eternal
life,
where do
we go?
We plant
ourselves by
your Word
again and
again.
we trust
in you
and God,
we trust
that you'll
cause us
to thrive
even when
you bring
on the
heat.
In Jesus'
name,
amen.