Walking Standing and Sitting in Psalm One — Psalms 1

0:01 Well, morning. It is my privilege and responsibility to bring forth a message on Psalm chapter one. So I thought I'd just start out with reading the chapter to get an overview of what the chapter contains, and then we'll look more in-depth at each verse and how they fit together in Psalm one. So Psalm chapter one begins, blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper.

1:01 The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore, the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners and the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. Let's submit our time to the Lord this morning. Heavenly Father, I thank you for your word and how powerful it is, how much meaning you have in it.

1:35 Pray that as we study it today that we'd be able to learn more about ourselves and about you by your attributes, and how we can know you better through this chapter. In Jesus name, amen. So like I said before, I'm just gonna start off with verse one and work my way through it verse by verse, but make some correlations as I work through it. So it starts off with the word blessed or blessed, depending on your pronunciation. Some translations use the word happy as opposed to blessed, and I think when they use happy instead of blessed, they miss a lot of what it really entitles because as we look through here, it's not about happiness.

2:24 Joy might be a better word, but I really believe that blessed is the best word based on the Hebrew and based on the context of this passage to describe the man. It says, Blessed is the man, and then there's three conditions that he does not do. They're an alliteration, first walking, then standing, then sitting. So blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly. Now, I have a very elaborate PowerPoint here.

3:02 Anyways, I have a piece of paper with the word sin on it, and the idea behind the word walks in this passage here is the idea of following or visiting. So blessed is the man who walks or follows not in the counsel of the ungodly. So this would be someone that is not blessed, all right? So I'm walking by, I'm following, I'm noticing the sin over here. All right?

3:30 I'm walking by it. I know where it is and I continue to to walk by it. Okay? So blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly. And also on the second half of these three statements, they get progressively more severe.

3:48 So when it refers to the counsel of the ungodly, that is a wicked person, a sinner, or a type of a criminal, all right? So the second thing is that a blessed man does not do, says nor stands. Now the idea behind stands is a submissive and inactive, all right? So blessed is the man who does not stand in the path of sinners, all right? So we have I'm going to be the unblessed person here.

4:17 I'm standing. It's inactive and submissive. Blessed is a man who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the path of sinners. All right, so this is I'm getting even greater of a sin. I'm standing inactive.

4:32 And the idea behind the path of sinners is one who is wicked, but he's been accounted guilty already. He's an offender and a sinful person. Now the last thing that a blessed man or a man who doesn't do these things is blessed, third thing is nor sits in the seat of the scornful. So it's my elaborate props again. He doesn't sit in the seat of the scornful.

5:06 Again, the idea here is a passivity, a relaxation, and a complete normalness to this sin here. Now, the last idea of the scornful I'll get into a little bit later. Yeah, later. But there's a definite idea, like, to pull out of the scornful. Literally a scorner, but it is in the capacity of, based on the Hebrew, which I don't know very well, of a spokesperson or teacher.

5:38 So this scorner is someone who quite possibly started as a sinner, he was condemned, and now he scorns in a public way anything to do with the righteous or God's word. So blessed is the man who neither walks nor stands nor sits in the ungodly, the path of sinners, nor the seat of the scornful. Second Timothy two twenty two says, Flee also youthful lusts, but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. So that's God's command to us in this aspect. So blessed is the man who does not do these things, but we're going to see a conjunction here, the word but.

7:05 And this is something that we meditate on day and night, something that should permeate all our consciousness. And it's a definite pleasure to be in the law of the Lord. As I was preparing this week, or last week for this message, just the increased time in God's word was an extreme blessing to me, being forced to look at a passage in-depth. So blessed is a man who doesn't do these things, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. So we are given God's law to meditate on, and if we do, we are blessed.

7:53 In John chapter 17, if you'd like to turn there, John chapter 17, Jesus is praying to the Father for His disciples. John seventeen fourteen says this, I have given them your word, and world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one. So Jesus is praying to the Father. He's saying that the disciples who He's praying for, they have His word, the Word of God, and it's keeping them out of evil, and the world hates them for it.

8:51 I have an acquaintance who I've got to spend a reasonable amount of time with in the past months, and he is the ungodly. He's not saved. And he finds great joy in seeing Christians stumble. And that is what I was referring to earlier, nor sits in the seat of the scorner. My acquaintance delights when sinners make mistakes.

9:24 But we see from John 17 that God gives us the ability to counteract the scorn of the unsaved. And I'd also like to look at Deuteronomy chapter six, verses five to seven. Deuteronomy six, verses five to seven. Now there are those out there, the scorners, who would like to tear down our blessedness, or at least attempt to. But there's a way that we can counteract that in addition to our own dwelling in God's word.

10:10 In Deuteronomy chapter six and verses five through seven it says, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and you shall talk to them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. So here again we have the three aspects of walking and standing and sitting, that these are things that we should be teaching our children. Now I don't have children, obviously, but we can counteract.

10:55 We can give our children the benefit of teaching them God's word all the time, day and night, to counteract the devil and those who are scorners and terrorists of down, tear down Christians. Alright, so blessed is a man who doesn't do these things, but he does do these things. And then God makes a promise or a description, more of a description, I think, of what he shall be. In Psalm one:three, he says, He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper. All right?

12:11 Spurgeon talked about this contrast between planted and self sown in his message on 10/23/1859 called The Chaff Driven Away. He says, You all know the difference between a tree that is planted and a tree that is self sown. The tree that is planted in the garden is visited by a husbandman. He digs about it, he trims it, he prunes and looks for its fruit. It is an object of property and special care.

12:45 A wild tree of the forest, the tree that is self sown upon the plain, no one owns, no one watches over it, No heart will sigh if a lightning flash should shiver it. No tear will be wept if the blast should light upon it and all its leaves should wither. So we see from this passage the contrast between a tree planted and a tree that is self sown. It says in Psalm one verse three, This blessed man should be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, an object of great care by the Creator of the universe. Planted by the rivers of water, I think this is a picture of God's word, of how we can have continual nourishment from God's word, God's law.

13:37 Jeremiah seventeen:five, I'll just read it real quick, says, this is again a contrast between where a tree is planted. Jeremiah seventeen:five says, Thus says the Lord, Cursed is a man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord, for he shall be like a shrub in the desert and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched land of the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose hope is in the Lord, for he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads forth its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes, but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor cease from yielding fruit. In Jeremiah 17, we see a stark contrast between a man who trusts in man and a man who trusts in the Lord. The man who trusts in man or himself is like a shrub in the desert, in a parched place, in a place where there's lots of salt, which as we know doesn't increase fruit or it makes things die usually.

15:05 As opposed to a man, again, by the rivers of water whose leaf will be green and it will not cease to yield fruit. So moving on through verse three, we see that the blessed man brings forth fruit in its season. I haven't had the opportunity to take care of very many trees in my life, we had a few that didn't do so well. But a tree that has the right amount of water, any type of plant that has the right amount of water will excel, whereas a tree without it does not do very well. And fruit, it says, A blessed man will bring forth fruit in its season.

15:58 In Matthew chapter seven verse 18 it says, A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by your fruits you will know them. So already we're seeing a little bit of contrast between good fruit and bad fruit, and we know that according to Psalm one, a blessed man, one who rejects evil and who delights in the law of the Lord, will bear fruit in its season. Next, his leaf shall not wither.

16:36 Again, the idea of continued sustenance. D. L. Moody says, All the Lord's trees are evergreen. I can see how many trees that are deciduous tend to lose their leaves, but Christmas trees, pine trees, you know, evergreens, they keep their greenness.

17:22 The idea that if you are saved, that you can expect, the prosperity gospel says that you can expect, you know, riches and wealth and all this thing. And I think we sometimes go to possibly too far of an extreme. I do believe that the prosperity here is spiritual prosperity primarily, but Well, let me look at Romans chapter eight as an example. Romans chapter eight and verse 31, it says... Let me turn there.

17:56 Romans chapter eight and verse 31. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Skip down to verse 38. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things that come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

18:36 That sounds like prosperity to me. If you want to take this in a physical sense, without a doubt, biblical principles applied to commercial or business life are the best principles, and people who apply them do tend to prosper in the physical sense. So at the end of Romans chapter eight, it says, Nothing is able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. I have here Proverbs chapter three and verse 12, which is... I'd like to take the flip side of it.

19:15 It says... Proverbs three twelve says, For whom the Lord loves, He corrects, just as the Father, the Son, in whom it alights. I know that fathers who love their sons will correct them. It's unloving to let someone that you love continue down a path that is the wrong path. And so we see that the Lord loves His own.

19:42 He loves everyone, I guess, for sure. And He corrects His children. Now, I like to draw the distinction because this has been an area of confusion in my life. When the Lord corrects you, it might be a trial, but it's not a temptation. The Lord does not tempt us, but He may put trials in our life to guide us in our walk with Him.

20:07 So we see that nothing can separate us from the love of God, but there are trials that He puts in our lives to help us to grow to be more like Him. So we've come to verse four, which is a very large contrast to the first portion of Romans... I have Romans in my mind. Of Psalm chapter one, we see the blessed man, and the last phrase of verse three is, And whatever he does shall prosper. The beginning of verse four says, The ungodly are not so.

21:09 In verse four we have, The ungodly are like the chaff which the wind drives away. I did some look into what chaff was. I had an idea. But chaff is hard to discern from the grain that it came from. They, you know, the chaff is kind of the covering on it.

21:33 When you gather it, they're together, right? And you must separate the chaff from the grain. Now the grain is heavier. It has sustenance to it. It's got sap in it.

21:47 Whereas the chaff is very dry. There's nothing to it. And historically, it has had no value to the farmer. So it says, The wind drives away the chaff. In Matthew chapter three, verse 11, for sake of time, I'll just read it, says, I indeed baptize you unto repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.

22:18 He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire, his winnowing fan in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse or clear out his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his barn. But he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Now, this is not a feel good passage if you are one today who is not a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, because the unsaved are chaff. The ungodly are chaff, and the wind drives them away. And as we continue on in Psalm chapter one, it doesn't really get better for the ungodly.

23:05 But it's important to realize as we go through here that the ungodly are ungodly through their own choice. They have the choice. They can turn to the Lord Jesus Christ as savior, or they can continue on in their ungodliness. It's the ability that God gave them, that choice for free will, and His Holy Spirit is certainly working in the lives to draw the ungodly to Him. So just to summarize, the ungodly are like chaff.

24:33 Continuing on at verse five, says, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. I'm not exactly sure this is the meaning behind this, but based on its context between verses five and six, it seems like sinners, it seems like the congregation of the righteous is referring to those saved in heaven for eternity, and sinners will not be there. It's their choice now not to be following Jesus Christ. The unsaved, the ungodly tend not to find great joy or satisfaction with hanging out with believers because we have a completely different set of goals in mind. So it says, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

25:26 For, referring back to the righteous, the Lord knows the way of the righteous. It's very comforting to me to know that the Lord knows my way, He knows the things I go through. There's definitely a literal and a metaphorical aspect to verse six. He knows our, you know, practically, he knows the path that we take. He knows the way, and He's there to give us sustenance because He is the tree of life, and He is the rivers of...

26:04 His Word is the rivers of water. And so it says, For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. There's one last reminder at the end of chapter one of Psalms that the way of the ungodly shall perish. And it might seem to be loving to say, Well, the ungodly, you know, at the end can change their mind or something, but that's not the truth, and so that's not loving. Because if you are here today or wherever you are and you are not saved, then you shall perish.

26:42 It's the truth of God's word. So today we've seen from Psalm chapter one that, Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper. Not so the ungodly, not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.

27:28 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. So I praise the Lord that He's given us His Word, that we can see the contrast that He is there to save all who will call upon His name. And He gives help to those who are His. And He blesses them, those who study His word, who reject sin.

28:04 So that's the gist of what I had to say.