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Psalm 1

"Psalm 1:1 says ‘Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of the sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.’ So Psalm 1:1 means you will be blessed in life if you do not walk in the counsel of the ungodly – it is so easy.It is a bit of a no-brainer.People come into my office all the time, ending up in trouble, at the other end of their destiny and when I start to dig, they have been walking in the counsel of the ungodly.So, that answers itself…Don’t walk in the counsel of the ungodly.

The other thing… schemes, don’t walk in the schemes of the ungodly. Schemes… if something is in secret, run.If someone says to you, ‘I’ve got this deal and it is really good, you only need to invest $2000, it is guaranteed 100%, 100 times you will get your money back in about 2 weeks… if you send 7 letters, to 7 people… then at the end, send it to 7 people but don’t tell anybody else, it’s not illegal, but don’t tell anybody.’Do you know how many thousands of people fall for this all the time, wicked schemes… anything done in secret, run.If someone gives you a word and they say, don’t tell anybody, run.OK.Everything in God is always out in the light.It is always wonderfully out in the light.It is accountable, you are able to talk, its free.Schemes – if it is a secret it is usually a problem.

‘Or stand in the way of sinners’. What it means is standing the same way as sinners.So you are in Church… hallelujah, pray, I love you Lord, you are awesome, you’re awesome.Then you go out of Church… go clubbing, dancing and drinking, making foolish decisions and getting yourself into wrong conversations, standing in the way of sinners.And then you go, ‘O why isn’t my life really moving ahead?’.

Psalm 1:1. Blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed, is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of a mocker.Now when I think of that, I think of the two old men on the Muppets.I can’t help it, I grew up with the Muppets.Alright, it is a critical spirit, it is people that want to tear down to build themselves up.Don’t stand the same way as mockers, it is the weakest form of promotion that there is.The lowest level of promotion is scoffing and mocking.

Going out after Church and going ‘O man, they should have done better than that.’ That is called the opposite of blessing.You are sitting in the same seat as scoffers and mockers… run from it, run, run.You will not be blessed if you sit in the same seat as ungodly men, as scoffers and mockers, and as sinners, you will not be blessed.It is simple, there is no mystery here.

Now let’s get to verse 2 because we will finish on a positive note.

‘But his delight is in the law of the Lord and on His law he meditates day and night’. Here is the key word in verse 2.He meditates.He meditates day and night.Listen to this… it means he dwells on, he ponders, he contemplates, he pictures.I find it very easy to do that to the Word of God, do you?He pictures.He conceives, he starts to think creatively.If you are asking God for great ideas then do Psalm 1 verse 2.He meditates day and night.Also it means to plan.So if you are asking ‘how can God direct my steps?’ meditate on the Word and He arranges your thoughts and then you find your plans are His plans because you have put Him first and as we seek first, and as our first priority, getting back to knowing God, and all the other priorities come into line.

And verse 3 is very simple. ‘He is like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf doesn’t wither and whatever he does prospers.’OK, he yields in season.I think that is one of the key phrases in verse 3.Can I just say this because I know there is a lot of you who have been serving God for a long time, and you are sort of waiting for your season.

There is nothing less palatable than fruit picked before its time. If you pick fruit off a tree that’s not ripe, what does it taste like?Either it tastes bitter or nothing.It has no taste, it has no flavour.And that is the great reminder in Psalm 1 verse 3… to do all those things and run from sin and run from secrecy and run from bad habits and run from bad stance, and run from bad language and run from those things that will align you with everything that does not represent the hand of God on your life.

In season, which means in God’s time, when you are ready, the fruit of your life will be sweet, it will flavour everything it comes into contact with. Even when you are trying to pick fruit off a tree that’s not ripe, it’s hard to get off.You always have to strive and struggle when you are trying to operate out of God’s time.When you are trying to do your thing and your dream out of God’s time, there is no flow on it.But when it is in season, like when you go and pick an orange off a tree and it is in your hand, it almost falls off, it is heavy, its weighty because it is full of juice, you open it and you can smell it before you crack it open.And then you crack it open and it is beautiful and the juice is dripping everywhere and you put it in your mouth and man, that is good.That is what fruit in season is like.And that is when your season is right.There will be an ease, there will be a flavour that does good things.It won’t have a bitterness and a tartness or a tastelessness and often in ministry, people who have gone out before their due season, just leave a trail of bitter, disillusioned people behind them and that is not the will of God.

The first half of Psalm 1 beautifully lays out for us the promises for the righteous and those who ‘exercise themselves’ or POUR OVER, FIND THEMSELVES loving, valuing, treasuring and LIVING BY the divine WORD OF GOD. The last half of verse 3 says our leaves (our physical signs of life!) will not wither! We have trees on our property at the moment that are definitely in a sad state of WITHER. Due to ‘lack of rain and adequate water’, the building going on around them is STRESSING the ROOT SYSTEMS, and as a ‘arboriculturist’ we just had in to look at them stated, ‘the trees are sensing INSTABILITY’.

God’s Word PROMISES that if you stay watered, with your roots firmly PLANTED in Him… no matter what goes on around you… because your INNER MAN is strong… your leaf WILL NOT WITHER! INSTABILITY is not the language of prayer or praise, for our hope and trust is in the unwavering, immovable Word of God! Delight in God and allow Him to delight in You! Always remind yourself, when facing opposition, weariness or just a sense of hopelessness, that the Word encourages you to BE STRONG!! Whatever you do shall prosper. If you are not prospering, look at what you TRULY are planted in… make the changes… and you will prosper. E.g. Planted in doubt? Planted in gossip? Planted in insecurity? Planted in fear, etc, etc.

‘and in His law will he exercise himself day and night…’

The Psalms must be read poetically and emphatically… after all, French must be read as French, and English as English’… C.S. Lewis.

PSALM 1:4

‘Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away…’

The extreme contrasts found between the first 3 verses of the first Psalm and the last 3 verses are a confronting reminder of the realities of living life with’IN’ Christ… or withOUT Christ.

Verse 4… uses CHAFF to describe the hopeless state of the wicked.

Lets talk about CHAFF!!

Chaff… is the ‘rubbish’ that needed to be discarded during harvest time. Harvesting grain (barley and wheat) in ancient Canaan involved these steps..

- cutting grain with hand sickles
- binding the grain into sheaves
- gleaning, gathering left over stalks
- transporting the sheaves by donkey or cart to the threshing floor
- the loosening of grain from the straw – usually done by cattle…
*MAIN POINT
- winnowing… (tossing the grain into the air with winnowing forks, so that the wind which blew in the afternoons, BLEW away the straw and the CHAFF, leaving the grain (INCOME, LIVELIHOOD, FUTURE!!) at the winnowers feet.

Wickedness, is described here as worthless, with no future, of no substance, etc… BUT
If left unattended to… has the ability to COVER the valuable grain within.

The Psalm stresses the need to flee, run away, from any form of wickedness, as it will destroy your future.

CHAFF is carried away by the lightest wind, (any ripple will rock you) if you carry wickedness in your heart.

Notice, that to be rid of Chaff, there is a cleansing process that must take place.

Psalm 24:4 says… ‘Who may ascend the hill of the Lord, who may stand in His holy place? He who has CLEAN HANDS and a PURE HEART!!’

Pureness is a process…

Message Bible… ‘You’re not at all like the wicked, who are mere windblown dust – Without defense in court, unfit company for innocent people.’

* Give an example of how strife, challenge, etc. has allowed the chaff to be removed from your life, and made your heart stronger!!

Psalm 1:5-6

5. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish!

These verses continue to unfold for us the miserable, destructive path of the ungodly. It is very significant that the first Psalm begins by being so descriptive about blessedness… that it is only found by the man whose delight is in the law of God… and yet verses 4-5 again are so descriptive regarding the man who does not find this treasure… and spends his lifetime seeking all blessedness, but will never find ONE!

Verse 5… Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.’

The righteous go a way that God KNOWS and the wicked go a way that God DESTROYS. So, just like North and South travel infinitely in the opposite direction… so is the Bible’s description of righteousness and unrighteousness melding together.

When Mark and I were mainly involved in youth ministry, the question was so often asked… How close to the line can we go? How close to sin can you get without it affecting you?

The thing is, when you truly encounter Christ, everything in your life, even down to your taste buds, are changed. Your questions will eventually change from ‘How close can I get?’ to ‘How far can I flee??’ That is the sovereign work of God in our hearts… and the difference between the desires of the righteous and the unrighteous!

Verse 6… ‘For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish!’

‘For this way of the righteous all men utterly reprobate; thinking also, that God Knoweth nothing about such any way. But this is the wisdom of the cross. Therefore, it is God alone that Knoweth the way of the righteous, so hidden is it to the righteous themselves. For His right hand leads them on in a wonderful manner, seeing that it is a way, not of sense, or of reason, but of FAITH only, even of that Faith that sees in darkness, and beholds things that are invisible.’… Martin Luther

Blessedness – A state of supreme happiness; worthy of worship, holy; held in veneration, revered; bringing happiness, pleasure, or contentment.

Righteous – Morally upright, without guilt or sin; in accordance with virtue or morality; morally justified.

Psalm 1:5-6 in the Message says ‘You’re not at all like the wicked, who are mere windblown dust – Without defense in court, unfit company for innocent people. God charts the road you take. The road they take is Skid Row.

Let Psalm 1 help frame your understanding of what it means to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength!... and be reminded that the way of the wicked… the way of pride, unbelief, profanity, etc, etc… all these shall come to a destructive end.

You WILL flourish as you remain IN him."

-Darlene Zschech