Speaker 1: 0:06

Good morning. I'm Pastor Corey Colravey and welcome to Westtown Church. If you're a guest with us this morning, I wish you a special welcome, glad you're here. I don't know if you come into God's house this morning joyful. If you do, I hope you gave him praise. If you came in here sorrowful, you're in the right place. You're in the right place. God is going to speak a word to you. He's going to help you today and that's why we are here. He created you in love, in your mama's womb, and he's going to speak to you from this book and I trust he will fill you with hope and encouragement and strength. I'm looking straight ahead here and I see my wife, my mom and my mother-in-law, so I better be on my toes today. But I'm glad that we can finally be here and I guess this is week two, but in some ways it feels like week one of normalcy. So it's a joy for us to be here. I'm going to read the text in a minute and pray in just a moment, but I do want to introduce our text this morning in this way.

Speaker 1: 1:20

Dawn and I used to live out in Colorado and we loved to go up into the Rocky Mountains. It's a beautiful, majestic place. But what's interesting for our purposes today is out there in the West there's this thing called the Continental Divide and on the Continental Divide there's this watershed. And so if rain comes down and it hits a quarter of an inch on the one side of the watershed, it ends up in the Gulf of Mexico eventually, and if it hits on the other side of that watershed, it ends up way out in the Pacific Ocean. Some of you may know who Francis Schaeffer is. He was a Christian apologist in the 60s, 70s and 80s and he used to live in Switzerland for a time and he would look upon the Swiss Alps and he said it always would amaze him when he'd look upon the snow-capped mountains out there how it just seemed like one big unity across those mountains. But as the snow began to melt, he was aware that some of that snow, if it was on the one side of the divide, it would end up in the cold and frigid North Sea, and if it was on the other side, it would end up out in the warm waters of the Mediterranean.

Speaker 1: 2:31

Well, I talk about this watershed because today, in Psalm 1, right out of the blocks, god is going to talk to us about a spiritual watershed and we're going to see that. We're going to see that there are two destinies of mankind and that there are two ways in this life. There's a sense in which things seem so ordinary. When we look out upon our community, upon the world, we might say, well, there's in some sense everything kind of looks ordinary and everybody does the same things. I mean, we go to the same grocery stores, we drive the same streets, our kids go out into these same schools in our community, we work in the same places, walk on the same beaches, many of the same dailies, pressures and so on and so forth that people experience. But the Bible reminds us and it begins right here in Psalm 1, is one of those places that there's a continental divide in humanity. There's a continental divide, there's a spiritual watershed that divides the destinies of mankind.

Speaker 1: 3:43

Psalm 1 tells us what that watershed is. It's where the affections of our heart lie. Do they lie with and in the Word of God? Do we order our lives with the Word of God, trust God, live a life striving to obey Him by faith? Or is the attitude that we have toward the word of God dismissive? Do we reject it? Does it sit lightly upon us, is it of little consequence? What is your attitude toward the word of God this morning?

Speaker 1: 4:20

Psalm 1 is going to get us to ask the question of ourselves in God's presence this morning. Will we eternally end up, say so to speak, in the Gulf of Mexico or in the Pacific Ocean, in the frigid and cold North Sea or the warm Mediterranean? Will we be with God and His people in heaven for all eternity, or will we be in that place Jesus spoke about rather frequently actually, that place called hell, about rather frequently actually, that place called hell and eternal misery? There's a sobering aspect of Psalm 1. It's an encouraging psalm but it's also sobering. And if you don't know the Psalms well, there's 150 in the Psalter. There's more other psalms outside the Psalter in the Bible, but there's 150 in the Psalter Psalms outside the Psalter in the Bible, but there's 150 in the Psalter. And the first two Psalms are really the introductory pillars to the entire Psalter. And so as we come to Psalms 1 and 2, what we're going to see is the themes we see in these two Psalms are going to be a heartbeat that goes throughout the entire rest of the Psalter. These two give light to the whole. So they're very important Psalms.

Speaker 1: 5:26

So I'm going to make three points about Psalm 1 this morning, but before I do, for 20 plus years it's been my custom to ask people to invite them to stand to hear God's word, and so I'd like to do that this morning as I read Psalm 1. If you have your Bible, I'd like to invite you to open your Bibles to Psalm 1 and stand as I read it, and then I'll pray in just a moment. I do want to remind you this is no ordinary book. It's ordinary in some ways and it's like no other book in other ways. It's the Word of God. It's infallible and inerrant and it's holy, and God sends it to you this morning with love. So receive it by faith and expecting him to use it in your life.

Speaker 1: 6:06

Psalm 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, 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 its season and 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 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. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of the Lord endures forever.

Speaker 1: 6:57

God's people said Amen, you may be seated. Thank you, lord Jesus, we come to your word. You will speak to us through this word this morning, and in this word You've told us that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. So feed your sheep this morning, lord. Feed us full. Help us taste and see that the Lord is good, amen.

Speaker 1: 7:23

I'm going to look at this psalm in three parts. There's six verses to this psalm and if you look at it you can see that there's three couplets of two verses apiece. The first thing I want you to notice is in verse one and two. You'll see here the spiritual watershed. The spiritual watershed. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of the 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. Blessed is the man.

Speaker 1: 7:59

The Psalms start with a beatitude. We have a beatitude here at the beginning of Psalm 1 and a beatitude at the end of Psalm 2. Blessed is the man. Happy is the man. A beatitude at the end of Psalm 2. Blessed is the man. Happy is the man. Happy is the man. This is not the fleeting happiness of the world. This is the kind of happiness that someone has who is spiritually flourishing under the favor of God. It's the blessed life. I know of nobody in their hearts who wants to be unhappy. I remember a quote from Pascal, who he talked about in so many words, that everything a human being does is in one sense or another aimed at their happiness. I trust the reason you came here this morning is that you thought somehow, some way, either now or eventually, you being here this morning would somehow make you happier, and that's why you came. Well, the truly happy man is the eternally fulfilled man and it's a person, a man or woman, who spiritually flourishes under the favor of God.

Speaker 1: 9:00

But you'll notice here, in the first two verses right off the bat, there's something that you must not do to be in that condition. You must not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers. Let's unpack that. It matters to God who our intimate friends are. It matters to Him what fills our head. Look at verse 1 again. The blessed man walks not in the counsel of the wicked.

Speaker 1: 9:28

The psalmist is saying we cannot walk or live in the way of the counsel of the wicked of the world and have this kind of happiness that they're experiencing in heaven right now, the kind of happiness that God gives, that satisfies our hungry hearts. Think about the TV and the internet and what comes through all the various medias today. Think about how much wicked counsel comes through those sources. Now, those are great blessings. Technology is a wonderful blessing. It's a wonderful blessing and it can be used for much good. But we also must acknowledge that at the same time, the devil is happy to use it as well, and so constantly we're being taught how to dress immodestly. We're being taught this crude flow of language. We're being taught to not only tolerate but promote immoral lifestyles.

Speaker 1: 10:25

There's scoffing and mocking of anything that's holy and righteous and good. I can remember back I don't know if it was 10 years ago or so there was a movie that was promoted and there was a man in his 40s and he'd never been married and so he'd never had sexual relations with anyone. And what did they put right on the front in the promotion of that movie? A picture of this man. His hair combed a certain way and they presented him as a dork. He was a dork. You see, was Jesus a dork? You see how the world tries to train us. That's just one example of 10 million I could give you. But day by day, the music. There's some wonderful music out there today, thank God, and we can enjoy that. But we do need to think about what kind of music do we listen to? Is it the kind of music that honors God? Does it puff us up with pride? Is the things that we're listening to, is it promoting a desensitization to the things that are worldly all around us?

Speaker 1: 11:35

The psalmist is saying you can't be happy and blessed and fill your mind with the sewage of the world. The Lord doesn't call us out of the world, we're to be in the world. He says, in fact, but not of the world. That's the difference. He's not calling us to throw out all of our electronic devices, although it might be good if we shut them off on occasion, right, give ourself a rest and enjoy those around us more. But the Bible clearly tells us be careful what you let into your heart and mind. Be careful. You have to have a certain control and think about what's going into the hearts and minds of your children.

Speaker 1: 12:18

David Wells he defines worldliness that which makes sin look normal and holiness looks strange. It's interesting, isn't it? Worldliness makes sin look normal and holiness looks strange. That's another way of saying that worldliness is that which makes sin look normal and Jesus look weird because he's holy. Okay, he's all loving to God and others. But that's our culture today, isn't it? It's not easy to be a Christian in our culture. Increasingly you young people, you'll get mocked by your friends at times. You can get rejected, looked over for promotions in your companies, things of that nature. But are you controlling the counsel that daily comes into your head? Do you have standards and expectations for your family home? You can't control the world, but you can think about what's coming into my home. What's coming into the minds of my children and youth? Are we just accepting their counsel?

Speaker 1: 13:36

Calvin Beisner says that the difference between the godly and the wicked is the godly live with a conscientious awareness of God. Wherever you go, you're mindful that God is there with you, he's right there, he's in all places, at all times. But the wicked don't live with this conscientious awareness of God. And the fact of the matter is we need to work at maintaining a conscientious awareness of God. We weren't meant to live the Christian life on our own. We don't do well when we do that. That's why we need Sunday worship. Corporate worship is the single most important thing you can do in your life to walk in this blessed way, to be in the word of God, to have a conscientious awareness of God.

Speaker 1: 14:24

And then, of course, there's other opportunities, not only in your family life. You can have devotions with your family, talk about spiritual things, even when you're not in the Bible. You can get in life groups, your family life. You can have devotions with your family, talk about spiritual things, even when you're not in the Bible. You can get in life groups or life on life or Sunday school and other opportunities, bible studies. Whatever the case, we weren't designed by God to spiritually flourish by ourselves. In fact, the devil wants to get you off by yourself. He wants to get you off by yourself so that he can pummel you like a boxer in the corner, and that he will do. We need good counsel from other godly people and from God's word and its wisdom. We need God. He created us to be part of a team, first in our families and then in the church, and even as Christians, even very godly Christians, people that have been Christians a long time.

Speaker 1: 15:17

The truth of the matter is, do we not all still have deeply ingrained sin habits that beset us? And, if we're honest, there's times our heart can just grow cold towards the things of the word of God or dull to the glories of the kingdom of God. And then you add to that the devil comes in and does his thing, and then we're surrounded by a culture increasingly that gives us wicked counsel, promotes sinful ways. When was the last time you heard the word wicked? That almost sounds bizarre today, doesn't it Wicked? I remember back in the 70s a psychiatrist wasn't even a Christian.

Speaker 1: 15:58

Carl Miniger wrote a book. Whatever Happened to Sin. Isn't it interesting? A non-Christian, even as a psychiatrist, he could see the value of people having a concept in society of sin. You see, sin puts us immediately in relationship with God, in a way that saying we're imperfect does not, and wicked. We're dealing with judgment. There aren't we. We're dealing with judgment, the judgment of God. And so the fact is we live in this situation. We're spiritually vulnerable, all of us. And so the fact is we live in this situation. We're spiritually vulnerable, all of us. And so, if we're going to be granted true and lasting happiness by God, there's a consequence to the way that we live our life. We're not to think like the world that's the counsel of the wicked. We're not to behave like the world that's standing in the way of sinners. We're not to belong comfortably in the world. We're to be in it, but not of it. A Christian should always feel a bit uncomfortable. There's a sense in which this is our Father's world and there's a sense in which this is not our home.

Speaker 1: 17:03

It's interesting that the apostle Peter calls Christians in the New Testament exiles, exiles. Paul says this in Philippians 4, finally, brothers, whatever's true, whatever's honorable, whatever's just, whatever's pure, whatever's lovely, whatever's commendable, if there's any excellence, if there's anything worthy of praise. What? Think about these things, practice these things and what? And the God of peace will be with you.

Speaker 1: 17:43

Does the media bring rest to your souls? I ask you this morning is talk radio bringing rest to your soul? Is it helping you be a better lover of God and other people? I don't know about you. The media wears me out. If it wears you out, give me an amen. I know I can't be the only one in here. It wears out. Be careful what you consume. Even if you agree with them, be careful. Talk radio folks Listen. I know, because I know, believe me, I've listened to plenty of it. But it will treat you and it will train you to be the number one finger pointer, even if you're correct. The problem isn't just out there. We're all part of the problem. We all need God, we all need His grace, we all need His help.

Speaker 1: 18:40

Verse 2, the blessed man. His delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night. Right there is the watershed of mankind, the spiritual watershed. The law of the Lord here is not speaking narrowly in terms of the commandments. Spiritual watershed the law of the Lord here is not speaking narrowly in terms of the commandments of God, the law of the Lord. Here is talking about the whole scriptures, all of it. The law of the Lord, his delight, the blessed man, that one who's spiritually flourishing with the favor of God upon him. What's the secret? He delights in the law of the Lord and on his law, on the word of God, he meditates. He doesn't just race through it, he meditates, he chews on it like a cow chews his cud day and night. He lets it marinate in his soul or her soul. That's the watershed.

Speaker 1: 19:36

Those who delight in the word of God ultimately end up in glory. Those who do not and reject it or ignore it or indifferent to it, end up in eternal misery. Those who are blessed love God's word. It's your food, it's your drink. It gives you strength and power to live out the will of God and to trust God in his promises, to heed his warnings, to obey his commandments. What's the word? It's a strong word, it's a wonderful word. You who are being saved, delight in the word. It's a strong word, it's a wonderful word. You who are being saved, delight in the word of God. You may not read it as much as you should, but you still delight in it, and when you hear it it delights your soul. It governs your thinking and your living. It informs how you dress and speak and what you watch or listen to. It's how you raise your children, spend your money. Yes, it informs you on how God sees human sexuality.

Speaker 1: 20:42

The Bible teaches us here the marked differences between the godly and the wicked. The godly and the wicked. You hear that refrain again and again and again throughout the Psalms. The godly and the wicked, not the Republicans and the Democrats. The godly and the wicked. You see, that's the watershed, the affections of your heart. What are they? Toward the word of God. And you see, why is the word of God a delight to those who are blessed to have the favor of God upon them and they're spiritually flourishing? Because it's through this word that God reveals to us who he is. And one of the things he is is he's holy. But aren't you glad? He's a lover of sinners. And that means that when we come to this word of God, we get to see who Jesus is. As we sang earlier, we get to understand our Father's heart.

Speaker 1: 21:38

You, men, teach your children the word of God. Sometimes you'll do it wonderfully, sometimes you'll get off track, but talk to them about the word of God. The buck stops with you. Meditate day and night that's strong words, isn't it? This blessed man meditates day and night.

Speaker 1: 22:03

You might think in your heart this morning, pastor, if you knew how cold my heart was, how sluggish I am to spiritual things right now. I barely got to worship today after my third cup of coffee. I mean, I had to drag myself in here. I'm just not in the best places. What do I do? Well, the good news is God understands that.

Speaker 1: 22:24

Here's how Jesus put it Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you'll find Knock and it will be given to you. Seek and you'll find Knock, and it will be open to you. If you can give good gifts to your children who are evil, how much more your heavenly father, jesus, says God loves to give good gifts, and one of those is to put delight in your soul. Why is this delight so important? Because you'll never be fully satisfied in your soul. Why is this delight so important? Because you'll never be fully satisfied in your life until you delight in God. That's the only thing that can fill that hole in your heart is God, because he created us for himself. And as St Augustine said, lord, you have created us for yourself and we'll never be at rest until we rest in thee. Lord, you have created us for yourself and we'll never be at rest until we rest in thee. So pray till you pray, as the Puritans would say, pray until your heart warms to the things of God.

Speaker 1: 23:22

Pray and meditate One of the biggest things I can tell you about the scriptures and prayer. If you're struggling with prayer, pray through the scriptures. Listen to the scripture first. Let God speak to you and then you talk back to him. What does God say about himself here? What does he say about me and other people? What does he want me to trust? What does he want me to reject? What does he want me to turn away from? What kind of attitude can I have? You see all these things and you got to slow down and let it marinate in your soul. That's what meditate means Meditate until you delight, but begin with that commitment to the word of God.

Speaker 1: 24:03

We're called in this first Psalm to reject the thinking and behavior and lifestyles of a rebellious world and to fill our hearts and minds with the truth and grace of God's word, day and night. That's the spiritual watershed. But I want you to notice something else. In verses three and four there's a secret to the fruitful life. The fruitful life. Look at what it says about this blessed man. He's like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season and 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.

Speaker 1: 24:46

Wow, the apostle Peter. I love Peter. Aren't you glad God recorded Peter stumbles in the scripture for us. The greatest saints of church history didn't get it all right. And when we stumble and fall on our face, aren't you glad God's not done with this yet right, he's got more for us. But Peter says listen, it's possible to know God, it's possible to be saved by Christ and know God and yet really be largely ineffective and unfruitful. He says that in 2 Peter 1.8. It's possible for us, as Christians, to be ineffective and unfruitful, not near as fruitful as we could be why?

Speaker 1: 25:29

Well, let's think about this. Why do some of your trees and plants grow and others don't grow so well? And part of the reason for that is where are they planted? What soil are they in? Have you ever noticed that one spot in your yard is St Augustine grass. What is it? Maybe it's the soil that's right below it? It just grows everywhere else, but not in that one spot. It just keeps dying. A lot of times it's the soil. It's not right, it's the place they're planted. A fruitful tree has to be in good soil. It's got to get its sunshine and water, the right amount of shade perhaps.

Speaker 1: 26:06

And this psalm is trying to say, where am I planted? It's trying to ask God's saying to you this morning in his presence where are you planted? Where do your roots draw spiritual nourishment from? Is it from the world or is it from this book that gives life? That's what he's asking. The blessed man, the truly happy man, is the man God takes by his grace. How he takes us by his grace, how he takes us by his grace, he looks upon us in pity and compassion. By his grace, through the Holy Spirit, he takes us and he sovereignly plants us by streams of water. That's what he does, in fact. A tree doesn't plant itself. A tree is planted. A tree is planted, it's planted. In fact, god's saving grace is at work. He replants sinners by streams of living water. This word can actually mean replant as well. Aren't you glad God takes sinners and he replants us out of the world, the sewage of the world, and he plants us by streams of living water so that we can flourish.

Speaker 1: 27:13

God gives this book not to beat it over our heads. He wants us to live the abundant life so that when we get to the end of our days we can say, with Paul, I fought the good fight. Yes, there were times I did the very things I hate Romans 7, but I fought the good life. I've kept the faith. I lived for God and not for myself. And so this Holy Spirit takes our hearts, he transforms us and he begins to change the affections of our hearts, gives us godly desires. Now we delight in the ways of God and the Lord, jesus Christ, who's revealed in this book.

Speaker 1: 27:54

Who is it that speaks to us in this book, in the Old Testament as well as the New? It's Jesus himself. It's Christ. That's who's speaking to us in this book. The same God who said let there be light and there was light, he speaks in this book. The same God who said let there be light and there was light, he speaks in this book. The one who showed up at Mary and Martha's place after their brother Lazarus had died, and said Lazarus, after he'd been dead for four days, come forth from that tomb. He's the one that speaks in this book to us, the one who told the demons and the garrison demoniac the garrison demoniac, garrison demoniac, get out of him, go. And they left. He's the one who speaks to us in this book.

Speaker 1: 28:40

This book is powerful. This is the most powerful thing on earth. It's not nuclear weapons, it's the word of God. God created all things of nothing. By his word, he raises the dead by his word, and he takes our hard and stony hearts and he makes our hearts delight in the good things. Think of all the things people are delighting on in their souls in heaven right now. That's what this book does for us. Even on earth, we begin to delight and desire the right things. And so are you a tree planted by streams of water? Well, if you're not, you can do something about that. You can cry out to God. God, help me. I want you, by your grace, today to come into my heart and plant me by this book and help me grow to love this book. I want this book to be my very life, because in this book is how you show me who you are. You show me your promises, you show me your commandments and your wisdom. You show me how to obey you. You show me how to live a life pleasing to you, as imperfect as it is. And in this book you show me how I can be right with God and be at peace with you, how I can live in peace and die in peace. That's the most valuable thing in the world is to know that you're loved by God, your creator, with an everlasting love, with an everlasting love.

Speaker 1: 30:14

Notice verse three the blessed man's spiritual leaf does not wither. It says in all that he does, he prospers. That's quite a statement. In all that he does, he prospers. Do we have a fruit bearing and spiritually prosperous life? Think about it. What about our marriage, our singlehood? Whatever the case, is it prospering? Are our labors at work prospering At home? Are we spiritually prospering? What about at work and in our relationships in our neighborhood at school work and in our relationships in our neighborhood at school? Are we living a life of good works? To the glory of God, we're not saved by good works, but Ephesians 2 says we're created in Christ Jesus for good works. And you know, in all that he does, he prospers. It says you can be poor and spiritually prosper. In God's eyes, you can be poor as dirt. In fact, throughout history there were so many poor Christians that the phrase the poor in scriptures is basically very often a synonym for a believer in the Old Testament as well as the New.

Speaker 1: 31:31

This is a spiritual prosperity. A spiritual prosperity. Why does this book help us spiritually prosper? Because God and His Spirit, they have promised to meet us here when we come here. If you knew you could meet Jesus at Starbucks this afternoon, would you go there? You knew you could meet Jesus at Starbucks this afternoon, would you go there? You wouldn't even care about the latte, right, where can you meet Jesus? Right here. This is it. He speaks to you through his word. This is his word. His spirit takes it and takes it into our souls. Paul calls the Bible the sword of the spirit. It's very powerful.

Speaker 1: 32:21

Somebody might think well, you know, pastor, that's all very well and good, but you know, I was in the Bible all week. I had a horrible week. Well, maybe you did. All Christians have horrible weeks, some have horrible months, some have horrible years. But that's like a farmer saying I spent all month working in my fields. I don't have a crop yet.

Speaker 1: 32:50

We don't give the Bible a week. You and I don't try God. We don't give the Bible a week. You and I don't try God, we don't try the Bible. What we do is we commit ourselves to God, we commit ourselves to Him. And then what do we do? We come to His Word, we listen. He teaches us to be a good listener to Him through His Word and then we wait on the Lord of the harvest. We wait on the Lord of harvest and will God be faithful to his promises? He absolutely will be faithful. He will reap a spiritual harvest in our life If we will wait upon him. We commit to God and his word.

Speaker 1: 33:28

Notice the little phrase at the anniversary in its season. You see, that's the key In God's time. He will reap spiritually in our life what he has planned for us when we come to his word. Palmer Robertson says this is the difference with the wicked and the righteous. The wicked want instant gratification, so when a drought comes they dry up, they perish all their fruit withers. But in contrast, the godly person honors the law of the Lord by waiting patiently for a fruit far more lasting In its season is his motto. His life will bear fruit in its season. His life will bear fruit in its season. Be in God's word, wait on him, you shall see he will prove himself faithful. And then verse four the wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Wow, that's a very powerful way to put it. The wicked are like chaff.

Speaker 1: 34:32

Two kinds of prosperity One that's fleeting, and not all prosperity in this world is bad. There are many things in this world that are very good, but they're temporary. There's a fleeting kind of prosperity, and then there's one that is not fleeting but everlasting. Imagine two homes. One home it's this large, beautiful home on the water. It's got every amenity, as I said in the first service. It's got a man cave, men, it's got a man cave to dive for. You got your grill that you want. Just a beautiful house, beautiful everything. Then there's this other home small, kind of a so-so neighborhood. It's okay. Everything looks a little bit tired. It's very simple in appearance and in its furnitures. It's an older thing. But if money wasn't an issue, which one would you rather have? If money wasn't an issue? But now what if I told you the small, simple home. It was in great shape in the guts of. It didn't have any major problems. But the large home it had termites. It had termites in its walls. The foundation was completely faulty. The cracks were getting bigger by the day. It was certain to collapse at a particular date future. It looked good for a season but when it came during the testing of time it failed under the pressure. Now, which home would you like to have?

Speaker 1: 36:15

And you see the Bible saying the life of the wicked is often like the latter one. It's easy for God's people to sometimes look at other people and think well, they live without the Lord. They seem to be doing just fine, they're doing great, are they? God's word is saying no, no, no, you don't understand. It may look great on the outside and they have many blessings from God, but there's termites in those spiritual walls and that foundation is cracked and it's all gonna come crumbling down on a day certain.

Speaker 1: 36:57

I've always been struck that the person who talked more about hell and judgment than anyone else in the scripture was Jesus, the most compassionate, most loving person in all the world. The most compassionate, most loving person in all the world. The wicked are like chaff. It says here, verse that the wind drives away, ja Alexander says they're not even described to be a certain kind of pitiful tree or shrub, or even a weed. Right, even weeds are alive. Chaff, a dead, worthless, empty thing, good for nothing. Now that's, in God's sight, a weightless substance. Wow, remember how weak it used to be. They'd take those pitchforks, whatever, and they'd throw the weed up in the air and the grain would fall back to the ground and the wind would take the chaff and blow it away.

Speaker 1: 37:56

And that's the vision the psalmist gives us here of the judgment of God upon those who remain in the world's way of thinking. So you have this spiritual watershed, you have this fruitful life, and then he ends with the final judgment in verses five and six. Look at what it says in verse five. Therefore, that tells us there's a conclusion drawn here. Therefore, is that word that links it with everything that came before the first four verses as a whole? Because of the spiritual watershed and because this difference between the fruitfulness of the godly and the wicked. 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, derek Kidner says in the final judgment, unbelievers, no matter how, and the wicked, no matter how impressive they looked in this world, will, under the judgment of God, prove after all to be men and women of straw, like chaff, they will not stand, they will perish.

Speaker 1: 39:10

The psalmist says and here we see that true blessedness, true happiness, depends upon a couple of things. One, calvin, says it depends upon having a good conscience before God. Because you see, when we think about the final judgment, will we be able to face that final judgment with a good conscience before God, a clear conscience before God and a clear conscience before God. And so what does that mean for us? How do we deal with our conscience when we know that we have sinned and we know the final judgment's coming? Well, the way to deal with our guilty conscience before God is to know that Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the true Son of God, he came and paid the sin debt for us so that we could know that we will not be condemned when we stand at the judgment.

Speaker 1: 39:57

Aren't you glad for that? Christ took upon himself our judgment. The wages of sin is death, and he took that death upon himself. But more than taking our death, taking away our sins past, present and future sins. He also lived the perfect life in our place. He didn't just die in our place, he lived the perfect life in our place. And what does that mean practically? It means that when we trust Christ, not only have all of our sins dealt with, but his perfection, his perfect righteousness is credited next to our name on the record books of heaven. And that's why we can live our life in peace and we can die in peace and we can face the final day with joy rather than terror. That's why the Bible calls it good news.

Speaker 1: 40:45

And then second, notice too in verses five and six true blessedness or true happiness. It depends not only upon a good conscience before God. But notice too the godly person knows that there's this perfect knowledge and loving care of God himself that is over him or her. The Lord knows the way of the righteous. That's the comfort we have. What does that mean? This is not a bare knowledge. Of course God knows all things. Of course there's a sense in which he intellectually knows everything about us. But that's not the way the Bible is using the word knowledge here. Adam knew his wife and they had a son. It's an intimate, relational knowledge. It's the knowledge of loving care and intimate relation.

Speaker 1: 41:35

David in Psalm 139 speaks that God had searched him and what Known him. It's almost a synonym for love, loving care. It's knowledge in such a way that you take care and love that which is known. It's the kind of knowledge David says that hymns him in behind and before. It's the kind of knowledge that has God's fatherly, protective hand upon him to protect him. It's the knowledge that David says in that psalm is too wonderful for him. It's the love of God and that comes. We get that assurance that God will care for us through faith in Christ.

Speaker 1: 42:16

So let me conclude this way the opening of the Psalms, there's the two ways and the two destinies and throughout all the rest of the Psalms we're gonna look at 10 this summer but you see, these two ways and these two destinies, we're constantly reminded we're in a spiritual warfare, whether we want to be or not. That is what we are in and the Psalm constantly challenges us. Am I with the righteous or am I with the wicked? Am I a fruit bearer for the glory of God or on that final day, will God seize me as worthless chaff because I rejected his word. Am I the blessed one or the one who stands condemned to perish? And there is no third way.

Speaker 1: 43:03

Presented in the scriptures, jesus died on that cross to forgive us of our sins. Died on that cross to forgive us of our sins, because isn't the fact of the matter that the only one who fulfilled Psalm 1 is Jesus himself? If we're honest, can't we admit that there's been times we were listening to the counsel of the wicked, we were standing in the way of sinners, we were sitting in the seat of scoffers. You know, a scoffer is somebody who makes light of the judgment of God, and every time we sin, that's what we're doing in one sense. Thank God, jesus fulfilled Psalm 1 so that when we trust in him, we're spiritually united to him and then in God's eyes we're counted by the grace of God alone amongst the righteous, and then we can live our life in peace.

Speaker 1: 43:58

Christ is that true oak of righteousness. He is the truly blessed man who perfectly lived his life, planted by streams of water, bearing perfect fruit daily. Only Jesus can say his leaf never withered and all that he did prospered. And if you know him, you will be safe. You can know you're at peace with God. Knowing him is the key. I'm going to end with what he said in John, chapter three. Listen to Jesus' own words. It's an echo of Psalm one. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not what Should not perish, but have eternal life. That's the blessed person that has the eternal life of God. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, jesus says, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only son of God.