Two Paths:  Life and Destruction (Psalm 1)

 

Psalm 1:1-6  How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!  ² But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.  ³ He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.  ⁴ The wicked are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.  ⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.  ⁶ For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish.

 

Our lives are full of decisions.  Each of these decisions leads us down a particular course or path.  We decide to take certain classes in a particular field of study in hopes that when we graduate we will be able to get a job in that area.   We court or date people to find out if he or she is the person we should marry.  Decisions that we make have ramifications in this life but some of these decisions have ramifications beyond our present life.

Psalm 1 is a very familiar psalm to most and probably a fair number of us have memorized parts or the whole chapter.  It has been referred to as the preface psalm because its subject is the theme of most of the remaining psalms.  There are 2 paths of life – one leads to blessedness and the other to destruction.   . 

 

The psalm divides up nicely into 2 sections:

        I.            The Way of the Godly (v. 1-3)

     II.            The Way of the Ungodly person (v. 4-6)

 

Let’s look first at the way of the godly in verses 1-3.  Verse 1 starts out phrase How blessed.  We want to be happy but go to the wrong sources – our family, entertainment, and even ourselves.  God wants us to be joyful.  In the Westminster Confession, the first question asks what the main or chief end of man is.  The answer is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.   True happiness is only found in the Lord.  When we attempt to find happy elsewhere it is futile (Ecclesiastes 2).

 Here is what a few passages of Psalms say about true happiness:

Psalm 16:11  ¹¹ You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

 Psalm 21:6   ⁶ For you make him most blessed forever; you make him glad with the joy of your presence.

 Psalm 34:8  ⁸ Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

Verse 1 describes what a godly man is not using 3 verb/actions:

1.  They do not walk in the counsel of the wicked – the godly person does not follow the world’s wisdom.  He refuses the man centered view that places man in the center of the universe and entices him to live by his own standards of morality and pursuits of pleasure.  His delight is in the Word of God.  To walk in the counsel of the wicked goes completely contrary to Scripture.  To walk refers to the series of steps an ungodly person takes in life, the decisions he makes, and the direction he pursues.  It is a conscious decision.

2.   They do not stand in the path of sinners.  The godly person refuses to participate in the carnal activities and sensual lifestyles of the world.  They ignore the urges to please and indulge themselves.  To stand describes the commitments a person makes to various causes.  There are many temptations around us that can overtake us.  The godly man fights and resists them.  It does not mean he is always successful but he is more successful in the choices that he or she makes.

3.      They do not sit in the seat of mockers.  They refuse to have close relationships with those who blaspheme and scoff at God.  In 1 Corinthians 15:33, it says that bad company corrupts good character.  To sit represents the settled attitudes of the heart, the fixed disposition of a person’s heart.

 

There is a progression from walking (making an initial decision) to standing (participating in the sin) to sitting (settled and fixed).  It is reminder of the power of sin and the need to avoid it and not get to get tempted by its lure. 

In verses 2-3, there is a description of the godly person.  The godly person delights in the law of God.  Those who delight or find pleasure in the God’s Word will meditate on it day and night.   He will have true joy in reading and applying God’s Word.  He has a great hunger to better know the Word.  His mind is set on the truths of the Bible and he focuses in on it throughout the day.  God’s Word is 66 love letters that were written.  I met my wife on an online dating website.  She was living in California and I was living in Virginia.  We corresponded via email every day.  When we finally met, because of the emails and phone calls we were not complete strangers.  We knew each other pretty well.  Imagine if my wife-to-be wrote to me and I never read her emails and responded to them.  What kind of a relationship would I have with her?  I would never know her.  How much more is in with God and His Word.  We have the privilege in the U.S. that have multiple copies of God’s Word and to meet and fellowship together.  Other countries do not have that privilege.  Bibles are hard to come by and are even banned in certain countries.  We need to yearn for God’s Word just like a deer pants for water (Psalm 42).

In verse 3, the psalmist provides a word picture of a godly person as a tree planted by water (

What do we know about trees?

a)     God created and planted them – In the same way, no one becomes a Christian on their own.  God regenerates and brings a person to repentance and faith in Christ and it is not based on good works.  (Titus 3:5-7)

b)     A tree needs water to grow and thrive – A Christian needs God’s Word daily to help him/her grow and mature – to refresh, revive, renew, cleanse and satisfy. (Psalm 19:7-10)

c)     A tree yields fruit in season – You can tell a Christian by his/her fruits.  Are you exhibiting more fruits of the Spirit each day? (Galatians 5:22-23)   Do you have a greater hatred of sin as we mature in Christ?  A believer in Christ will exhibit fruit.  Believers grow differently just like trees which is an important reminder not to try to compare our growth with another people.

d)     A good and healthy tree produces leaves that do not wither – If a tree is firmly rooted in the streams of water, it will not die in time of drought.  How do you react to trials/temptations?  Do they draw you closer to the Lord or do you handle it in your flesh?  A true believer in Christ will prosper in whatever he does. (Philippians 4:4-7, Psalm 112)            

Now, we have a pretty good picture of the godly person.  Let us now turn to what characterizes the ungodly person in verses 4-6.

In verse 4, the wicked person is compared to chaff.  Chaff is the part of the grain that is worthless and is of no value (Psalm 14:1-4, Psalm 53:6, Psalm 56:8).  Before you can hear the good news, you need to know the bad news.  What do we need to be saved from?  Have you kept the Ten Commandments?  Before Christ saves us, we were all haters of God.  We disobeyed and did not love Him.  We are children of wrath, dead in our trespasses (Ephesians 2:1-9).  It is only by the grace of God that anyone can be saved from his/her sins.  Chaff is light and the wind can blow them away – there is no foundation.  When trials come, the wicked person is blow around.  He/she tries to do things in their strength but do not prosper.

In verse 5, the wicked person will not stand in the Day of Judgment.  They will not have God’s acceptance when they stand before Him in the last day.  Instead, they will be exposed for who they really are. They will be justly condemned for their sin, sentenced to eternal punishment in hell.  The ungodly deserve hell.  They live for self and their own pleasure and do not think about the One who gave them life.  They do not live their days to glory and honor God. God will sift believers from nonbelievers. (Revelation 20:11-15, Revelation 15:3-4).  The Word is clear that judgment will come (Hebrews 9:27, Hebrews 2:1-3)

God is withholding His judgment until all His elect have come to repentance (2 Peter 3:8-12).  His instrument of declaring salvation is through preaching the gospel.  Are you praying for and declaring the gospel to those around you?

In verse 6, the ungodly path leads to destruction.  The ungodly person will spend his eternity in hell.

Revelation 20:12-15   ¹² And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.  ¹³ And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.  ¹⁴ Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.  ¹⁵ And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Do we think about hell and that some will spend eternity there? 

What will heaven be like?

Revelation 22:1-7  Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb,  ² in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.  ³ There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him;  ⁴ they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.  ⁵ And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.  ⁶ And he said to me, "These words are faithful and true"; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must soon take place.  ⁷ "And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book."

 In reality, all of us are ungodly.  In Psalm 14:1, its says there no one who does good.  Romans 3:23 says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  I always enjoy the old Dragnet shows where they show the criminal getting his or her mug shot holding their sign with the prisoner number.  All of us are sentenced criminals who deserve hell.  Yet, while we were yet sinners Christ died for us and took the penalty that resulted in his death.  He took our place on the cross.  Christ calls people to “repent and believe in the Gospel: (Mark 1:15).  In order to be saved, we need to confess our sins – to agree we are sinners and ask for forgiveness and repent (turn around).  If you have not done so, I would encourage you to do it today.  If you have any questions regarding what it means to be a believer in Christ, please email me at wretchedsagers@gmail.com