All right. Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Psalms, chapter 1. Psalms, chapter 1. I'd like to read verses 1 and 2. Psalms, chapter
1, verses 1 and 2. Blessed is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is
in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day
and night. Let's pray together. Our Father,
we are so thankful that we can be here this evening and thank
you that you've allowed us the privilege to be able to assemble
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We ask you this evening,
Lord bless your word, bless as we hear, bless as we eat and
drink of your supper together. And these things we ask for Christ's
sake. Amen. Blessed Happy. Happy. Happy is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the ungodly. You know, it's a wonderful thing
to be happy. Happy. When all is right, and
doubt and fears is not pressing in on us, Someone can ask you,
say, well, how are you doing? You can tell them truthfully,
I'm doing well, I'm happy, I'm doing great, I really am doing
well. Happiness, though, is by and
large not the lot of our experience in this world. We love it, we
desire it, we want to be at peace, but in this life, truly, times
of happiness, peace, contentment seem to be so few and they're
far between. It's just not the natural lot
of man. Job 14.1 says, Man that is born
of a woman is a few days and full of trouble. And is that not the case we find
by and large? And this turmoil is common to
all men born in Adam. Ecclesiastes 2.22.23, For what
hath man of all his labor and of the vexation of his heart,
wherein he hath labored under the sun. For all his days are
sorrows, and his travail grief. Yea, his heart taketh not rest
in the night." Isn't that so? And I've always said it's always
worse at night. You get to thinking about it,
and you just think, if I could just go to sleep. The writer Solomon says in closing,
this is vanity. But in Psalm 1, the scripture
speaks of a man that's happy. And this man can be none other
than the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Well, someone might say, yeah,
I understand that He can be happy. I can enter into that and continually
happy. But being happy for me continually
and even contemplating continual happiness is just not something
that I seem to be able to enter into. Things just happen. Well, I want us to consider one
other, I'll read this to you, one other passage of scripture.
as we think upon the Lord Jesus Christ being set forth in Psalm
1, being happy, blessed, happy is the man. Listen to this, 1
John 4, 17. Herein is our love made perfect,
that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because
as He is, so are we in this world. That's an amazing passage of
scripture. Herein is our love made perfect in our union and
communion with Him. Love is brought to completion
and perfection, the love of God toward us. in that we may have
boldness in the day of judgment, that we may have some confidence
and some assurance in that day to face Him. We're going to stand
before God. Herein is our love, His love
to us and ours to Him, made perfect, mature, that we may have boldness
in the day of God's judgment because as He is, so are we in
this world. He is the Son of God by nature. We are by adoption. Christ is love to the Father
and we are in Him. He is accepted of the Father
by His own obedience and sacrifice, so as we are found in Him, we
are accepted in the Beloved. So as He is happy, The scripture
says, we being in Him are two. This is the result of being in
Christ, found in Him. I know we struggle, but there's
a new man that sinneth not. There's a new man that's happy. So let's look at verse 1, verse
2 of Psalm 1 for just a second. Let's just consider the happiness
of this man, Christ Jesus, knowing that He is the foundation of
our happiness. Blessed, happy is the man that
walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. Blessed is the man
who has never passed, never now, he's in glory, and never shall
conduct himself in any matter other than in absolute walking
in perfect obedience before God. He has never walked according
to the plan, the advice, the suggestion, or the principles
of the wicked. Never. When Adam fell in the
garden, he had one chance to do the right thing, and he failed. This man, the God-man mediator,
never fails. He said, He that is with me,
the Father hath not left me alone, for I do always those things
that please Him. Blessed, happy is the man that
never walked, in the advice of the wicked. Happy is the man
that does not stand in the way of sinners. He never tarried,
he never hesitated, he never even considered or contemplated
to dwell in the course or the manner of the life of the guilty
or the unclean. There is a way that seemeth right
unto man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Happy
is the man that never walked in the counsel of the ungodly
or stood in the way of sinners, never hesitated, never thought
about it, never contemplated, nor sitteth in the seat of the
scornful. What is that? Blessed is the
man that has never occupied a place with those. He never sat in the
seat of the scornful. never agreed with, never associated
with in oneness with those that mock sin. God's revelation of
man's depravity, believing that men such as that, that think
that by their own self-righteous works that they've earned a peace
with God, and now are at rest with the Almighty because of
their works. Happy is the man that has never done this. walked in the counsel of the
ungodly, stood in the way of sinners, sat in the seat of the
scornful. But on the other hand, let me
tell you what he has done. He's never done these things.
But here's what he has done. His delight is in the law of
the Lord. And in his law doth he meditate
day and night. His pleasure, his desire is the
will, the pleasure, the purpose, the precept, the statute, the
instructions of Jehovah. All that flows from the Lord
of Glory Himself, that is His delight. As the obedient servant,
He humbled Himself, made Himself answerable unto Jehovah. The
man, there is a man, there's a man. The man, Christ Jesus. I want to emphasize this. I'm
talking about a man. Bone of our bone, flesh of our
flesh. There's a man. Blessed is the
man that never contemplated disobeying Almighty God. That's a happy
man right there. Oh, to be found in him. to realize
by electing grace, redeeming grace, regenerating and preserving
grace as He is. There's a man in glory that's
seated on the throne of God, and He's happy. He's happy in
Himself, in Himself, and we in Him. Truly, He was despised and
rejected of men. He was. a man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief. That's what scripture says. And
we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised and
we esteemed him not. Some might say that doesn't sound
very happy to me. A man of sorrows, acquainted
with grief. Well, let me just sum up Hebrews
2.12. looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before
Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at
the right hand of the throne of God. Even in His death, it
was His joy. He was happy. Oh, the blessedness
of being happy. of walking before God in Christ
and seeing what the scriptures has to say about the happy man. Realizing that we stand accepted
before God in Him. No fear. No fear. Perfect love
from Him to us. Casteth out fear. Not in the
day of judgment will we have any fear. Why? Because as He
is. So are we in this one. I pray
that God bless this to our hearts for Christ's sake. All right.