Well, let's turn in our scriptures
to Psalm 1. I was a bit shocked to find that
I hadn't actually preached on Psalm 1 in the notes that I had
at home. I'm sure I preached on it in
India on a number of occasions and I looked through my old files
today thinking I'm bound to find some notes on it. And I didn't
find any, so this is all pretty fresh. But Psalm 1 and Psalm
2 were often joined together. And Psalm 2 is declared to be
a psalm of David in Acts chapter 4, and we're looking at Psalm
2 on Sunday morning, so I thought tonight, in preparation for that,
we would look at Psalm 1. And it's described as a psalm,
a song of David, the prophet and king. The Prophet and King. Let's just read this, just six
short verses on a day where the weather has not been kind to
us in so many ways. 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. And he shall be like a tree planted
by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his
season. His leaf also shall not wither,
and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not
so, but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore
the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in
the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way
of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. It's a lovely title, isn't it? A lovely opening. Blessed is
the man. Let's just think about that for
a minute. Blessed is the man. In fact, it's in the plural.
So you could say blessednesses, if you could. Blessednesses. It's the plural. But also, it's
a blessing. It's blessed is the man. Blessed is the man. It doesn't
say blessed is the intelligent man, or the wealthy man, or the
powerful man, or the influential man, or the esteemed man. Blessed
is the man. Obviously, we'll come to it as
we go through, but this is obviously a description of the Lord Jesus
Christ, but also it's a description of everyone in Him. To be blessed,
of course, is to have the favour of God, is to be in God's favour,
and actually the word means to be happy, or to be in an enviable
state. And before we go into the psalm,
it's really good to contemplate this, the beginning of this songs
of praises of the Lord is actually very much like the Lord Jesus'
opening, begins with the opening of His words, public words in
Matthew 5. And you know them well, but it's
interesting to ponder, isn't it? Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that
mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they
shall inherit the earth. And as I go through them, it's
interesting to note that there are nine blessings here. And
the blessings are pronounced by God before there is anything
received. It says, blessed are those which
do hunger and thirst after righteousness. Their hunger and their thirst
is a blessing from God. Now the filling of that is a
blessing from God, but the hungering and the thirsting is a blessing
from God, isn't it? Those who are hungry have nowhere
else to find food. Those who are thirsty have no
other place to find drink, nothing that satisfies. There's a hunger
and a thirst after righteousness. Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God. So the blessings, this blessing,
blessed man is someone who has the favour of God, someone who
is happy. Psalm 33 says, Blessed is the
people whose God is the Lord. And you know those verses well
in Ephesians 1. And I love the fact that it's all put in the
past tense, it says, In one verse, verse 3 of chapter 1 of Ephesians,
this word blessing is used three times. Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us, past tense
and completed and continuous, with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ. So God's people, if you have
any blessing, you have all the blessings of God. And in the
scriptures, the word blessed is used so many times, but the
word blessing and blessed is actually in reference to the
spiritual blessings of God's people, which is why Ephesians
talks about that blessing. He's bestest with all spiritual
blessings. And it's always descriptive,
isn't it? Blessed. Blessed is the man whom
Thou choosest and causest to approach unto Thee, that he may
dwell in Thy courts. We shall be satisfied with the
goodness of Thy house, even Thy holy temple. Blessed is he says
David, whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord will not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit is no guile. Psalm 2, which we'll look at
on Sunday. Blessed are all they that put
their trust in Him. Blessed is that man that maketh
the Lord his trust. Blessed is the man that feareth
the Lord, that delighteth greatly in His commandments. Blessed
are they that dwell in thy house, they will still be praising thee. That was written a long time
ago and they're doing it right now, aren't they? They've been
doing it for thousands of years in heaven and time goes so sweetly
when people are praising the Lord. Blessed is the man whose
strength is in thee, in whose heart are the ways of them. Blessed
is the people that know the joyful sound. Blessed is the people
that hear the jubilee trumpet sound. Blessed is the people
that hear the sound of the gospel and find it a joyful sound. They
shall walk, is the promise. They shall walk, Psalm 89, 15.
They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance. Blessed
is the man whom Thou chastenest. The chastening of the Lord is
a blessing from God, isn't it? Blessed is the man whom thou
chasteneth, O Lord, and teach him out of thy law. Blessed is he that cometh in
the name of the Lord. Blessed is the man that heareth
me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. As I said earlier, this psalm,
as all the psalms are, are just a description of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And if they're describing the Lord Jesus Christ, they're
describing everyone who is in Him and united to Him from eternity. Either you see the psalms that
way or you see the psalms as if you can do them yourself.
And we have. We have people that we know who
think they can do them all. We have whole denominations that
put people under the law thinking they can do them. Let me read
some of them out of Psalm 119 and see how you do. I will run
in the way of thy commandments when thou shalt enlarge my heart.
So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever. This is Psalm
119. I'm just reading some verses
out of it. I made haste and I delayed not
to keep thy commandments. I will never forget thy precepts. Oh, how I love thy law is my
meditation all the day. I have not departed from thy
judgments. Psalm 119, 102. Next time you
find someone who thinks they can do some law keeping, it's
a really good thing to take them to Psalm 119 and just see how
they're going. I have not departed from thy
judgments. I will have respect under thy
statutes continually. And it goes on. In fact, most
of Psalm 119 is just a glorious description of the Lord Jesus
Christ, isn't it? I cried with my whole heart,
hear me, O Lord, I will keep thy statutes, I shall keep thy
testimonies, my soul has kept thy testimonies. I have kept
thy precepts and thy testimonies. They're just a few of the many,
many, many descriptions of the Lord Jesus Christ. God's children
have kept the law perfectly. We have fulfilled it in the Lord
Jesus Christ and we have kept it perfectly. So all of God's
children are blessed. Blessed is the man Blessed is
the man, blessed are those who have God's favour. We have God's
favour, then He's working all things together for our good. I love, I've been reading numbers
just lately, I love how Balaam is forced by God to describe
the people of Israel. He says, Behold, I have received
commandment to bless. God has blessed this nation Israel,
and I cannot reverse it, says Balaam, neither can God. He hath
not beheld iniquity in Jacob. He didn't behold iniquity in
Jacob. Neither has he seen perverseness in Israel. The Lord his God is
with him, and the shout of the king is among them. The blessedness
of God's people is a blessedness, as we read in Ephesians 1, it's
all tied up in who the Lord Jesus Christ is and it's tied up in
our unity with Him. But it's also descriptive, isn't
it? This psalm describes not only the blessedness of God's
people but it also describes the falling away. There is a
descent, if you look at the last part of this verse, there is
a descent Descent into wickedness and descent into walking away
from the Lord and walking in your own ways is actually a progressive
thing, isn't it? That walketh not in the council,
nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the
scornful. It starts by walking. walking
in their counsel. The blessed man doesn't walk
in their counsel, doesn't walk in their advice, doesn't walk
in their wisdom, doesn't walk in their philosophy. How can
two walk together unless they be agreed? He doesn't walk in
the counsel of the ungodly. The ungodly are those who do
not know God. They don't have, as much as they
might claim to have wisdom, they don't have wisdom. How much true
wisdom does someone who doesn't believe have? How much wisdom
do they have? We hear so much about what man
is doing and the longer it goes on the sillier it seems to be.
They walk. The blessed man doesn't walk
in the council, and he doesn't stand. See, the stand is to stand
still, isn't it? To stand in the way of sinners. to stand in the way of sinners. What is the way of sinners? The
way of sinners is the way of works righteousness, isn't it?
It's the way of pride. And the descent continues, isn't
it? Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. The Lord Jesus
Christ suffered, didn't he? He didn't walk in the counsel
of the ungodly. He didn't stand in the way of
sinners. and he didn't sit in the seat of scornful, but he
was scorned, wasn't he? The scornful people are proud
of their natural abilities, versus the humble people. God makes
his people to be humble. They scoffed at the Lord Jesus
Christ, and they scoffed at God's word. That word scornful actually
has the possible meaning of interpretation. To be scornful is to actually
interpret something for yourself, isn't it? It's someone having
an opinion. I think this is what it's saying,
or this is what it means to me, or this is how I take it. But
the scriptures of God are just to be believed and to be bowed
to. There is just so much in the
scriptures that we cannot understand, but we can delightfully believe
in it. How could the God of this universe
become a little tiny baby in Mary's womb? How could that happen? How can you scientifically explain
the resurrection? How can you scientifically explain
the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ? How can you scientifically
explain the new birth and the new creation? All of those things
are beyond the wit and understanding of men. We just trust what God
says and we are at rest in simply believing it. I don't need to
have to understand it all to find it delightful, to find it
precious. The scriptures are just to be
believed. God is not standing there as
someone giving advice, as a take-it-or-leave-it thing. His word is not there
to be tossed around and to be debated. His word is a word of
command and it's a word of promise. And that's what the scornful
do, doesn't it? When they say, if you don't agree with the way
they interpret it, then they will treat you with scorn. Blessed
is the man who doesn't walk, in that council of philosophy
and wisdom of the ungodly. He doesn't stand in the way of
sinners. He doesn't stand where they stand. He stands apart from them and
he won't sit and take a place with them of rest. But his delight,
his delight, his pleasure, his willingness, his delight, is
in the law of the Lord. What a glorious law the Lord
has given. In fact, in Deuteronomy 4, the
Lord describes the law that he gave to Israel. What good laws
they were. In Deuteronomy 4, He says, Behold, I have taught
you statutes and judgement even as the Lord my God commanded
me, that you should do so in the land where you go to possess
it. Therefore, keep therefore and
do them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the
sight of the nations which shall hear all these statutes and say,
surely this is a great nation. this great nation is wise and
an understanding people. For what nation is there so great,
who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all
things, that we call upon him? And what nation is there so great,
that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law
which I set before you today? The Law of God reflects His character. It's good, it's holy, it's just,
but it makes no one good, and it makes no one holy, and it
makes no one just. And the Law, as we know and we
keep proclaiming, the Law is kept by the Lord Jesus Christ,
and the Law is only ever kept by Him. The Law exposes man for
what he is. But the law also reflects the
character of God. But there is another law, isn't
there? There is a law in Romans 7. In the scriptures it speaks
of a law that acts as a principle in the hearts of people. Paul
speaks in Romans 7.21 and he says, that I find a law that
when I would do good evil is present with me for I delight
in the law of God after the inward man. But I see another law in
my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me
into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord, so then with the mind I myself serve the law of God,
but with the flesh the law of sin. He is, He is like all of
God's people when they're confronted with the reality of who they
are and the holiness of God. He is, like all of God's people,
a wretched man. a wretched man that I am. Right now, who shall deliver
me from this body of death? I thank God through the Lord
Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with my mind I
myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of
sin." And then he goes on gloriously to speak, doesn't he, of that
law. For the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and
death. God's children are free from
the law of sin and death. But we have another law, don't
we? The law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made
me free. For what the law could not do,
in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemning sin in
the flesh. that the righteousness of the
law might be fulfilled in us." Fulfilled. Completely fulfilled. If it's fully filled, we can't
add anything to it. He's fully filled it. "...who
walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." God's children,
they delight in the law of God. They delight in the law and we
look to the law of God and we find it beautifully and wonderfully
kept by the Lord Jesus Christ. And we find no terror in the
law of God. We find it delightful because
we see it perfectly, perfectly kept in God's holy estimation
by the Lord Jesus Christ. But there are gospel laws. God's
people love, they delight in the law of God, but God's children
love the gospel laws. In the New Testament there are
a number of gospel laws, aren't there? There is in Romans 3.27
the law of faith. Where then is boasting? It is
excluded. By what law? The law of works? The law of Mount Sinai? No, by
the law of faith. The law of faith. We rest, we
rest in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is in Romans 9 the law
of righteousness. Israel, which followed after
the Law of Righteousness, has not attained to the Law of Righteousness. The Law of Righteousness. God
is not looking to me for anything. The Law of Righteousness is in
the Lord Jesus Christ, and He looks to Him alone for all my
righteousness before Him. The Gentiles, Romans 9.30, the
Gentiles which followed not after righteousness, have attained
to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith." Our righteousness
now is a righteousness of faith. We look to Him. That's why Romans 9.33 says, As is written,
Behold, I lay in sire on a stumbling stone and a rock of offence,
and whosoever believeth on him. That's our righteousness, isn't
it? The law of righteousness. Shall not be ashamed. James speaks
of the law of liberty. Free. Free. Freely loved. Freely forgiven. To be free,
isn't it? To be at liberty means you don't
owe anything. And you have the freedom to live
before God. You don't owe anything. Nothing
is demanded of you. You get to do what you want to
do. Which is why God's children can't
be put under the law of Moses. They can't handle being in bondage
to the law. It's for liberty that Christ
has set us free. Stand fast. in the freedom, whereas
Christ has made us free. It's called the perfect law of
liberty, James 1.25. Perfect law of liberty, and it's
the law of liberty that will judge us. There is, in James
2.8, the royal law of love. Love to God and love to his brethren. God's children delight in that
law. So you fulfil the royal law according
to scriptures. Thou shalt love thy neighbour
as thyself and you do well. And there is the law of Christ. So believers are not without
law. They're not without operating principles because the Spirit
works in them. I'll see that in a few minutes.
The law of Christ. Bear one another's burdens and
so fulfil the law of Christ. The blessed man delights in the
Law of God, and in His Law he does meditate day and night. He ponders it all the time. The
Law also can refer to the Word of God, and the Lord Jesus Christ
meditated and pondered on the Word of God all the time, whenever
he had to answer the Pharisees or answer Satan or the others. quoted the words of God. He meditated on it day and night,
24 hours a day, 7 days a week. How are you going? How are you
going law keepers? The Lord Jesus Christ did it
for us brothers and sisters. God's children in Him in him
are seen to be meditating on it day and night, just as he
intercedes for us perfectly and completely all the time. And then there is this description
of this blessed man, and he shall be like a tree planted by the
rivers of water. So it's a tree planted. It's
not a naturally grown plant. It's a tree that's planted by
God. It's a tree that's rooted in
the grace of God. In fact, the Lord Jesus said
in Matthew 15, 13, that every tree that's not planted by my
Father will be rooted up. In Isaiah 63 there's a great
description. There's a great description of,
61 verse 3, a great description of the children of God. It is the Lord Jesus' words that
are used in Nazareth when he preached that sermon. They took
him outside to stone him, to throw him off the cliff. The
Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed
me to preach good tidings unto the meek. He sent me to bind
up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and
the opening of the prison to them that are bound. the meek,
the broken-hearted, the captives, those that are bound, to proclaim
the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our
God, to comfort all that mourn, to appoint unto them that mourn
in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for
mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness,
that they might be called They might be called trees of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord that He might be glorified." When He plants, He
gets the glory. Every tree that's planted by
the rivers of water, there is from the Holy Spirit a continual
source of life. which in turn produces stability
in the midst of all of the seasons, doesn't it? Whether it's dry
or hot or cold, the rivers of water. I love how in the scriptures
these rivers of water, these rivers and wells and springs
and fountains, they're all listed as plurals. If you can't get
one, there's another one nearby, aren't they? It's the Holy Spirit
giving and sustaining life. It is life from above. It's the planting of the Lord.
They're planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth
His fruit. They bring forth His fruit. They
bring forth the fruit of the Lord Jesus Christ in His season. We've been looking through Acts,
haven't we? It's just amazing. We see in there and we see in
the Church throughout the ages, we see the fruit of the Lord
Jesus Christ. The fruit of the Lord Jesus Christ
is the gathering of His people to Himself. The declaration of
who He is and the glory of His Gospel. The wonder of the salvation
that He has wrought. He will see the travail of his
soul and he will be satisfied, for the joy set before him, the
Lord Jesus Christ, endured the cross and scorned the shame of
it. He'll bring forth His fruit. He will bring forth His fruit.
He'll bring forth His fruit of faith. He'll bring forth His
fruit of repentance. He'll bring forth His fruit,
that fruit that we see in Galatians 5 and in Ephesians, that fruit
of love and joy and peace, that fruit that's towards God, that
fruit that is the fruit that acts between the believers, that
fruit of long-suffering and patience and goodness and merciful. patient
to each other, gracious to God, and towards ourselves, faith,
meekness, humility, temperance. God's fruit in the lives of believers. It is just one fruit, just has
different clusters. They come from Him, don't they? It's this planting of the Lord,
and it's His fruit that comes forth. It's Christ in you, the
hope of glory, bearing his fruit, the fruit of his labours, the
fruit of his labours for us in his sin bearing on the cross.
And this leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth
shall prosper. Everything Everything will grow
and be sustained. You read about those rivers and
those trees of life on either side of the river in Revelation.
It is sustained by God. There is this leaf that will
not wither. Everything that God does in the
lives of His people remains. God's fruit, God's fruit in the
planting of His are not like those stony ground hearers. They're
not like those who are choked by the weeds. They bring forth
that fruit, the fruit of God in the hearts of His people.
It's His fruit and He brings it forth in His time and He does
it by grace. Everything he does shall prosper. All things, Romans 8.28, all
things are worked together for the good of them that love him
and are called according to his purpose. Everything, everything
in life, everything in time, everything that happens to God's
children is prospering. everything, all the time. That's
what he says, isn't it? That's what he says. We know,
it's something that we know, that all things, all things are
worked, it is in the original, are worked together for good
to them that love God, to them who are thee called according
to his purpose. Because He loved them from eternity,
didn't He? For whom He foreknew, He loved them from eternity.
He predestinated them to be conformed to the image of His Son, that
He might be the firstborn among many brethren. That's His fruit. And even our failings, even the
things that cause us great grief, they just drive us again back
to Him. Verse 4, the ungodly are not
so. They don't delight, In the law
of God, they don't meditate on it, they have no fruit, and everything
they do, everything they do fails. Everything they do, nothing they
do prospers. But I like the chaff which the
wind driveth away. They just blow it away at the
end by wind, isn't it? Just like the chaff. See in the
chaff, at the end of the grain, it is the leftover, isn't it?
It's what is removed. It's what is removed that what
is good in the grain can be kept. Therefore as the fire devoureth
the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, their roots shall
be as rottenness, and their blossoms shall go up as the dust, because
they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised
the word of the Holy One of Israel. Just driven away, driven away. So the Holy Spirit is that wind,
isn't it? And in the Gospel there is that
separation, that dividing, and they're just driven away. Chaff. What is the chaff? It's the wheat.
Therefore, therefore, this is the end result, the ungodly shall
not stand in the judgment. The ungodly shall not stand in
the judgment. The godly will stand in the judgment. And there is just one simple
standard of judgment, isn't there? God's standard is really simple.
He just demands holiness. Perfect holiness is all He demands,
all the time. And the standard of judgment
is the Lord Jesus Christ. The standard of judgment amongst
men is to set the bar as low as it suits me. I love what Chloe
Curtis said, he said, I can jump over a barn if I'm allowed to
build it myself. The standard of God's judgement.
is perfection and holiness. And everyone who is not exactly
like the Lord Jesus Christ will be exposed on that day for what
they really are. So that's what's going to happen
on the Day of Judgement, isn't it? The Day of Judgement is the
day when reality is seen by all of creation. the judgment will be righteous,
the judgment will be perfect, and the ungodly shall not stand
there." So they stand. They stand in the way of sinners,
but on the Day of Judgment they will not stand, they will bow
their knee. Nor sinners in the congregation
of the righteous. I love how the righteous are
declared to be a congregation. They are gathered by God, aren't
they? Blessed are they that dwell in
thy house. They will still be praising Thee."
The congregation is gathered for worship. The congregation
is a separated congregation. And someone might say, well,
aren't all God's people sinners? In fact Paul says he's the chief
of sinners and when it comes to God's people throughout the
world they'll be jostling with Paul to be at the front of that
queue to be the chief of sinners because that's what they see
themselves to be. They are sinners and they know
that they are sinners but then that's not what God calls them. What does God call them? He calls
them saints. He calls them holy ones. He calls
them my people, my children. In the Lord Jesus Christ, they're
not sinners. They have no sin. Outside of
Him, outside of this congregation of the righteous, there is sin
and nothing else. It is the Lord Jesus Christ who
is the only righteousness, and He makes all of His people righteous. And that's that fruit. That's
that fruit. It brings forth His fruit. His fruit. The fruit of His righteousness. For the Lord knoweth the way
of the righteous. The Way of the Righteous is the
Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Way. He is the Truth. He is the Light. God knows our ways, brothers
and sisters. He knows the ways we travel in
this world. He knows the way of His Son. And His ways are always righteous. His ways are always right. We
stand there like our Lord Jesus Christ. He will stand in that
judgment, won't He? and He will stand there as perfectly
holy and perfectly righteous, and all of His people will stand
there in their judgment exactly as He is. As He is, so are we
in this world. God's people stand there. He
knows our way. He finds us acceptable, holy,
unreprovable in His sight. It is the way, isn't it? The
Lord Jesus Christ is the way. It's described as a narrow way.
It's the way of truth. It's the way of peace. It's the
way of blessedness. It's the way of salvation. It's
the way of God. And all other ways perish, but
the way of the ungodly shall perish. Perish. Perish and continue perishing
forever outside of Him. The way of the ungodly, every
single way of theirs will perish. God will remove it and He will
remove the memory of it from His people. They will just be
one. They will just look at Him and
look at Him alone. When you tie this psalm into
what we've been looking at in Acts, and if they put them together,
the Jews in those days, there's one psalm. When Peter is quoting
Psalm 2, he's actually quoting this. What a great warning Psalm
1 is for what happened in Jerusalem. What a great description of the
Lord gathering his people out of that congregation. the counsel,
their standing in the way of sinners, and their scornful. And the way of the ungodly shall
perish, but the Lord knows the way of the righteous." And he
keeps his people in that way. We are kept by the power of God
through faith, kept by the Lord Jesus Christ, kept in his hands. No one can pluck them, no one
can pluck them out of his hand, no one can pluck them out of
his father's hand. He knows the way. Let's pray.