May God be pleased to bless us
together tonight as we meditate in his word. And this evening
we'll speak really upon the first Psalm, which of course leads
us into the last verse, the sixth verse, which we'll read. The
first Psalm, and we'll just read the sixth verse. For the Lord
knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall
perish. It is really a very wonderful
position to have before us in the first psalm which directs
us so clearly to those who are blessed, those who are right,
and to those who are not blessed, which means those who are wrong. And this psalm, we believe, was
written by David. And therefore, he was able to
write from his heart and express those things which were so known
to him. And it commences with these words,
blessed is the man. Well, of course, that could be
blessed is the woman. And surely our desire is that
we are blessed, blessed of God. That we're not amongst those
who are not blessed, because those who are not blessed will
perish in their sins. But those who are blessed will
enjoy the wonderful favor of being found in glory with Christ
forever, throughout eternity. Surely it is so necessary that
you and I give diligence to make our calling and election sure. We must not just make a mere
assumption that everything is all right, everything seems to
be rosy and well, we can carry on in our life and we can please
ourselves and do what we want to do. No, we can't. At all. Those who are the children of
God are led by the Spirit of God. They're not led by their
own spirit. Sometimes their own spirit takes
possession. But the truth is that the Spirit
of God leads them. And how necessary that is for
each of us today to have the wonderful evidence that we are
blessed. Well, The psalm here, this short
psalm, gives us a little view of those who are blessed and
those who are not blessed. And so it is important that we
have the evidence that we are amongst those who are blessed
and therefore our eternal place in glory is assured. Well, we read, blessed is the
man And then we have three positions. First of all, that walketh not
in the counsel of the ungodly. Secondly, nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. So we have three positions. First of all, walketh. Secondly,
standeth, and thirdly, sitting. Those three positions really
occupy basically our life apart from of course when we're asleep. And so it's told to us here that
the man is blessed who is not like these. That means who listens
to the counsel of the ungodly. Because the council of the ungodly
is really the council of Satan. He it is that puts words in the
ungodly's mouth to try and detract the people of God from the narrow
way. And there are many temptations,
there are many councils which come before us. And of course
one of the biggest councils that we are told is this. Well, there's
no harm in that path. There's no harm in walking that
path. We have to examine such a statement
very carefully. Because, no doubt, there are
those situations which we want to do and we're trying to find
a good reason why we should do it and not look for any reasons
why we should not do it the devil knows very very well what is
attractive to you and to me it can be very different from one
to another but there may be that counsel which is provided for
us to encourage us in a wrong way well we are not to walk in
that way. And we may perhaps test it against
scripture. And the Apostle Paul had a very
wonderful short phrase when he tells us, all things were lawful
for me, but all things were not expedient. And we may perhaps
clap our hands and say, therefore, I can do it. The truth is, that
if we are walking in the tender fear of the Lord, and may that
be so, desiring not to offend God, don't worry about offending
people. They may be offended, but soon
pass off. We don't want to offend God. And therefore, there may
be that which seems all right, but it's not. We have another
scripture in the Proverbs, twice it's spoken, there is a way. that seemeth right to a man,
but the end thereof are the ways of death. And that's a very powerful
statement, isn't it? So let us not be found walking
in the counsel of the ungodly, because those who are blessed
do not walk that way. So may such a statement be a
test to our lives and the things that we do, whether they are
in conformity with the will and purpose of God. And of course,
if that is so, one thing is clear. You may say, what is that? It
will be for the honor and glory of God. Well, you know, I remember
Spurgeon many years ago, of course, he went to a wealthy house, I
think it was, and they all sat around a table. And they said,
well, we're going to have a game of cards now, Mr. Spurgeon. Are
you going to join in? And he said, yes, but I'll make
one condition. They said, what's that? Let's pray for God's blessing
upon the game of cards. Well, obviously, they felt they
couldn't do that. So the game of cards never progressed. Well, that's just one little
simple thing, but it's a very good test for us in our lives,
whether we can honestly not try and make A side issue. Honestly,
seek God's blessing upon things that we desire to do. Or are
we just listening to the counsel of the ungodly? And remember,
the ungodly perish. Never listen to their counsel. It'll lead you astray. It'll
lead us all astray. Let us not listen. to such counsel,
pleasing as it may be to our natural mind. If we need to test
it, if we need to examine it, always examine it in the light
of scripture. Probably we don't like doing
that because we know what the result will be. We know that
if we're honest and lay aside scripture, we're listening to
the counsel of the ungodly. And there we are. following this
way and the word is walking it means we want to walk in that
way it's not something that we don't want to do we walk in the
counsel of the ungodly well the man who's blessed does not do
that thing so let's examine ourselves as to whether we are doing it
or whether we are tempted to do it and if we are to turn away
from it And then he says, nor standeth in the way of sinners. That really means mixing with
ungodly people. We have to mix with ungodly people
in our work and we can't avoid that. But here we have what would
seem to be a time when we have some leisure and therefore we're
not working, we're standing. and we're perhaps listening to
their ungodly conversation and one thing is very certain sometimes
if you and I stand listening to the conversation of the ungodly
it will not be profitable and it may leave a terrible indelible
mark in your mind you may listen to jokes which are told which
are not really profitable and you may, years later, forget
good things but remember such bad things which penetrate into
our mind. So, let us not be found standing
in the way of sinners. Let us avoid such conditions,
avoid such situations. Because if we do stand and listen,
what's the position? We're not blessed. We're not
blessed as the man. We're not a blessed man or a
blessed woman. No, we're not. We're following the captivity
that the devil brings to such. And then thirdly, the psalmist
tells us, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. Now people,
my friends, scorn the people of God. They scorn the people
of God because they're enmity to God. That's why they scorn
them. And we are not to join in such
scornful statements, such scornful situations. And again, the truth
is that We may be sitting down amongst a company of ungodly,
and they may be making fun of the true Christians, especially
in this day and age in which we live, when there is so much
for homophobia, et cetera, how it is not to listen and not to
agree, and to those who scorn, those who stand for it. Well,
if you and I are called, blessed is the man or woman, then may
we not be amongst those who scorn those who are upright and desire
to walk in accordance with the word of God. So, there we have
this testimony of the psalmist describing to us what we should
not do. What we should not do. And it
is important to realise that the Word of God never leaves
us in a negative position. And so here we have on the other
side a very positive position. And what is that? What does the
psalmist say? But! How often there are these
buts in the Word of God which direct us to that which is right
or sometimes the opposite of that which is wrong. But here
we have a but. And what does it say? But, this
is, blessed is the man, but his delight is in the law of the
Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. Well, what a wonderful truth
that is. And what a wonderful thing it
is if you and I come amongst such people and have the evidence,
therefore, that we are blessed. Blessed is the man. Well, what
does it mean? Remember that when David lived,
there was no New Testament. There was only a part of the
Old Testament, and that was probably only the Pentateuch, the first
five books of the Bible, and probably Joshua and Judges. But that was probably the extent
of what David had, those books of Moses, etc., and Joshua, and
then the book of the Judges. But what did he therefore mean
by this? Delight in the law. Well, there
was no tabernacle. There was no temple, rather.
There was a tabernacle. The tabernacle had been raised
up by Moses, and Moses was given that wonderful law of God, spoken
of not only, of course, in the Ten Commandments, which we can
read in Exodus 20, but also all the ceremonial law. You may say,
well, why was that important? What did David do? Well, I believe
this is what David did. David viewed all those ceremonies,
which they did, they pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ. It was as though he saw through
a glass darkly. Try and imagine, without the
New Testament, especially without the book of the Hebrews, understanding
those wonderful ceremonies which were carried out in the Old Testament,
and especially those which surrounded the tabernacle. and especially
those which surrounded the slaying of animals, the sacrifice which
were given, and through that, of course, blood being shed. Now, here was David. What did
he do? Day and night, he thought upon
these things, because they all represented the Lord Jesus Christ. There was the showbread. There was the table of incense.
There was, of course, the altar. There was, of course, the veil
of the temple, separating the Most Holy Place and the Holy
Place. And in the Most Holy Place was
the Ark of the Covenant. And in the Ark of the Covenant
were the Ten Commandments. And alongside the Ark was Aaron's
rod which budded. There was that vessel with manna
to remind Israel of the wonderful provision. And into that holy
place no one could enter apart from the high priest and that
knot without blood. Now, David would no doubt ponder
and meditate upon what that meant. And he tells us it was his delight. And so today is our delight to
think of what it means. We know what it means because
we have the revelation of the New Testament. And we know what
it means is this. that in the Old Testament there
had to be that shed blood taken into the most holy place and
sprinkled upon the mercy seat and that represented, of course,
the death of the animal. That had to be carried out every
year without failure. But today we have the wonderful
sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, it was only the high priest
that could enter into that holy place. And that holy place really
represented heaven. It was a wonderful place, covered
in gold, and the same length and breadth and height, representing
heaven. The only way of entering in was
through the shed blood. For us today, the only way of
entering in to the heavenly mercy seat, to come to our Father in
heaven is through the shed blood of the Saviour. He is now our
great and glorious High Priest. Well, David delighted in meditating
upon that which was to come. May we today meditate on that
which has come and see and realize the wonder of it. Because if
there had been no Savior, there would be no forgiveness. You
and I would never be forgiven. Because in the Old Testament,
the Lord hadn't come, but they looked forward to the day when
the Messiah would come. And their faith was in that position,
looking for the Savior. And so his delight was in the
law of the Lord. Well, blessed man. My friends,
blessed are we. Indeed, if we are blessed as
a man, If we meditate on upon what the Lord Jesus Christ has
done, how he has brought redemption to us, so that we are redeemed. You see, the reason for those
slain animals was to redeem the people from their souls, from
their sins, but there was never perfection in it. But we have
a wonderful perfection in the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, he came
and he died that perfect life. You see, the animals taken had
to be as near perfect as possible, but none of them were. But the
Lord Jesus Christ lived a perfect, sinless life. And therefore,
his death was acceptable unto God the Father on the behalf
of all his people. And so, tonight, do we delight
in what the Lord Jesus Christ has done? And you see, here was
David. What was he doing? He meditated
day and night. He didn't just think about it
for a few minutes in the day. It was his constant delight on
what a wonderful confirmation it is that we are the blessed,
blessed is the man, that we are numbered among such, if it is
our true delight to meditate upon the Saviour, that One who
kept the law and made it honourable, that One who died upon Calvary's
cross to redeem our souls, that One who is now a great and glorious
High Priest to present our prayers unto His Father, Isn't it wonderful,
isn't it glorious to think that we as such base sinners can approach
unto the holy, holy God. Never underestimate the holiness
of God. The word of God describes it
like this, holy, holy, holy. Oh, what a holy God we have. We cannot approach to a holy
God ourselves. but we can do so through what
the Lord Jesus Christ has worked out. He has provided, as we read
in the Hebrews, a new and living way whereby base sinners can
approach unto our Heavenly Father, and what is the result? We are
accepted in the Beloved. Isn't that reason? to delight
ourselves? Isn't that reason to praise God? As we come this evening to meditate
upon these great truths and be numbered amongst such as blessed
is the man? And the truth is, if these things
are not our life, then we are not amongst those who are blessed. It's a very dividing position,
isn't it? And it's no good coming and going
and sitting in chapel and listening to the sermons if there's no
effect from it. If we do not delight in this
great work of the Saviour. If we love to speak about it
and we love to hear about it and we love to read about it.
And that not just on the odd occasion but day by day and night
by night. So really it takes up our attention,
and we have to bless God if it is so, that He is our life. Wonderful. The Spirit of God
has brought us to that position. The Lord is our life. Oh, you
see, if that's so, there will be a light shining in this dark
world. Yes, and it won't be hidden either. It'll be set on a candlestick
that those around will observe. for the honour and glory of God. So, but his delight is in the
law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. Don't forget that. The true Christian,
the real Christian, the lively Christian, the healthy Christian,
what you and I should desire to be. And then there's a description. 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. See, whatever the condition,
naturally, whatever weather condition, however dry and parched it may
be, if the roots are by the river, and it's spiritually by the river
of life, you see, there will be life. And there will be the
evidence of life. And here was the evidence of
life because there was that springing up and there was this fruit in
his season. And what an evidence it is, as
of course we spoke recently in the Parable of the Sower, the
one very clear evidence of true life was fruitfulness. No fruit, no life. Deadness,
barrenness. Bless God. The Holy Spirit of
God has so worked in our hearts to fill us with the love of Christ
and desire after Christ and his righteousness that there is therefore
this glorious bringing forth fruit. Bringing forth fruit,
there is fruit to be seen. And here is again this statement,
and he shall be This blessed is the man, 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. Because it's done in
the fear of the Lord, because it's done for the honour and
glory of God, that must and always be our real motive, that his
name may be lifted up And what a blessing it is when his name
is lifted up, we're told, and I, if I be lifted up from the
earth, will draw all men to me. There will be that wonderful
attraction in the Saviour, that it might be so more and more,
in the day and age in which we live, that we may see many drawn
to the Saviour, and that our little lives may set forth the
wonderful favour of being amongst those who are called blessed
is the man. Then the psalmist goes on to
tell us the opposite side. The ungodly are not so. So let us, as I said, examine
ourselves. We don't want to be those who
are not so. But if we are those who are not
so, how necessary it is that we cry unto God Most High. He will come and powerfully bless
us, that we may be truly healthy in our souls and desiring to
lift up the Saviour and honour and glorify His great and glorious
Name, that we may be constantly delighting in Him. and that may
be set forth as fruitfulness in our life. And so we're told,
and the ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the
wind driveth away. Well, I'm sure we know what chaff
is, and of course at this time of year there's opportunity to
see it. When the corn is harvested, there
is the grain covered by chaff. What goodness is there in the
chaff? Has to be beaten away. Has to be taken away. And here
we have this statement here, like the chaff which the wind
bloweth away. There's no goodness in chaff.
There's no food in chaff. And may we therefore not be like
the chaff. We might think of it in this
way, the chaff of course, just as it were, surrounds the true
grain. Just on the outside, no goodness. My friends, we don't want to
have a religion which just has an outside which may appear to
have some value, but in reality, there's no goodness. The ungodly are not so, but are
like the chaff which the wind driveth away. And therefore the
ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the
congregation of the righteous. There will be a great and glorious
congregation of the righteous in glory. What a wonderful time
that will be when the whole Church of God is gathered home together
to be forever with the Lord. When there will be no separation. When there will be no sin. And
what will the Church of God be doing? Praising the Saviour. praising him for what he's done,
praising him for his glorious work of salvation in redeeming
our souls, saving us from the wrath to come. Great cause for
praise, great cause for thankfulness, those who are ungodly, Those
who are not found described in these previous verses will not
be found there. They won't be in heaven. No, the ungodly shall not stand
and be cast out forever. Forever. Oh, it's a very, very
solemn thought, isn't it? To be a professor without being
a possessor. There are many in the Church
of God today who profess to be Christians but their life does
not demonstrate that they are a possessor of the blessed divine
life in their soul as set forth before us here in these few verses. Therefore the ungodly shall not
stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. Well, I hope it is our earnest
desire that we may be found with the true Church of God in glory. And you know, if that is so,
you won't enjoy, as we've read here, the company of the ungodly. You won't enjoy it. You may be
found in it. But it's good when we deliver
from any enjoyment of it. The devil will try and make us
feel at home. Bless God, when the Holy Spirit
works so powerfully in our heart, we realize we are not at home.
Why? Because on this earth, you and
I, if we are the children of God, are strangers. We're pilgrims. This is not our
rest. This is not our home. It's a
foreign land. We're travelling home. We're
travelling home to God. In the way the fathers trod.
We have plenty of examples of the fathers. They are happy now. And we soon their happiness shall
see. And so we come into this last
verse. For the Lord knoweth the way
of the righteous. for the way of the ungodly shall
perish. What a good thing it is that
the Lord does know the way of the righteous. You know, Job
was blessed with a wonderful view of this. He tells us in
the 23rd chapter of Job and in the 10th verse, well, perhaps
we might just read the 9th verse. Eighth verse, rather, behold,
I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I cannot perceive
him. On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold
him. He hideth himself on the right
hand, but I cannot see him. But, another but, you see, but
he knoweth the way that I take. And when he hath tried me, that
means when he's tested us, I shall come forth as gold. Dear old
Job, trying as he was, had his confidence in his God. And he
was able to testify, I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that
he shall stand upon the earth in the latter time. He knew whom
he believed. He had confidence in his God.
And he was able, therefore, although he couldn't see the way so clearly
himself, He was able to commit himself to God and say, but He
knows the way that I take. When He has tried me, I shall
come forth as gold. What a wonderful blessing that
is. And then in the book of the Proverbs,
we're also encouraged. Solomon, as we know, wrote most
of the Proverbs. And in the fourth chapter of
the Proverbs and the 18th verse, we read this. But, again another
but, the path of the just is as the shining light. It's not
a dull light. It's not a dim light. It's a
shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. And so you and I should be concerned
that our life does show forth the praises of our God, so that
we have the wonderful comfort and the wonderful evidence that
we are amongst such as are described, blessed is the man. You see,
blessed is the man, therefore, or the woman, in this life, and
blessed eternally. We must always realize the vast,
vast difference between time and eternity. For the Lord knoweth
the way of the righteous, not righteous in themselves, no,
unrighteous in themselves, but made righteous, justified through
the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore are righteous,
and more than that, they're clothed with his great and glorious spotless
robe of righteousness. So they are fully clothed Nothing
lacking, knoweth the way of the righteous. The Lord knows the
way he's leading you and me, but you know it's the right way.
God doesn't make any mistakes, and all his people get safely
home to glory. May that always be our right
concern, that we get safely home to glory, and in our journey,
be constantly concerned to honour and glorify the Saviour himself,
never forgetting the cost of our salvation. It's good when
the Holy Spirit shows us more and more of our wretchedness
and vileness and sinfulness to think that such a great God should
have ever condescended to come into this sinful world and to
die, to shed his blood, that you and I might be with him in
glory. Such a meditation, such a thought
should truly humble us, but should also delight our soul. Oh, the word says, our meditation
of him shall be sweet. That's good, isn't it? Nothing
bad, nothing bitter, Better as you and I look at ourselves,
we may be in much bitterness, but meditate on what Christ has
done. That'll be sweet to our taste.
And we shall rejoice in it and bless God for it. For the Lord knoweth the way
of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. Perish in hell. Eternal misery. A place where there is everlasting
burnings. A place where the worm does not
die. Perhaps described as a nagging
conscience which you will never be freed from. Day after day,
no time of course in eternity, but putting it in figures that
you and I can understand, day after day, week after week, month
after month, year after year, year after year, year after year,
no end. No end. The ungodly. What a terrible thought. What
a terrible thought. I believe it's far worse for
those who have heard the truth, and turn their back, and have
said, I will not have this man to reign over me. I am going
to enjoy myself in this world. Sinner, such will be, will go
to a lost eternity, a condition too terrible to really think
about. But may we be directed to the
continual concern and have the wonderful evidence that you and
I are amongst those that this blessed book of Psalms commences
with, blessed is the man. Amen.