Let us turn to God's Word and
turn to the Psalm that we read, Psalm 1. And I want to take for
our text the opening word, the first verse in the book of Psalms. Psalm 1 and verse 1. 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 Here we are reminded
not only of the blessed man but also of the awful progress of
sin that that blessed man is spared from. Now we have in the
past some years ago now considered The godly man, as he is set before
us in this psalm, it's a binary psalm, we have a contrast between
these two characters, the godly and the ungodly, and we have
considered, as I said, something of that man who is blessed, that
godly man. But now I want us to consider
more particularly the other character that is spoken of, the ungodly,
and in particular to observe the awful progress of his sin,
how the wicked are ever more and more settled in the ways
of sin. There is a definite progress
here, we see the man initially walking and then we see him stationary,
he stands still, he's more established, in that way of ungodliness and
then eventually he is so comfortable that he sits it is settled about
there's a progress in the life of this ungodly person and how
the same truth in a sense he said before us in that portion
that we read in James chapter 1 there the Apostle says every
man is tempted when he is drawn the side of his own lust and
enticed and lust conceives sin and sin when it is finished brings
forth death there is a progress What is lost ultimately leads
to sin, and then sin, the consequence being death. It has been well
said that man knows the beginning of sin, but who can bound the
issues thereof? Oh, what a contrast we see then
here in this particular psalm between these two different characters. We have the The godly man describes
at the beginning, particularly in verses 2 and 3. And as I said, we've considered
something of that godly man. But then in verses 4, 5 and 6
we read of the ungodly man. Well, let us consider something
of this sin in its progress. First of all, I want to say something
with regards to the extremity. the extremity of his sin. And we see that the psalmist
employs different words here in this opening verse to describe
what sin is. We have these three words used,
these spoken of as ungodly, and then we read of sinners, and
we also read of the scornful. Blessed is the man that walketh
not, it says, in the counsel of the ungodly. And what is ungodliness? Well,
Luther says, properly speaking, it is the sin of unbelief. The godly are those who live
by faith. The ungodly are those who live
in unbelief. They know nothing at all of God's. whatsoever is not of faith,"
says the Apostle Paul, is sin. And it is that ungodliness, that
unbelief, that really lies at the root of all our sins, the
denial of God. It is a sin which does so easily
beset us. As we've said many times, it's
there of course in the Garden of Eden when we have the record
in Genesis chapter 3 of the fall into sin. How Adam and Eve transgressed,
they disobeyed God. And what lies at the root of
their Disobedience. It is the rejection of the truth
of God. It's the rejection of God. And
it's the embracing of the lie of the devil. Oh, it is there. Unbelief, ungodliness. The denial
of God. As a fool says in his heart,
there is no God. Now, here we see in Scripture
how that so many different words are employed to describe to us
something of what sin is. Hardly sufficient words, it seems,
can be found to show what an awful thing it is to be those
who are the deniers of God. We have this basic word, sin,
and we have it here in the verse. The ungodly man is the one who
is standing in the way of sinners. Now, as we said before, sin is
an interesting word. Of course, we find it so many
times when we come to such a psalm as Psalm 51, David's great psalm
of penitence. after David had sinned so grossly
in the matter of Bathsheba and Uriah her husband. He was an
adulterer, he was a murderer was David. And yet in the mercy
of God, in the goodness of God, through the faithful dealings
of God's servant, the prophet Nathan, David is brought to recognize
his sin, to feel his sin. And so we have that remarkable
penitential song And the word that keeps recurring throughout
Psalm 51 is this word, sin. So many times does David employ
the word. He felt himself to be a sinner. And remember the significance
of the word, the basic meaning of the Hebrew word is literally
to miss, to miss the mark. The language of the Hebrews is
such a language as really expresses their thoughts, their ideas in
very concrete terms, almost in picture terms we might say, and
their sin is described as the missing of the mark, not attaining
that that He sets before us but constantly forever falling short
and that's what sin is, all have sinned it says in Romans 3.23
and come short of the glory of God or there are those sins of
commission and there are those sins of omission not reaching
the standard that God has set before us. And that's what sin
is. It is that falling short of the glory of God. But as I
say, there are so many different words employed to describe the
extremity of the sin of man, the state of the ungodly sinner. there's that word transgression
and again it's another word that is of course used repeatedly
there in the 51st Psalm and what is the meaning of transgression
well principally it has the idea of rebellion and not so much
that falling short not so much the omission failing to do the
thing that God commands but stepping over the mark sins of commission,
rebelling against God that's what transgression is, open rebellion
John tells us, whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law
for sin is the transgression of the law, breaking the bounds
that God has set not walking in accordance with all his holy
precepts and commandments but breaking God's laws to be a transgressor
and then another word that we find in the Psalms throughout
the Psalms and again there in Psalm 51 is that word iniquity
what are we to understand by this word? I say so many words
so different in their meaning iniquity it's from a verb that
literally means to bend or to twist and so we see what sin
is it's that that is warped God's made man upright that's the language
of the scripture there in Ecclesiastes chapter 7 and verse 29 the preacher
declares it, lo this only have I found God made man upright. All his very stature as he comes
from the hand of his creator God he is erect he is created
to stand upright and doesn't that suggest the condition of
his soul as he comes from his maker's hand and yet man is a
fallen creature no more upright but now bent and twisted they
have sought out many inventions says the preacher there in Ecclesiastes
7 or they will not walk in the way of God's commandments but man rebels against God and
as he rebels against God so he becomes ever more warped and
disfigured. These are the words that we find
being used here in Scripture to sin, to transgress, to commit
iniquity. And then that word evil is also
used. What is the idea behind that
particular word? Well, it reminds us of the badness
of man and the wickedness of man. Jeremiah says the heart
is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked not just
wicked but so desperately wicked here is man's condition by nature
now that he has transgressed and fallen short of the glory
of God disobeying God he's in this condition where we have
such a description of him here in the psalm the counsel of the
ungodly the way of sinners the seat of the scornful this is
man by nature and now the scriptures constantly remind us of that
awful condition when the apostle writes there In Romans chapter
3, he has much to say with regards to man's condition by nature. He quotes from the Old Testament
scriptures, thus Paul reminds the Romans of those things that
were written of old. There in verse 10 of Romans 3,
as it is written, And he's referring to the Psalms, he's referring
to two Psalms in particular, Psalm 14 and Psalm 53. So it's twice those Psalms are
very similar, basically the same content in those two Psalms. And then Paul quotes from those
Psalms at some length here in Romans 3.10 as it is written,
There is none righteous, no not one, There is none that understandeth. There is none that seeketh after
God. They are all gone out of the way. They are together become
unprofitable. There is none that doeth good.
No, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre.
With their tongues they have used deceit. The poison of asps
is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.
Their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery. are in their ways, and the way
of peace have they not known? There is no fear of God before
their eyes." What awful words! What solemn words! And that threefold
cord, as it were, spoken of in the Psalms, spoken of there in
the New Testament, and that cord, that threefold cord, that is
not easily broken. Or sin. Sin is of man. Sin is
the condition of men by nature. But that sense of sin that anyone
is brought to, that can only come from God. That's the blessed
man. Why God has opened his eyes.
But not only opened his eyes, God is the one who also directs
his feet. 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. Ought to be those whose
eyes are opened to the truth of God. Though all are sinners in God's
sight, there are but few so in their own. O right are the words
of the hymn writer and remember how Hart goes on to say a sinner
is a sacred thing the Holy Ghost has made him so strange word
in that little couplet and yet the truth of them is this that
that's the sensible sinner who is a sacred thing as I said he
has that sense of his sinnership and that has come to him from
God that has come to him from God. He has been brought to see
the truth and to acknowledge the truth concerning himself,
that God requires of His creature a full, a complete, and a perfect
obedience to all His commandments. That is what the Lord of Gods
demands of men. The Lord is to be perfectly obeyed. Obeyed not only in deed but also
to be obeyed inwardly and Paul was brought to discover the truth
of that he imagined when he was a Pharisee and he was such a
self-righteous man that touching the righteousness of the law
he was blameless and in a certain sense he was he lived a most
respectable life He sought to observe the outward form of the
commandment. But as he acknowledges, writing
in Romans chapter 7, when God comes to deal with him, he is
brought to see and to feel something of the spiritual nature of the
law. Oh, he says the law is spiritual. But I am carnal, sold on the
sin. I was alive without the law once,
That's when he was a Pharisee seeking to live the life of a
Pharisee. I was alive without the law once
but the commandment came and sin revived and I died. And how was it that he was brought
to that? Well he makes special reference
to the content of the 10th commandment. Thou shalt not cover. And he saw then that his heart
was full of all covetousness, was full of all sinful desire.
All God requires that perfect obedience and to transgress in
one point brings condemnation. As James
says in that second chapter of his epistle, Whosoever shall
keep the whole law and yet offend in one point He is guilty of
all. And so here coming again to the
words of the text. We'll look at the words that
are used. We read of those who are the ungodly,
or as the margin says, the wicked. The blessed man walketh not in
the counsel of the ungodly, the wicked. That's that man who is
altogether loose, out of joints. He's a fallen creature. And then
we have use of this word sinners, nor standeth in the way of sinners,
those who are missing the mark, those who are falling short of
the glory of God. And then he speaks of the blessed
man as that one who avoids the seat of the scornful. Or there are those who are proud
mockers, they are rejecters of God they are those fools all
the fool has said in his heart there is no God they are those
who have all together gone out of the way here then we have
to acknowledge, we have to recognize the extremity the extremity of
the man's sin as Jeremiah says proceed from evil to evil there
is a progression the sinner doesn't stand still but he progresses
in all the ways of sin he becomes ever more settled in the way
of sins and so in the second place having sought to say something
with regards to the vocabulary that is used showing us the extremity
of the man's condition see how this man is so well established
in sin he walks and he talks, he stands and he sits all this
is the confirmed way of life for him there is such a propensity
to sin in the hearts of all men when David comes before God there
in that 51st Psalm remember how he makes his confession, behold
he says I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive
me he's acknowledging the truth of his original sin though he
had been guilty of actual sin, gross sin But he feels sin is
so bound up in his nature and he's not making an excuse for
sinning. He's not seeking to apportion
the blame somewhere else and to say that he couldn't help
what he did. No, he feels. He feels the fall. As the hymn writer says, to see
sin smart but slightly, to own with lip confession is easier
still, but all to feel cuts deep beyond expression. And remember
how he goes on, he recognizes that his sin has been committed
against God himself. Against thee, the only of thy
sins, and done this evil, he says, in thy sight. It's the
same David who in the 119th Psalm can say of God they are not good
and they do us good. Oh David knew the goodness of
God. David knew the mercy of God. And how it grieves him that
he has sinned against God who is all goodness. All we sang
just now in the paraphrase of that 51st Psalm. We spoke there of our sins being
against God's law, against His grace. Or when we are those who are
guilty of sinning against the grace of God, the goodness of
God. And yet this is what David is brought to acknowledge. He's
not excusing himself. When he makes confession of his
original sin, shaping it iniquity, conceived in sin Paul remember when he speaks
to those Ephesians reminds them of what they were by nature why
they were by nature the children of disobedience they were the
children of wrath they were no different to others they were
those who were so well established in their sins and yet God had
mercy upon them The words that we have there in Ephesians 2,
you have he quickened, he says, who were dead in trespasses and
sins, wherein in time past ye walked according to the course
of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience,
among whom also we all had our conversation in times past, in
the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and
of the mind and were by nature the children of wrath even as
others. So established by nature in all
the ways of sins. This is man's condition, this
is what our condition is by nature. naturally speaking of ourselves
we're told how God saw that the wickedness of man was great in
the earth and every imagination of the thought of his heart was
evil continually it says continually how men continue in all the ways
of sin how they press on wanting their own way temptation comes, if there's
the opportunity, do we not find that there is the inclination
in us also? And how can we stand then, when
we find ourselves in those situations, non-constant, with those in our
very natures, are established sinners. It's only the Lord Jesus
Christ who was able to say the Prince of this world cometh and
that nothing can burn. Oh, there is so much in us that
Satan himself can take advantage of when he comes and his assaults
are so subtle. Oh, we should be those who are
not ignorant of all those devices of the devil. We need to know
what those precious remedies are whereby we can stand and
withstand in the evil done. But then, with regards to this
ungodly man, we see not only how by nature he's so established
in the way of sin, but this is the fearful thing that's set
before us here in this first Psalm. It's the end of his sin.
it's the end of his sin the wages of sin we're told is death the
soul that sinneth it shall die there's an inevitability except
God should come in his grace and his mercy and deliver from
sin itself now as we said we have those
similar words In that epistle of James, every man is tempted
when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. And then
when lust hath finished, it bringeth forth sin. And sin, when it is
ended, bringeth forth death. The Puritan Thomas Manson remarks
there after the birth, death. the short history of man in his
sin. Lost conceives sin and sin ends
in death. Terrible words really. But look
at the end of the ungodly as he said before us here at the
end of the psalm. He says at verse 4, 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."
Where is the end? The end of sinners. And what
do we see here? We see three things with regards
to the end of his sin. We're told in verse 5, they shall
not stand in the judgment, nor in the congregation of the
righteous. Now when the Lord comes again,
and remember how at that second coming we will see the Lord Jesus
Christ as that one to whom all judgment has been committed. or he comes the first time in
that state of humiliation he comes to accomplish the salvation
of his people but he is to come a second time and then he will
come and he will judge the living and the dead and the Lord himself
speaks of that coming and that awful day of judgment there at
the end of Matthew chapter 25 And what does he say to those
on his left hand? Oh, he tells them to depart.
Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for
the devil and his angels. They shall not stand, you see.
They shall not stand. Why, it is even said with regards
to His first coming, He will throughly purge His floor, gather
His wheat into the garner, and burn up the chaff with unquenchable
fire. The ungodly, you see, are said
here in verse 4 to be like the chaff which the wind driveth
away. There is that sense even in the
day of grace when the Lord comes and His ministry is ever a discriminating
ministry. The Word of God, as He comes,
it's a separating Word. It comes to some the savour of
life unto life, but to others the savour of death unto death.
And Paul cries out, Who is sufficient for these things? Oh, when He
comes, you'll see, He will throughly purge His floor. He separates
the precious from the vile. Even now, as He comes by His
Spirit in His works, there is that separation. Mate, the sinner
cannot stand. The sinner, confirmed in his
sin, rejects all the overtures of the grace of God. But in that
final day, that great day, or then the separation will be a
final separation and the ungodly will be sent to their own place,
depart from man what a fearful words will come to the ears of
the ungodly sinner because man made in God's image, created
after God's likeness is meant to have fellowship with God,
to enjoy God and he can find no real enjoyment apart from
God. Such is the manner of his creation.
And yet the Lord will dismiss the ungodly. The ungodly shall
not stand in the judgment, nor sinners, it says, in the congregation
of the righteous. I said how the psalm is binary
and it will be seen to be so in that great day. They shall
not stand." But then we read something more here at the beginning
of verse 6. They are not known. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous. The implication
is He knows the way of the righteous, He knows not the way of the unrighteous. The truth is in that the Lord
knoweth them that are His. All the great doctrine you see
of God's foreknowledge. Who are the elect? Well, they
are those who are elect according to the foreknowledge of God.
That foreknowledge isn't what the Arminian vainly imagines
it to be. You know, as the Arminian reasons
things and explains things, he says, well, God foreknows, he
foresees, and he foresees those who will believe when the gospel
is preached to them. And in the light of that foreknowledge
that God has, foreseeing their faith, he makes choice of them. That is the foolish, perverse
reasoning of the Arminian he doesn't understand really what
that knowledge is elects according to the foreknowledge of God all
that knowledge it has a certain intimacy attached to it God knows
them in the sense that God has set his love upon them whom he did foreknow he also
did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that
He might be the firstborn among many creatures. Moreover, whom
He did predestinate, them He also called, and whom He called,
them He also justified, and whom He justified, them He also glorified. We're familiar with that golden
chain as it's called in Romans chapter 8. At the end of the
chain we have the glorification of the people of God. in that
terrible day of judgment. Yes, He'll say to those on His
left hand, depart. But to those on His right, He'll
say, come, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world. All the Lord's will glorify His
people. But what stands at the beginning
of the golden shine? Whom He did for? No. He did predestinate. He knows them. in the sense that
He has set His love upon them. They're His. He delights in them. And because He delights in them,
He has predestinated them. He has chosen them. They are
the election of His grace. But these who are the ungodly,
they're not known. Again, the words of the Lord
Jesus in His preaching, there in the Sermon on the Mount, In
Matthew 7.22, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have
we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out
devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works? Then will
I profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye
that work iniquity. I never knew you. For they are
not No. But what of the godly? As I said,
they are those who are truly known of God. As David says,
later in Psalm 139, O Lord, Thou wilt search me and know me. Thou knowest my down-sitting
and mine uprising. Thou understandest my thoughts
afar off. And now the godly love that,
they delight in that. Now David comes at the end of
that same psalm to pray to God. And he wants God to search him
through and through, he wants to have that assurance that God
does truly know him and know him all together. Look at the
language that he uses, that he employs there at the end, search
me O God, he says. and know my heart, try me and
know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead
me in the way everlasting all the Lord knows His people, He
knows all about them, He knows all their trials, all their troubles
Job says He knoweth the way that I take He knoweth the way that
I take when He has tried me I shall come forth as gold so we have it here in verse 6
the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous but the way of the
ungodly shall perish so the third thing we see with regards to
the end of the ungodly not just that they shall not stand and
they are not known but it says quite plainly they shall perish
they shall perish for there is a way that seemeth right unto
a man but the end of that way is the path of death says the
wise man death that's what is spoken of
here that's the perishing that we're to understand and we see
it, do we not, there at the end of Scripture in the book of the
Revelation and there in Revelation chapter 21 verse 8, the fearful and unbelieving and
the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers
and idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake which
burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. That second death, that's eternal
death. When we read of the sin of man,
as God says to Adam there in the garden, in the day that they
eat us thereof, they shall surely die. Adam knew death immediately
in his soul, there was a spiritual death that came upon him, he
was alienated from God separated from God, he had sinned and his
sin separated between him and his God and his iniquity hid
God's face from him and then in time there would come that
death that first death, that physical death when his Saul was separated from
his body. But then there is that eternal
death, that second death that he's spoken of. In that verse that we just read
in the 21st of the Revelation, the lake of fire, the second
death. And that's what's being spoken of here, the way of the
ungodly shall perish. Though we sought to say something
then on that more negative aspect of the psalm, as I said at the
beginning, we have looked previously at the blessed man. But all the contrast between
that man, that godly man, and the ungodly man, the unbeliever,
who are with those friends who are brought to see what sin is,
to recognize it, if we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves
and the truth is not in us if we confess our sins John says
he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness if we say that we have not sinned we
make him a liar and his word is not in us or that God's word,
God's truth might be so in us that we are those who are brought
to feel our sin we're told blessed is the man and observe how it's it's man
in the singular here is a rare thing the blessed man there are
multitudes, millions of those who are the ungodly that walk
in the council of the ungodly, that stand in the way of sinners,
that sit in the seat of the scornful. Now, the godly are but a few,
it seems, a little remnant. Well, we have to be thankful
to God for His general benevolence in His dealings with all His
creatures. He causes His sun to shine on
the evil and on the good. He sends rain on the just and
the unjust says the Lord Jesus. There is a general benevolence
in God's dealings. The psalmist says surely the
wrath of man shall praise thee and the remainder of wrath shall
restrain. God does that. We wouldn't use
the term common grace. God's grace is ever particular
in saving. But there is a general benevolence
are restraining the sins of men and we experience that sometimes
we only experienced it recently on Thursday when we had this
accident just outside the junction here at St Mary's Road the kindness
of people who came forward, concerned well not to recognize that but
that is the goodness of God what I mean by nature, men are such
great sinners by nature and we're no better than others we are
just as others are those things that we've sought to say this
morning they apply to us but are we those who brought to feel
what our sins are the awful nature of our sin we have to learn that
truth if we're going to know salvation how can we expect to
be perfectly saved till we find ourselves utterly lost the Lord
Jesus came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance all
sinners are high in his esteem and sinners highly value him
is that true of us this morning to be those who stand with this
man introduced to us at the beginning of the psalm Why the very first
thing that we discover in this remarkable book of Psalms is
the truth concerning the blessed man. Is that you? Is that me? Or by God's grace might it be
so this morning. Blessed is the man. Blessed is
the woman 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." And then the contrast,
the ungodliness. All the ungodly are not so. Oh, the Lord have mercy then
and bless to us his word. Amen.