If you would, turn with me in
your Bible this morning to Psalm chapter one, Psalm chapter one. I've never preached from this
Psalm, and I'll tell you why later on in the message. But
here in Psalm one, beginning in verse one, I'll give you a
moment to get there. Psalm one, verse one, begins
this way. Blessed is the man. Now that word blessed here means
happy. Happy is the man. The Hebrew word for blessed in
the verse is found in the plural, so really it means twice happy. Twice happy. It also means to
be favored of God. Oh, if you're favored of God,
You ought to be happy and then happy again, shouldn't you? Twice
happy is the man that's favored of God. And you know, we live
in a day and we live in a time where men and women alike seem
to find little to be happy about. What is it that makes most people
happy? What do most consider being blessed
to be? To have a good job, to be financially
secure, To be materially prosperous. Most people say they're happy
about those things. Others might say that to be happy,
blessed, content is to have good health. No doubt that's a good
thing. Others might say that to be happy
and content is to be free from worry and care. Others might
think that to be famous or well-known or to have power and influence
would make them happy, content, and blessed. But there's one
thing that all these things that I just mentioned have in common,
and that is, is that they're all temporary. Just fleeting
and passing. These things are here today and
gone tomorrow. And Paul said this in 1 Corinthians
7, he said, for the fashion of this world passeth away. And it does, it does. Job said, naked I came into this
world and naked I'm leaving. And that's a fact. These things
only provide a temporary joy, a temporary, And that's why the
Lord told us not to lay up for ourselves treasures upon earth,
the things of this world. Paul tells us to set our affection
and our passion on things above, not on the things on the earth. These so-called treasures of
the world, well, they get eaten, they rust, they corrupt, they
get stolen, I remember the first time my oldest son bought a new
car. He didn't tell me. He was a grown
man. Well, almost a grown man. Still
had some learning to do. And he went out and he bought
a new car. And he said, Dad, it's only $340 a month. And I
said, yeah, but that's every month for 60 months. He goes,
ooh, I didn't think about that. I said, exactly. You know, at
the end of that five years, 60 months, that car's going to be
a little dinged up and it's going to have some rough spots on it.
And that's the way it is with everything in this life. Even
our health. So-called treasures. Real happiness
and true blessings can't be found in things that can be taken away.
I enjoy my home and all its comforts. And I hope you do too. And I'm
going to tell you, I am fond of my king-size bed. And I thoroughly
enjoy having heating and air conditioning. Don't you? Well,
sure you do. Both in my home and in my car.
I enjoy those things. I remember my grandmother had
an outhouse. I enjoy having indoor plumbing.
And I'm thankful for these things that the Lord has provided us
and he is the one that has provided them. But they don't give me
a true and a lasting happiness. So then real happiness and real
contentment and real blessings must be in something else. Because
the psalmist here says blessed happy is the man. So this morning,
if God willing and he'll enable me, I want us to consider four
things about being happy and blessed from Psalm chapter one.
So let me ask you in the beginning though, are you happy? Do you
consider yourself blessed? The average person's definition
of being happy is pretty much directly opposite of everything
that the scriptures declare. The first thing of these four
is, who is this happiness for? Who's truly blessed? I wanna be one of them. I really
do. Secondly, who and what makes
these happy and blessed? Thirdly, who is not blessed and
happy? That's what this psalm shows
us. Now, I don't wanna be unhappy and cursed. I wanna be happy
and blessed. Anybody in their right mind would.
They wanna be happy and blessed. And fourthly, what does this
happiness bring? And I'm convinced that if you
answer these four questions according to the scripture, that you have
the gospel. You have the good news that God
has given sinners. That's what I want to comfort
you this morning with the good news of the gospel. So let me say it again with a
little more fervor and zeal. I want to be blessed. I want
to be happy. I want to be content. Don't you? All of us do. No one wants to
be unhappy. No one wants to be discontent.
Not only one day in heaven after I die, but here on earth in this
life right now, I wanna be happy. So first question, who is this
blessedness for? Who is to have this lasting happiness? Well, he says blessed is the
man, not an angel, but a man, not a man that is king, not a
man that is rich, not a man that is famous, not a man that is
healthy. Though they may be blessed, but
that's not what he says. Just an ordinary man is for men
and women just like you and me. And that should be encouraging
right from the get-go, shouldn't it? Men and women who are poor
in spirit. That's what our Lord said in
Matthew chapter six. Blessed, happy are they which
are poor in spirit. men and women who are spiritually
poor. Now, what does that mean? Not
those who have no clothes to wear, that's not what it's talking
about, but those who have no righteousness to cover them. Poor in spirit, those who see
their covering to be nothing but rags. Our righteousness is
nothing but filthy rags. God won't accept it. It has to
be perfect to be accepted. God won't accept anything less. And this is not talking about
those who have no currency or money or big bank account, but
those who are in debt to sin and have nothing to pay. That's
what it is to be poor in spirit. Not those who think themselves
to be rich and increased with goods, but those who see their
spiritual poverty and they mourn over it, and they're brokenhearted
because of it. This blessedness, this happiness
is for those who are subject to the infirmities of the flesh,
and we all are. This happiness is for sinners,
for mercy-bearers, Are you a mercy beggar? For theirs is the kingdom
of heaven. Happy, happy are they. The Lord asked his disciples
one day, he said, who do men say that I am? And they gave
him several different answers. They said, some say that you're
Elijah. Some say that you're Jeremiah, one of the great prophets. Some even say you're John the
Baptist. And our Lord asked His disciples this question, and
this is the question that I'm asking you this morning. The Lord asked, who do you say
that I am? Any hope that you have of eternity,
being with the Lord Jesus for eternity on, is who you say He
is. What think ye of Christ? Who
do you say Christ is? Well, Peter said, thou art the
Christ, the son of the living God. And the Lord said, blessed,
happy, art thou Simon Bar-Jonah, or son of Jonas. That's what
Bar-Jonah there means. He said, for flesh and blood
have not revealed this to you, and it can't. He said, but my
father, which is in heaven, he's revealed this to you. Do you
answer the same way? Well, my point is, who was Simon
Peter? He was the son of Jonas, just
a man, just a man. Blessed is the man. Blessed is
the woman. Now, I've told you ladies several
times, and I know you know this, but whenever we talk about man
or men in the scripture, we're talking about you too. Mankind,
men and women alike. Blessed, twice happy, well favored,
fortunate and content. Blessed is the man and woman. Blessed is the sinner. Blessed
is the mercy beggar. Secondly, who are these blessed
and happy sinners? Well, according to verse one,
They are those who walk not, those who don't walk in the counsel
of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sit
in the seat of the scornful. Who are they? Well, you can go
through the Psalms here and you can find out who they are. Psalm
212 says, blessed are they that put their trust in Him, the Lord
Jesus Christ, Him being Christ. Who are these happy folks? Blessed,
content, and fortunate is He whose transgression is forgiven
and whose sin is covered. Blessed, Psalm 32, blessed, twice
happy is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity and
in whose spirit there is no guile. If the Lord has forgiven you
your sin, you're blessed and you ought to be happy. Who are
these happy and content people? Those who trust in Christ, Psalm
34. Blessed, happy is that man that
maketh the Lord his trust. Are you trusting in the Lord
Jesus Christ and Him alone this morning to put your sin away?
Then you're blessed. Now, I know we live in a day
where blessed, blessed, blessed, you know. You sneeze, you know,
bless you and have a blessed day. Yeah, I told you this before
in another message, the Lord don't bless days. He gives days. He's the Lord of the day, but
He doesn't bless days. Blessed, satisfied, content is
the man whom thou choosest and causest to approach unto thee.
Psalm 64. Boy, that's a happy man. Not blessed or satisfied is the
man that chose God. The man that walked an aisle,
the man that raised his hand and said, I make Jesus Lord. Not the man that gets in the
water or joins the membership role of the church, no. But the
man that God chooses and the man and woman that God causes
to come unto Him. Now there's a happy man and woman. Blessed they are. Blessed, happy
are they that dwell in thy house. Blessed is the man whose strength
is in thee. Psalm 84, verses four and five.
all through this book, the Bible, and all through the book of Psalms. How about this one? Blessed is
the man whom thou chasteneth, O Lord, and teachest him out
of thy law. Psalm 94, 12. If God chastens
you, dear sinner, he's dealing with you as a son or a daughter,
and that ought to make you happy. Blessed is the man that feareth
the Lord. Feareth the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom, isn't it? Blessed be he that cometh in
the name of the Lord. Blessed are they that keep his
testimonies and that seek him with their whole heart. That's
a happy man, that's a happy woman. Every single blessing mentioned
in the book of Psalms has to do with the blessings that we
have in Christ. Not how much money we have, or
how nice a car we drive, or how nice a home we live in. Those
are temporal blessings. This is talking about eternal
blessings. And that's what's truly gonna
make you happy. Thirdly, Where can this happiness
be found? Well, I think you already know
the answer, don't you? Again, verse one, 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.
Now listen, happiness can be found with those who walk
not. That's, I know, a roundabout
way of saying it, but happiness can't be found with those who
walk in the counsel of the ungodly. Happiness can be found with those
who standeth not, or better said, happiness can't be found with
those who stand in the way of sinners. And then happiness can
be found with those who sitteth not. The verse says, in the seat
of the scornful, or happiness can be found with those, or cannot
be found with those who sit in the seat of the scornful. Now,
did you notice the gradual decline here with men and women who depart
from God? They go from walking to standing,
and then they go from standing to sitting. I don't know that
I ever thought about that. You see, those who find fellowship
with the ungodly and walk with them, they don't find any happiness,
and they're not blessed. And after a while, they take
pleasure in their walking with them, and pretty soon, they're
standing with them. They're agreeing with them. They're
fellowshipping more and more with them and finding delight
in doing so. And you might ask, well, Brother
Dave, how do you know? From experience. As most of you
know, I'm not a spring chicken anymore. Closer to 70 than I
am 60. And I know those of you who are
older say, oh, you're still just a pup. Well, I may be, but I
don't feel like much a pup. But I know from experience, pretty
soon, they're standing with them, and then they're sitting with
the ungodly, making their abode with them. They have now become
comfortable in the presence of the ungodly. And what a subtle
decline this is. Oh, it's so subtle. You know,
our enemy, Satan, he's subtle. He is subtle. Once they only
occasionally walk with the ungodly. Soon they're standing with them.
And then they go from standing to sitting with them. I've walked,
I've stood, and I've sit with the ungodly. I have in the past
abode with them. And I'll tell you the same as
Scripture does, there is pleasure in sin for a season. Just a season. It's temporary. Just for a season. They start
out only walking and hearing the ungodly's counsel. Then they
find themselves standing with them in their way. And then before
they know it, they're sitting down with these scoffers and
doing the same things they do. None of these things produce
happiness. Only those who walk not, and
stand not, and sit not, find true blessed happiness, contentment,
and joy. Where's this happiness found?
Verse two, but his delight, this blessed man, this happy man's
delight, is in the law of the Lord and in his law that he meditate
day and night. Now the word law here is, it's
not talking about the 10 commandments. It's not talking about the Levitical
law. Law is translated some different
ways in Old Testament scriptures. The word law here is talking
about the written Word of God. It's talking about the Word of
God. And not just the written Word
of God, but it's also talking about the incarnate Word of God. It's talking about the Lord Jesus
Christ. The happy sinner's delight is
in Jesus Christ and nowhere else. The Lord Jesus is their shepherd. I can just see David grinning
from ear to ear when he says, the Lord is my shepherd. He was
happy about that. You know what? So am I. I'm happy,
Adel, the Lord is my shepherd. I'm happy He's your shepherd
too, but I'm even more happy, I'm sorry, that He's my shepherd.
Christ is our green pastures. He maketh us to lie down and
rest in green pastures. He makes us to lie down and rest
in Him. He's our green pastures. He's
our still waters. That's where our happiness is
found. Nowhere else. Christ is who this
psalm is talking about. He's the blessed man and we're
blessed in Him. That's what Psalm 27 verse 17
says. And men shall be blessed in Him. Nowhere else. All nations shall
call Him blessed. Now I told you in the beginning
that I've never preached from this Psalm and this is why I'm
gonna tell you now. I know you've been sitting on
the end of your seat, edge of your seat. I used to read this
Psalm and I have to be honest with you. Little comfort in it. You know why? Because I walked
way too much in the counsel of the ungodly. And it always caused
me to look within and say, what's wrong with you? You know, a professing
child of God, one who says they believe and trust in Christ,
you walk way too much in the counsel of the ungodly. And I
way too often stand in the way sinners stand. I way too often
find myself sitting in the seat of scornful scoffers. I complain
way too much when I know that my Lord and my Savior, my God,
is in control of everything, even the traffic. And I don't
meditate in the law, the Word of God, day and night. Why, sadly,
I might go long periods of time without even thinking on my Lord
and my Savior. And like Paul, I can truly say
of myself, oh wretched man that I am. That's not an exaggeration. And I used to read these verses
and feel such condemnation and such inadequacy, but glory be
to God. This psalm is talking about Christ. He's the blessed man. He's the
happy man. He's the God man. And you know,
men talk about the messianic Psalms. A messianic Psalm is
a Psalm that makes reference to Christ. And I heard someone
say recently, a preacher, say that there were 16 messianic
Psalms. You know what? There's 150 of
them. There's 150 of them. They're
all in reference to Him. Every single one of them. Why,
this whole book is. It's Christ who walks not in
the counsel of the ungodly. It's Christ who stands not in
the way of sinners. It's Christ who sits not in the
seat of the scornful. It's Christ who delights in the
law, the Word of God. Why, He is the Word of God. A
believer is all these things in Him. in Christ. Now I find great comfort in this
song. And I could preach from it every
week, it would be fine. A believer is all these things
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. In Christ. I've heard people quote that
and say, blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places. In Christ! No man can delight in the law
of God but one who's kept it. Isn't that right? If I'm guilty
of the law, how can I delight in it? No man can delight in
these commandments after they've heard what the law says. Paul
wrote in Romans 3, verse 19, now we know that whatsoever things
say, what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are
under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world
may become guilty before God. And listen to me, beloved, the
law is spiritual, and we are carnal, and sold under sin, Romans
7, 14. For as many as are of the works
of the law are under the curse, for it is written, cursed is
everyone that continueth not in all things which are written
in this book of the law to do them. And then Paul said in Galatians
chapter four, verse 21, tell me, ye that desire to be under
the law, do you not hear the law? Do you not hear what the
law declares and what the law demands? Oh, if you do, you won't
desire to be under it. No, sir. The gospel is just this. For Christ is the end of the
law. For righteousness, to everyone
that believe. You can't obtain the perfect
righteousness that God requires because you can't keep the law
perfectly as God demands. We just read it, cursed is everyone
that continue with not in all things. If you offend the law
in one point, you're guilty of the whole law. If you don't keep
the law perfectly, you're guilty of the whole law. He says, continued,
cursed is everyone that continued not in all things which are written
in the law to do them. Not just give mental assent and
say, oh, I should do them. No, to do them. James said, for
whosoever shall keep the law and yet offend in one point,
he's guilty of the whole thing. And I can't find any happiness
there. I tried for years. The law of God shows me my guilt. The law of God exposes my sin. And Paul said, I had not known
what sin was, but by the law, that's why God gave the law,
for I would have not known what lust was, except the law had
said, thou shalt not covet. I don't find any delight in the
law of God, not in the respect of me keeping it in order to
be saved, Who would? Oh, I'm delighted in God's law,
God's commandments, because they're perfect and they're holy. But
I don't find any happiness in, I find no happiness in the word
of God had it not been for Christ taking my sin, paying my sin
debt, and giving me his perfect righteousness, the only righteousness
that God will accept. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness. I have that righteousness that
God will accept, and I have it in one place, and that's in Him.
His righteousness is my righteousness. How so? By faith. Christ is the
end of the law. Christ is done away with the
law. He gives His perfect righteousness to all who believe Him. Believe what? That He is all
their righteousness. Look at verse three here in Psalm
1. No doubt this is talking about the Lord Jesus. And he, that
being Christ, shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water
that bringeth forth fruit, bringeth forth his fruit in his season,
and his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall
prosper. Fourth thing, what does this
happiness bring? and brings forth salvation. Salvation
in Christ. Salvation is of the Lord. No
other way. Salvation is not of me and my
Lord. Salvation is not a cooperative effort, me helping God out. Well,
the Lord wants to save you, no? He never wanted to do anything.
What He wills and purposes He does. What He thinks comes to
pass. Salvation is of the Lord. That
just becomes more apparent to the believer every day, doesn't
it? As I grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord,
I see more and more, and I see clearer and clearer that if God
doesn't divinely intervene, if God doesn't divinely interrupt
in a sinner's life, they'll never be blessed, they'll never be
happy, and they'll never be redeemed. And Christ, I would have you
noticed here, is not a bush and he's not a shrub or a wild weed
that springs up out of nowhere on its own. No, he's a strong,
mature tree. He gives shade to the weary traveler. He gives fruit to the hungry
sojourner. And not only that, Christ is
a tree planted. Who planted this tree? God did. Our Lord told His disciples that
every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall
be rooted up. Unless the seed of God is planted
and watered and God gives it increase, it'll not live, it'll
be rooted up. Unless the Spirit of God is planted
by the plants Christ, by the river of God's love and mercy
of grace and our souls will die in our sin. Every branch that
bears not fruit, He, God, taketh away. John 15 too. If a man abide
not in me, the Lord Jesus said, he's cast forth as a branch and
is withered and men gather them and cast them into the fire and
they're burned. Christ is a tree planted by the
rivers of water. He is a constant supply of living
water. Why, He is that river that shall
never run dry. He is that fountain from which
flows living water. And it never runs dry, it's a
constant flow. Always more than enough. Jeremiah
17, seven, blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord and
whose hope The Lord is, for He shall be as a tree planted by
the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and
shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green,
and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall
cease from yielding fruit." That's what you and I are when we're
in Christ. Christ brings forth fruit, the
fruit of His Spirit. If we're in Him, so do we. Christ
is the fruit that he gives his people. He never ceases from
yielding fruit. His leaf shall not wither in
the drought of our hearts. What is a leaf to a tree? Well,
a leaf is a tree's covering. That's what Christ is to us.
Christ is our righteous covering that shall never fade. We have
the seasons, the leaves come out, and leaves stay a while,
and then they begin to fade and fall away, and then we have winter
again. Don't have that with Christ.
His leaves never fade. And what about this? Whatever
our Lord Jesus does, it shall prosper. Not it shall prosper
if you do this, or if you do that. It shall prosper. Christ is the true and lasting
source of happiness. He is the blessed and happy man. And if you're in Him, so are
you. He became a man that He might save men and women. He
walks not in the counsel of the ungodly. When we were without
strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. But He
doesn't walk in the counsel of them, and neither should we.
Our Lord doesn't stand in the way of sinners. He is the way. He is the truth and the life.
And no sinner comes to God but by Him. Our Lord doesn't sit
in the seat of the scorners while men scorned, ridiculed, and were
critical of Him. But He was despised and rejected
of men. They hated Him without a cause.
There was no reason, Tom, for any man to hate Him. Everything
He did was good and perfect and merciful and gracious. He was
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And our Lord's delight
is in the law, it's in the Word of God. He is the Word incarnate. He who gave the law kept the
law for His people. He is that tree planted by God. He's that river that cannot and
will not run dry. And that makes me so happy. His
fruit and his righteousness never fade. Everything he did and still
does shall prosper. In other words, he cannot fail.
He will not fail because he cannot fail. So, are you happy? Outside of Christ, you can't
be. No matter how you try, you can't
be. Not outside of Him. If you're outside of Christ,
Satan is sifting you as if you were wheat. But if you're in
Christ, he's prayed that your faith fail you not. The thief
cometh but to steal and to kill and destroy. But those who are
in Christ, Christ came that they might have life and have it more
abundantly. We don't only just have life,
we have life more abundant. Christ is the cause of this abundant
life. Nothing else. And those who have
this abundant life in Him are blessed and happy and content
and forever saved. Cursed. Doomed and damned be
the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and
whose heart departed from the Lord. But blessed, twice happy,
fortunate, content, are those who trusteth in the Lord, and
whose hope the Lord is." Listen, Christ in you, dear sinner, is
the hope of glory. And I'm sure happy about that. May God enable you to be happy
in Christ.