In the night I was dreaming there
was God above the sea, even me, even me. OK, back to Psalm 1. Psalm 1. To me, there is no more precious
or blessed or helpful or more edifying, comforting, consoling,
encouraging, enlightening scriptures than the Psalms. I can always
turn to the Psalms. and receive a blessing. If in
doubt what to read, where to go, I can always turn to the
Psalms and find something. I believe that's because it was
written by a man after God's own heart who speaks to the heart. David speaks to the heart and
I can relate to him. Psalm, like the scripture says,
is like a looking glass that we see ourselves in. It's like water wearing face,
answer it to face, so that the heart of man to man. That's what
the proverb says. My favorites in the Psalms, I
started, I sat down as I was preparing this and I started
thinking about some of my favorite Psalms. And I just kept listing
them and listing them and listing them. Psalm 2. My, my, why do
the heathen rage and the people imagine the vain thing? The Lord
hath declared the decree, I'll set my king on my holy hill of
Zion. Psalm 2. Psalm 8. How majestic,
how magnificent is thy name, O Lord. Thou hast made him a
little lower than the angels, but have dominion over all things.
Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd. Psalm
24, the earth is the Lord's, the fullness thereof. Psalm 25,
teach me, lead me, guide me. Psalm 27, oh my. Psalm 37. Psalm 38. We like that one, don't we, John?
When you're feeling particularly sinful and crying out for mercy,
turn to Psalm 38 sometime. My sins have gone over my head,
he says in that psalm. Psalm 45, my heart is inditing
a good matter. I speak of things as touching
the king. My tongue is a pen of a ready
writer. Psalm 51, have mercy on me, O God, according to thy
love and kindness. Psalm 71, I'll make mention of
thy righteousness and thine only. Psalm 72, about the king. Psalm 84, How amiable are thy
tabernacles, O Lord of hosts. Psalm 103, Like a father pitieth
his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. Psalm 104,
Psalm of Thanksgiving. Psalm 107, Psalm 118, Psalm 119. What about Psalm 119? Psalm 126,
So when the Lord turned again our captivity, then we were like
them that dreamed. The Lord filled our mouths with
laughter, wherein we have said, The Lord hath done great things
for us, whereof we are glad. Psalm 126. Psalm 145. The Lord is gracious
and full of compassion, slow to anger, and of great mercy.
And on and on the list goes. Those are just a few select ones
I wrote down. From Psalm 1 on through. Every
one in between. But maybe, just maybe, the first
psalm is first for a reason. And I say maybe. Well, it is. It is there first for a reason,
isn't it? It's certainly one of, it's certainly at the top
of my list of favorites. I really could not say which
is my favorite, but this is right up there at the top. The psalm
of the blessed man. the psalm of the blessed man.
And this is a psalm. It has a twofold application. As all scriptures, it speaks
of Christ first. You remember when Christ preached
to his disciples on the road to Emmaus, it says beginning
in the book of Moses and the psalms. Where do you think he
began in the psalm? And which psalm do you think
he began preaching from? Blessed is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the ungodly." This is a two-fold application. It first speaks of Christ and
then speaks of the Christ-like, those who are like the Christ. This is a psalm of the Lord I
love and of the man I'd love to be like. A psalm of the Lord
I love and of the man I'd love to be like. So let's look at
it again. It's not the first time we've
looked at this together. Blessed is the man. Blessed is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the ungodly. The man. As Pilate said of Christ
one time, not realizing what he said, Behold, the man. The blessed man. The God man. the one truly supremely above
all, above all, over all, blessed by God forever, the blessed man
who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, who walks not
in the counsel of the wicked. Christ's holy feet. Maybe that's
the reason Mary fell at his feet and kissed him as she did. She
realized those feet were precious feet indeed, always walking in
paths of righteousness. always walking by faith, always
walking with God, walking not in the counsel of the ungodly,
but walking with his God. Blessed is the man, Christ Jesus,
that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth
in the way of sinners. Nor standeth in the way of sinners. The way of sinners is the way
of greed. way of wickedness, the way of
sin. Christ stood not in the way of
sinners. He standeth not in the way of sinners. Christ, when
you think about it, Christ stood not at all, hardly at all. He didn't stand still at all. He was always working. Didn't
he say that? My Father doth work, and so I
must work while there's twelve hours in the day. Always working. Outer Righteousness for always
walking somewhere and to someone. He said, I must stop Lotus Red. I've got to get to Samaria. Always
working, always walking to somewhere and to someone. I've got to get
down here to a little sycamore tree. He's up a tree on purpose. Always walking, always working,
he stood still very seldom, very seldom, always walking ultimately
toward Calvary. His whole life was spent walking
toward Calvary, wasn't it? That was his end. He stood not
in the way of sinners, but stood as the way for sinners. Right? But Christ did stand still
a few times. Very seldom did he stand still,
but I remember a couple of times in the Scriptures where it says
he did stand still. He stood still. When an old blind man was over
by the wayside begging, Jesus, thou son of David, he stood still. When a woman with an issue of
blood touched the hem of his garment, it says he stood still. The Lord of glory. Controller
of the ruler of the universe stood still for one center one
said. He stood not in the counselor
in the way of centers. Nor sit in the seat of the scornful.
You see that nor sit in the seat of the scornful. Christ sat in
the seat of the master. He didn't sit very often either.
But when he did, it was as up on the mountain. It says when
he went up into a mountain and sat down and he taught the people. Sermon on the mountain. He wasn't
idle even in sitting. Preaching, teaching, blessing.
And Christ sits right now. Where is he sitting now? At the
right hand of the majesty on high. Sitting on the judgment
seat. sitting as king, sitting as mediator,
sitting as covenant head, seated at the Father's right hand. Christ
sat down, having finished his work. Verse 2, And this blessed
man, this blessed Christ, his delight is in the law of the
Lord. His delight is in the law of
the Lord. They said to him, Master, eat. He said, I am. He hadn't eaten
for days. They said, eat something. He
said, I am. A man doesn't live by bread alone.
He said, I'm feasting right now, feasting on the manna, the God-given
bread, the Word hidden in my heart. I am. I have meat to eat. He said, you know nothing. Listen
to this in Psalm 40. His delight is in the law of
the Lord. Listen to this. It says, lo, I come in the volume
of the book it is written of me. I delight to do thy will,
O God. Yea, thy law is within my heart.
That's what Christ feasted on. That was his delight, the law
of his Lord, even as a young boy. As a 12-year-old boy, think
of it. His parents tried to drag him
away, and he said, I must be about my father's bidding. Must
be about my father's bidding. His delight was in the law of
the Lord. His delight was in fulfilling
that law for us. That was his delight. Delighted
in doing that. in being made under the law for
us, being subject to His own law for us, in redeeming us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. He delighted
in that. He delighted in doing that. He didn't have to. Who
would want to be subject to the law? Tell me, Paul said, you
that desire to be under the law, don't you hear it? The strictness
of it, the requirements of it, Christ delighted in it and in
doing it and fulfilling it for us. Look at the next line. It
says, And in his law doth he meditate day and night. Christ,
the blessed man, delighted in the law of the Lord, and in that
law he did meditate day and night. David, speaking, surely speaking
of the Son of David, speaking in inspiration of the Spirit,
David said, At midnight I will rise to give thanks." Now, that's
not like a man, but surely Christ must have done that. Huh? It
said of Christ, it said of the Son of David, it said, He rose
a great while before day. Rising a great while before day,
it said. Why? To meditate and pray. Rising a great while before day.
Three, four in the morning. It tells us, He gives His beloved
sleep. But he withholds it from himself. He says, sleep on. Remember when the disciples were
in the garden? He said, you sleep on, take your rest. I'm going
to stay up. That's Psalm 121, isn't it? He
that keepeth thee will not slumber nor sleep. The Lord didn't sleep
for about three or four days straight before he went to the
cross. Sweat and blood. But he giveth us sleep. He says,
you sleep. I'll stay up and worry about it, like a faithful father
that he was. Morning, noon, and night. Morning
and night, our great high priest was preparing to sacrifice, fulfilling
all righteousness, every jot and tittle. I'm glad that he
meditated day and night in the law of the Lord, weren't you,
Terry? He had to fulfill every jot and tittle of the law for
us. If one thing was left unfulfilled,
I'm a goner. And Christ meditated and he thought,
I've got to fulfill this and that and this and that. Every
dot of the eye and every crossing of the T for our sake. All righteousness. Every, to offend in one point,
to be guilty of it all. I've got to keep it all, Christ
said, for Joe's part, for Mary's part, for Christi Madeline. I've
got to do it all. I can't leave one thing undone.
I've got to be able to say in the end when I present them before
the Father, faultless, it's all done. All of it? All of it. For there he meditated in the
law and fulfilled it all. That's a good rhyme for a song,
Terry. Take that and run with it. He
meditated in the law. He had to fulfill it all. The
word was hid in his heart. You ever think about this song
in light of this? The word was hidden in his heart
that I might not sin against him. Thy word have I hidden in my
heart that I might not sin against thee, as Christ my substitute,
my representative praying for me. Thy word have I hidden in
my heart that he who is me, who is in me, that Stan Anderson
who is in me, whom I represent, might not sin against thee. Stan's
broken. He's broken it all, but I've
fulfilled it all. I've hid it in my heart, I've kept it all,
that he might not sin against you. Christ meditated in the
law day and night. Verse 3, And he shall be like
a tree. That's the next line of your
psalm, Terry. He shall be just like a tree. A tree, a tree of
life. Revelation says, In whose Limbs,
or the leaves of that tree are for the healing of the nation.
That tree over in Revelation it talks about planted by the
river, same tree, Christ the tree of life. He said, I'm the
vine, you're the branches, you're the offshoots from this tree
of life. He shall be like a tree planted
by the rivers of water. Christ is the tree and Christ
is the river. Whereof the streams make glad
the city of God." Christ is the tree and he's the river, or that
is, all blessings flow from him on this river. Planted by the
rivers of water, Christ is the tree, Christ is the river, Christ
is the water. He said, I'm the water of life.
He that drinketh of me shall never thirst again. It says he's
planted. Christ is planted. When you plant
something, that means it's fixed. It's settled. It's established. It's planted. Christ is like
a tree that's planted, like a towering oak tree. When I think of a big,
strong tree, I think of oak tree. I love oak tree. And I saw over
in England, I saw an oak tree that was over 300 years old.
It was just massive. I just stood there staring at
it. Christ is like a massive, towering oak tree to which us
little sparrows can fly into it for safety, for it to build
a nest, to harbor our young. Isn't it? Christ is that tree.
We find shelter from the storm, build our nest and raise our
young in Christ. Bring your children up in that
tree, and nurture in the admonition of the Lord." And it says, this
tree, Christ the tree, bringeth forth his fruit. Why do I know
this is Christ? See that verse 3, it says, his
fruit and his season. His fruit. Do I have fruit? No. All my springs are in Him. All my fruit comes from Him.
The branch bears no fruit, except from the roots, right? That's
where I know this speaks to Christ, because it says He's bringing
forth His fruit in His season. And what is His fruit? We are
His fruit in His season. God is that tree. God is the
tree. Think about it in these terms. God is the tree, Christ is the
seed, like an acorn. That's what it said there in
Isaiah 53. It says he shall come forth as
a root out of dry ground. The seed, he said to Mary, the
angel said, that holy thing, that's the seed of God, the woman's
seed. That little, would you ever think
a little acorn could grow into such a massive hoe? That seed,
that babe in that manger, will someday be that towering oak
to which you can resort. Christ is that seed. God is the
tree. Christ is the seed planted in
the earth, which grew in stature and favor with God and men and
the fruit of his life. In the fruit of his life, we
have life. He bore leaves and fruit. And we have life. Christ is like
that corn of wheat that he said, if it doesn't fall in the ground,
it abides alone. But if it falls in the ground
and dies, it brings forth much fruit. So Christ is like that
corn of wheat which fell into the ground and died, which was
who was crucified and buried, but rose again and brought forth
fruit unto life eternal. Look, read on. It says, His leaf
also shall not wither. His leaf shall not wither. Scripture
says that in Psalm 18, He says, Thou wilt not suffer thine holy
one to seek corruption. Christ died, yes, but He didn't
stay dead. He rose from the grave. He's
life. He cannot die. He can't kill life. And the righteousness
that He provided for us, shall not fade. It shall not fade. We have old white shirts and
undergarments and all that with time they become dingy and yellow,
don't they? They fade. Not the robe that
Christ provides for. It always stays pristine white.
It'll never get a spot on it either. No blemish. Not by you,
not by anyone. And the blood stays red. not
a shade lighter, deep crimson red, covering all my sin. His leaf shall not wither, and
whatsoever—I love this verse—whatsoever he doeth, whatsoever he trieth—is that
what it says?—whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. It shall prosper. Well, what did the Lord do? What
did the Lord do? It shall prosper. Listen to this. It says over in another place,
it says, The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. The pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. What did Christ come down to
do? What was the pleasure of the Lord, the Father's will that
Christ came down to do, Pleasure of the Lord that was in his hands
and said, we prosper. What did he come to do? He says,
it pleased the Lord to make you his people. So the pleasure of
the Lord shall prosper in his hands. So it pleased the Lord
to make you his people and pleased God to put you in Christ's hands.
And he ain't going to drop you. He's not going to drop you. Jump.
Jump. Cast yourself on him. He won't
drop you. He did not drop the one. You catch your boys every time
you told them to jump, Joe. Jump, son. They were scared,
weren't they? They were scared. And I venture
to say now, even if need be, if they were in a burning building,
you'd still say it, wouldn't you? Even though Stephen, John,
son, I'll catch you. I believe God will give you the
grace to do it. I believe he'd give you the strength. That love
would overcome the obstacles for me. bears us up under those
everlasting arms. He says, jump, ain't nobody too
heavy. As a matter of fact, all of you jump at once. I'll catch
you. Never drop to one. It pleases the Lord to make you
His people and to give you to Christ, and He won't drop you.
He'll save you. He'll save you. It'll prosper.
That work He came to do for you, it will prosper. It will prosper. he will save
his people. All right, let's go back and
look at these verses again, and look at them in the second application. Look at them as a picture of
the Christ. Now let's look at them as a picture
of the Christlike, OK, the follower of Christ. All right? And that's the image I want to
bear. This is the image This is the character I want to have. Isn't it you? All right, let's
look at it again. Blessed is the man, or the woman,
or the young person. Blessed of God, that is, is the
man that walketh not in the counsel of young God. And if that person
doesn't, it's because God blessed them. There was once I did, once we
did walk in the counsel or the wisdom of the world, that is,
thinking like the world, acting like the world, thinking like
the world, a counsel. But now, blessed of God, with
a mind clothed in your right mind, the mind of Christ, hath
not God made foolish the wisdom of this world in your mind? Huh? You're a blessed man, Stan. Take
ninety-nine out of a hundred men where you work, think just
like, don't you? There's one man, there's a lot
down there at M.W., who's vexed with the conversation of the
wicked, whose righteous soul is vexed by their conversation,
day and night. Blessed man. God blessed you,
didn't He? Flesh and blood didn't make you
that way, my Heavenly Father. Bless that man, separated him. He's called him by his grace.
He walks not in the counsel. He doesn't—the wisdom of this
world is foolishness to him. He heeds only the wisdom which
comes from above. Eh? Nor standeth in the way of
sinners. Standeth in the way of sinners.
There is a way that seems right to the world, isn't there? There's
a way that seems right to the world. Most of the world thinks
alike. It's pretty much the same thoughts
and ideas about the way things are, or who God is, or if there's
not one. There's a way that seems right
to the world, but it's all wrong to believe her. And it's all
wrong. And you're a blessed man if you
feel that way. If you don't stand in the way of sinners, if you
don't stand there with them, You don't go the way he's headed,
the world's headed. That's not the way that the believer
wants to go, the way of saying, I've been in that way before.
I've been that way. It's like a fellow heading down
some road. He said, don't go that way. I want to. No, I've been there. It's this
trouble. This trouble is like you try to tell a young person,
you know, steer clear of such and such. Nah, nah, nah, nah. I've been there. I'm telling
you there's trouble. The blessed is the man who doesn't
stand in that way. He's not headed in that way,
in that direction. It's not where he wants to stand. And the world someday will try
to endeavor to stand before God in his own righteousness. The
world will stand before God someday and plead their own righteousness.
That's not where the believer wants to stand. Now you want
to stand before God in his on righteousness. He wants to stand
clothed in Christ's righteousness. He wants to be hidden under his
robe, doesn't he? He wants somebody standing between
him and God, doesn't he, Joe? He wants to stand on the rock.
He wants to stand on the promises. He doesn't stand in the way of
sinners, the way that seems right. It's destruction. He wants to
stand on Christ. And read on. It says, It doesn't sit in the seat of
the scornful. Or is that a word? Mockers. Scornful. It's someone
who's a mocker and a scoffer. Cynic. Cynical. This is fresh on my mind. You ever met somebody that knows
everything? Huh? Everything they have is
better than what you've got. Whatever you buy just isn't any
good. You need to change it. You ever been around somebody
like that? Cynical. Just everything. They know everything. They have everything. They can
do everything better. Cynical. Mockers, scoffers, cynical. An unbelieving world. It's so
wise in its own conceits. Aren't they? That's what the
Scripture says. A fool is wise in his own conceits. He considers
himself to be wise when he's just a fool. An utter fool. And the world believes very little
of Scripture. This holy, marvelous—give me about a hundred thousand adjectives
for this glorious book, would you? That describes the wisdom
and the marvel. Adjectives can't describe it,
can they? The amazing wisdom of this glorious book. The world
believes very little. They scoff at it and mock it
as some old fairy tale, some cunningly devised fable or whatever. They believe very little of Scripture.
The blessed man, Rick Williams, believes all of it. He doesn't
scoff. Do you scoff at any of it? Is
there any part of it, Rick? You say, I have my doubts about
that. Come on, really. Anything? What a blessed man. Huh? No, he's no dummy. He wasn't
born yesterday. He's as smart as your average
Joe. Or... Why do we always use that
name, Joe? Because it's common. Well, he's as smart as the average
Bill or whoever, you know. But he blessed every word of
this book. Has he duped? Has some man just duped you?
Are you following a man? Blessed man, blessed of God Almighty,
believes every word of it. all things to be right. And I
hate every false laugh, didn't I? Paul, what about the Apostle
Paul? I venture to say there was probably
never a more brilliant man on the face of the earth, not even
Albert Einstein. You look over there in the Scriptures
where Paul talks about the bodies celestial and terrestrial and
so forth. It's in astronomy. Before, maybe, there were telescopes.
And the Apostle Paul said, I believe all things written in the word,
in the prophets. All things. And the way they
called heresy, that's what I believe. That's what I believe. What they scoff at, you said,
what the Greeks call foolishness, I hang my soul on it. I believe
it with all my heart. That's the blessed man in me.
Huh? He doesn't sit in the seat of scornful. People, I'm telling
you, and you know it. This world scoffs at this book,
and even religion is making a mockery of it, aren't they? They're translating,
they're making so many perversions of it and translations of it
and all because they're seeking to explain the unexplainable. Because the scientific world
refuses to believe it, so they try to, you know, turn it all around. Keep it being
to fit in with modern man's thoughts of it. But the blessed man believes
all of scripture and you'll not find him seated with unbelieving
and scornful man, but he's seated with Christ in the heavenly.
He's seated with his people in the congregation of the rapture. You know, there's no one this. This there's an illustration
here says walk stand and sit. It's like a young fellow that's
captured, made captive by someone stronger and more powerful than
him. He's walking along and all of a sudden something grabs his
attention and he just sits right down and is enamored with it.
That's what the world does to us by nature. But there's
no one in this world There's no one in this world I want to
walk with. I can really say that. Some I
would consider friends, people I like, but they're
not my bosom buddies. I don't have no fellowship with
them. How can light have fellowship with darkness? After we get over the mundane,
over the trivial things of this life, the weather and sports,
you know, after we get over talking about whatever, then what do
you, there's nothing. There's nothing else, right?
There's no one in this world I want to walk with. There's
no one in this world I want to stand beside for any great length
of time. How you doing? All right. What's
new? How's it going? Okay. Cold, isn't it? Yeah. See you
later. Okay. You know, what are you
going to talk about? I want to talk about your first
love. Am I going to sit down for hours
on end with that person? What are we going to do? Really,
Rick, what are we going to do? I said this before, there's nothing
in you that appeals to the world. There's nothing in you. They
don't want your religion. They don't want you to start
talking about your Christ and your God in this gospel. They
don't want that stuff. There's nothing about you that
appeals to the world. But I'm telling you, danger,
danger, danger is a lot about the world that still appeals
to us. Don't sit down with them. Don't
walk with them very long, and don't sit down with them. Don't
stand there. And certainly don't sit down
with them. And nobody I'm going to sit down
with for any length of time unless he or she is like my Lord, like
Christ. Really now, it's really. And I'm not saying I'm better
than they are. It's just that What's the song that says, you
know, I'm resolved no longer to linger charmed by this world's
delights. Things that are higher, things
that are nobler, these have allured my sight. I'm a companion of
them that fear thee, David said. Huh? I'm a companion of them
that fear thee. I'm walking by God's grace toward
the celestial city, and I want to walk with somebody that's
going to help me along the way, not hinder me, not somebody that's
pulling me the other direction. Do you? Where are you going? I'm going toward the Celestial
City, Bunyan's Pilgrim City. He said, don't go, don't go.
Let's stand and Mr. Talkative and all these other
characters and pilgrims. Stop, stop, stop, stop. He said,
no. I won't stop. You come with me. We'll talk
on the way, but I don't want to stop. Lest I sleep the sleep
of death with you and come enchanted with vanity fair. Blessed man, if he doesn't walk
in the council and gather, stand in the way of sinners, sit and
receive the scorn. And his delight is in the law
of the Lord. Listen to this. Let me read you a few verses
over Psalm 119. You know, that's the that's the
psalm that that speaks so much of God's Word. That's what he
anytime he uses the word law. Most of the time using the word
law means the word. It's the word. Listen to this.
His delight is in the law of the Lord. Listen. See if you
don't. See if you can enter into this.
See if your delight's in the law of the Lord. OK? Let's see
if you're a blessed man or a blessed woman. See if you delight in
what I'm about to read about delighting. All right, verse
14. Listen. I have rejoiced in the
way of thy testimonies as much as in all riches. Can you say that? That you have
rejoiced in hearing the gospel as much as when you pulled that
shiny new Nissan in your driveway, or whatever it was, or that shiny
old Oldsmobile. And he does drive your father's
Oldsmobile. Now, can you rejoice in the gospel
in Christ? your haven of rest in as much
that new house that you moved into? Have you just as much? That's
what David, he said, I will delight myself in thy statutes, verse
16. Listen to verse 47. He says,
I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved. That kind of reminds me of what
Peter said. He said, he said, desire. the sincere milk of the Word.
Didn't he? It's like he's saying, set your
heart on it, desire it. David says, I will delight myself
in it. I'll go and I'll sit and I'll
be delighted. I will delight myself in thy commandments, which
I have loved. Listen to this, verse 92. Listen
to this if you're following. He says, unless your law had
been my delights, I would have perished in my affliction." Can you enter into that after
going through some tough trials? Unless your word had been my
delight, unless I'd have gone to the tabernacle, David said
in Psalm 73, and then I understood. Oh, it's good for me that I've
been afflicted that I might learn your statute. He said, I'd perished
in my affliction if the word hadn't been my delight. If you
hadn't have made it so. Verse 103, he says, How sweet
are thy words unto my taste. Sweeter than honey to the mouth.
Has the gospel ever come out like that to you? Huh? Sweeter
than honey to the mouth. Has it ever come out like that?
Has grace ever poured forth from the lips to your lips, the lips
of the preacher to your lips? Verse 113, Has Christ ever, well,
like the beloved one, has he ever kissed you with the kisses
of his mouth? That's what it means for the
word to be sweet to your taste, is honey. Let him kiss me with the kisses
of his mouth. What's that? Mouth to mouth, resuscitation. Word to heart, regeneration. That's what it is. Listen to
this. Psalm, or verse 113, I hate vain thoughts. I'm telling you,
every time I turn on the TV or the radio or just read the newspaper. Would y'all with me, let's move
somewhere to a cave. Really, and don't you feel that
way sometimes? Every day you turn to trash, trash, trash. Brother John and I were sitting
down at Little Caesars today eating pizza. John, you know, John embarrassed
me, Stan. We were eating pizza and they
had that box on, you know, and it's so mesmerizing. And oh,
what's his name up there on trash? Just trash, just filth. I hate
vain thoughts, David said, but thy law do I love. There's nothing
forward or perverse in here. That's what Proverbs 8 says,
doesn't it? Nothing forward or perverse in here. It's all together
lovely. Isn't it? It's life. It's good. I esteem all thy priests are
good, right, just, holy, pure, spotless. One, listen to this. He says, well, I've already quoted
that to you. 131, he says, I opened my mouth
and panted. I longed for thy commandments.
You ever come to hear the gospel like that? I'm telling you people,
if you ever come like that, you'll go away singing like you never
sung before. If you ever come like that, Listen
to it again. I opened my mouth and panted. As in a dry and thirsty land,
as a heart panteth after the water broke, so my soul panteth
after the... I opened my mouth and panted. I longed for thy commandments.
What did he say, Nancy, in that one song? That mama bird, that little nest
full of baby birds, you know, did she ever say, not too busy,
got better things to do? Never. Drops a big fat worm. They said you'll feast on fat
things and wine on the leaf. And he says in 162, I rejoiced
at thy word. Have you ever heard the gospel
like this? I rejoice at thy word as one that findeth great spoil,
like a treasure hunter who's been hunting all his life, hits
the mother load. Great spoil, like a thirsty man
crawling through the desert and hears a crystal clear pool of
water, spring water. Have you ever heard the gospel
like that? The delight of the believer is the word which by
the gospel is preached unto you. And by his grace he meditates
on these day and night. That's what it says there. In
his law doth he meditate day and night. And I ask you, how
often does the word of God pop into your mind? This is what it means, I believe,
for the Word to be hidden in our hearts. Ask the Lord to make
it so. The everyday things of life.
There's no better teacher. There's no better commentary
on the Word of God than the everyday things of life. All the world's
an illustration of the truth of God's Word. I'm telling you. Think about it. Just the Word. You don't have to be able to
quote Scripture perfectly, Think on things above. Set your affection
on things above and everything will preach a sermon to you.
It will. And you'll be walking through
the fields and you'll see blood. You will. Better take day and night. Verse
3. He shall be like a tree planted. That's what I want to be. We'll
be planted a tree planted. Michael Martin Luther said, Here
I stand. I can do no other like Peter. To whom shall we go? Planted, grounded, settled, rooted
to Christ by rivers of water, rivers of water. I tell you,
people, you come and you sit here and just drink the river.
Just drink the river, we're going to the fountain is flowing. right now. Take as big a draught as you
want. You can take as big a draught from this water of life as you
want. As much as your thirst, as much as the thirst you have,
you've got as big a drink as you can take. Rivers. You know what Christ
said? Out of his belly shall flow rivers
of living water. What's that? And sit down, come
sit thirsty Blessed is he that hungered and thirsteth to righteousness."
What? He'll be what? Filled. Why? Because there is
a fountain filled with blood. There is a fountain filled with
grace. It's flowing from this place
right here. Yes, this place. And he'll bring
forth fruit. His fruit in his season. He'll
bring forth the fruit of Christ. Didn't Christ say? And I don't
fully understand this, John, but he said it. He said, then
these will you do. Didn't he say that? I don't fully
understand that. But the fruit of the Spirit basically
is faith, hope, and love. Faith toward God, hope in Christ,
love of the brethren. That's what brings forth fruit.
Leaves shall not wither. I tell you what, we all do fade
as a leaf, don't we? The beauty of man, the flower
of the field. We all do fade as a leaf, but
he that is in Christ. And we're going to fade, and
we're all going to get old and wrinkled and maybe go to a rest
home and lose our minds. If Christ doesn't come first,
everybody in here is going to fade like that. We all do fade
as a leaf. But I'm telling you, in Christ, you're not fading.
You're not fading. You're about to blossom. That
old flower of the flesh is fading fast. Oh, but that little rose
that looks like the Rose of Sharon is going to blossom and just
burst forth in eternal beauty. It shall not wither. It should prosper. It should
prosper. Spiritually. Spiritually and
materially. God's people. David said, I've
never seen God the righteous, forsaken, or his seed begging
bread. Never. Never. They go unemployed. That's
alright. They won't be begging bread.
Somebody will feed them. Never begging bread. Verse four,
and I'll quit with these verses. The ungodly aren't so. The ungodly
aren't so. Aren't so what? They're walking
in the counsel of the ungodly. They're standing in the way of
it. They're sitting to see the scornful. They delight not in
the law of the Lord. They're not like trees. They're
like chaff, which the wind driveth away. That goes well with the
message on the fan, doesn't it? The chaff. They're like chaff.
The ungodly are not so. And listen, let me just say this
for your comfort. We do ungodly things. Believers
do ungodly things. And we are, at times, seemingly
ungodly. We do ungodly things, but we're
not ungodly. Ungodly means to be without God,
without thoughts of God, without an interest in God, without worship
of God. Ungodly means, like the Scripture
says, God is not in all their thoughts. not in their thoughts
at all. That's the ungodly. Is God in
your thoughts? Does God occupy your thoughts?
Well, you're not ungodly. You do ungodly things, but you're
not ungodly. Believers break the law, but
they're not lawless. Right? Right. The ungodly aren't
so. There's no delight in the Word.
They're not planted. They're not planted like chaff,
like chaff. that the wind of driveth away."
Every wind of doctrine, every wind of worldly wisdom, every
new scientific discovery. Oh, that's it, that's it. I've
been enlightened. Every new scientific discovery. Every wind of modern opinion.
They're carried about with it, aren't they? Carried about with
it. Not the believer. I'm standing
in the old It is the good way. The ungodly, verse 5, shall not
stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
Listen, people, they are going to stand someday in the judgment,
but not for long. See, believers aren't going to
stand in the judgment. You're going to see it. Huh? Christ is going to say,
"...and thou, blessed to the joy prepared for thee before
the foundation of the world, sit down at my right hand. Now you ungodless, stand there,
you who had no interest in me and my gospel, and stand there
while I read your judgment." And he reads it and he says,
now cast him out. Y'all just sit there. Sit there. They won't stand for long. Nor in the congregation of the
righteous. And there's a scripture over in Revelation that says
that there's a vast multitude which no man can number of every
tribe, kindred, and nation that stood before the throne and before
the Lamb singing this song. Worthy is the Lamb. They won't
stand singing that song. They won't stand amazed in the
presence of Jesus in Nazarene. We will. We will stand amazed
in his presence. Verse 6, in closing, the Lord
knoweth the way of the righteous. The Lord knoweth your way. He
knows the way you're headed. Why? It's not saying here the
Lord knows you're a good boy or girl. The Lord knows where you're headed
and knows the way you're in. Why? Because he put you there. That's right. Of God are you
in Christ, who is the way. It's of the Lord's mercies that
you're not concerned. It's of the Lord's mercies that
you're sitting here tonight and not sitting down at Joe Bill's
Bar and Grill. Right? Or Paul's. Barbecue. There you go. It's of the Lord's mercy that
Rick, that you and I are building up to the bar right now. We were
building up and filling our belts. Isn't that something? The Lord knows the way of the
righteous because he put them in the way. And it's going to
be of the Lord's mercy that you stay in the way. He's going to
keep you that way. You're going to stay that way.
Not the ungodly. They're going to perish. They're
going to perish. Their religion is going to perish.
Their righteousness is going to perish. Their profession is
going to perish. But he said to us, they'll never
perish. They that trust in me shall never
perish. I give unto them eternal life,
and they'll never perish. Blessed man. Blessed woman. All right, stand with me. Our Heavenly Father, we bless
your holy name. All that is within us, we bless
your holy name. We don't want to forget all your
benefits. Thou who daily loadest us with
benefits, with blessings. You who have not dealt with us
according to our iniquities. that we receive double from your
hand. Blessings. Blessings. We thank you, Lord,
for everything. Everything. We thank you. Especially,
though, we thank you for the blessing of all blessings, the
knowledge of your Son, faith in him, saving grace, sovereign
saving grace. We thank you, Lord. In Christ's
name we pray. Amen.