Well, you know, in going through
these lessons, these messages on Christ in the Old Testament,
there's so much there. And, of course, I'm not going
verse by verse through the Old Testament. I preach on a lot
of the Old Testament books verse by verse, expository as they
say. But in Psalms, you know, you
think about, you know, there's like 150 Psalms, you know. Which ones are you going to pick
for that? I'm going to do several of them. And there are Psalms
that are so familiar to us, everybody automatically thinks of the 23rd
Psalm, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. And of course,
that's certainly talking about Christ. But in going into the
Psalms in this series on Christ in the Old Testament, I decided
just to start with Psalm 1 because it sets the tone. It sets the
stage for all of the Psalms, and it establishes that there's
only one way of righteousness, and that's why I've entitled
this message, Christ, the Way of Righteousness, which he is,
and he's the only way of righteousness. And it also, it's a psalm, it's
a short psalm, six verses, that divides the whole world into
two classes of people. And technically speaking, that's
the only two classes there are. They're either a sinner lost
in your sins, which would describe the ungodly, or a sinner saved
by grace through the blood and righteousness of Christ, which
is the righteous. Now there is a minor debate over
this psalm. It starts off in verse one, blessed
is the man. Now who is this blessed man?
There are some people who say, well, this psalm is just talking
about Christ himself. Christ himself is the blessed
man. And then there are others who
say, no, this is talking about his people saved by the grace
of God. Now, the way I look at it, it's
really talking about both. Because when you talk about righteousness
in perfection, the only one we can be talking about is Christ
himself and the work that he accomplished on Calvary's cross
to save us from our sins. But that righteousness of perfection
that Christ accomplished has been imputed to his people. And
so we can be described as righteous, not in ourselves and not by our
works, but in Christ. And so that's the way I'm going
to approach this song. Look at the first word blessed.
Now a lot of Hebrew scholars, and then when you come to the
New Testament and you see the word blessed, a lot of the Greek
scholars will translate that word as happy. Happy is the man
that walketh not in the counts. And that's not a bad translation
necessarily, but we need a cautionary word on that. That doesn't mean
happiness of feeling and circumstance, like all that we go through makes
us happy, laughing and joyful, in that sense, like feeling that
way. This happiness that he's talking
about, this blessedness, is a true happiness that comes from knowing
and looking to Christ for all salvation. That's what it's talking
about. When I'm sick, I don't feel happy.
You know, when I'm hurting, I don't feel happy. But I am happy in
the Lord. And I put in the lesson here,
Romans 15, 13, it says, now the God of hope fill you with all
joy and peace, not in how you feel today, not in what you're
going through today, but in believing. joy and peace in believing that
you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost,
joy and peace in looking to Christ. So whether I'm happy or sad about
how I feel or my circumstances, I'm always joyous and happy in
Christ. I know He's my only hope. He's
the surety of my salvation. So blessedness here, the blessed
man, describes one who is favored with God, favored of God. One who's in good standing with
God, the judge of all. And our good standing in that
favor comes from Christ, comes through the blood of Christ.
And him alone, his righteousness imputed alone. It's the opposite
of somebody who's cursed of God. Now, think about it this way.
A person who's cursed of God can be happy and joyful in this
life in moments of time. They might even win the lottery.
I'll never forget years and years ago, there was an old fella up
in Westwood, Kentucky, right next to Ashland. And he won the
Kentucky State Lottery. I think he won $45 million. And
he was a well-known rounder. But when they interviewed him
on the news, the first thing he said when he got up there,
he said, well, there is a God. And I thought, well, you fool.
There was a God when you were out poor and selling drugs or
whatever it is you did. The fact that you won the lottery
doesn't prove there is a God. And then I heard later on that
he moved to Florida, squandered all of his money. I think he's
dead now. But he was cursed of God. Boy, he was happy when he
won that lottery, wasn't he? Joyous. So understand that, you
know, we're not talking about somebody who's got some kind
of a health and wealth kind of mentality and the false gospel
of health and wealth issues. All right, so as God, and so
how would this apply to Christ, the blessed man? Well, as God
manifest in the flesh, God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ was certainly
favored and in good standing with his Father, isn't that right?
And I thought about this, Matthew 3, 17. This was after his baptism. It said, a voice from heaven
came saying, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. That was the father speaking
of the son. And so, but now think about Christ
himself. He was certainly blessed of the
father. He was favored with the father. But you know what Isaiah
said about him? He was a man of sorrows, acquainted
with grief. So how can he be both? Well,
you gotta look at what it means to be blessed. And just like
us, if you're a sinner saved by grace in Christ, you are,
we are most certainly blessed of God. And all the benefits
and all the blessings of salvation, we didn't earn them, we didn't
deserve them. That's a blessing from God. We
talk about the Beatitudes, blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed
are the meek. That's describing sinners saved by grace who have
gained the whole blessings and benefits of eternity, not by
their works, but because of Christ. And so those who are truly blessed
are described, and they're described here. Look at Psalm 1. Blessed
is the man who walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. Now your concordance may say
wicked there. The ungodly here refers to the
unregenerate, unbelievers. They are those who give counsel,
but their counsel is wrong. They may talk about salvation,
They may talk about righteousness, they may talk about God, but
their counsel is wrong because it's not according to the word
of God. They counsel people of a salvation
conditioned on themselves. And so they are bad counselors,
dangerous counselors, as you might say. And this, as I said,
this ungodly describes all unregenerate, unbelieving people, even irreligious
and religious, doesn't matter. Well, certainly we could say
Christ did not walk in their council, did he? He didn't listen to them. He
walked according to the will of his father. It was his delight
to do the will of his father. And when he saves us from our
sins, he gives us right counsel, good counsel, spiritual life,
knowledge, brings us to faith in him and repentance of dead
works so that we, and think about this, we by nature were ungodly. We by nature walked in the counsel
of the ungodly because we were ungodly. But when Christ reveals
himself to us by the spirit in the preaching of the gospel,
He brings us out of that bad counsel, that bad advice, and
brings us into good counsel, the counsel of God, which is
in the gospel. Now we still struggle with sin,
but we look to Christ as the author and finisher of our faith.
So whenever a preacher preaches a message, You've got to ask
yourself the question, is this good counsel? Is this good advice? Well, it's not even advice at
all. It's a command from God. It's the absolute truth of the
gospel of salvation conditioned on Christ, who fulfilled those
conditions and secured the salvation of all for whom he died. He says
here that the blessed man does not stand in the way of sinners. He says, nor standeth in the
way of sinners. Well, we're all sinners, aren't
we? As I said, there's only two types of people. You're either
a sinner lost in your sins or a sinner saved by grace. But
the way of sinners is the key here. What is their way? And
it's the false ways of salvation that people devise and in which
they stand firmly entrenched and rooted. They stand there,
they take their stand. in a false way. There is a way
that seemeth right unto men, but it's the way of death. It's
the broad ways that lead to destruction. It's a way of self-righteousness,
which is the greatest of all sins. Now Christ himself certainly
didn't stand in that way, because he himself is the only way of
salvation, the only true way by God's grace. He said, I'm
the way, the truth, the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. And because of our fallen Adam,
we ourselves are born spiritually dead and depraved as evidence
by being rooted in false ways that we devise until something
happens. Until God the Holy Spirit reveals
Christ to us, reveals the truth. We would continue standing in
that false way if Christ didn't pick us up and put us in the
right way of salvation. And then he says, the blessed
man, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. Sitting in the
seat, I think it represents the false comfort, the false rest,
the false refuge of those unbelievers and scorn, they place no value
on the glory of God in Christ. Their value is in themselves,
what they do. who believe that salvation is
ultimately up to them and their choice, their decision, their
works. That's what they place value
on. Paul the Apostle indicated that in Philippians chapter three
when he said, if anybody had any right to boast in the flesh,
I more. And he started talking about,
I'm a Hebrew of Hebrews, a child of God, or a child of Abraham. as touching the law, those were
the things he valued. And when the gospel of Christ
was preached to him, he scorned it. And that's what he was doing. He was sitting in the seat of
the scornful, comfortable in his own way. But God brought
him out. God disturbed him, troubled him,
convicted him to where he got up out of that seat. by the power
of God and sit down in the seat of Christ. We're seated in the
heavenlies with Christ, resting in him, lifting us up and putting
us in his family and settled into where we value Christ, the
glory of his person and the power of his finished work, his righteousness
even more than anything else in this life or the next. So
think about that. Now that's how this sets the
tone here. And I thought about, you know,
the Pharisees, they accused the Lord of eating with publicans
and sinners. And he did. But I'll tell you
what he didn't do. He didn't go their way. Their way of either morality
or religion or immorality. He didn't sit in their seat. He didn't take their advice. He came to call sinners to repentance,
and that's what he was doing. Now that sets the tone for the
whole psalm here. Let's look at verse two now. It says, his delight, now this
is the blessed man, his delight is in the law of the Lord, and
in God's law does he meditate day and night. Now we know certainly
that applies to Christ. He said it was His delight to
do His Father's will. You know, when we read the Scriptures
in the New Testament, we see issues of love and faith and
issues of dedication, things that Christ did and commands
us. We have a struggle within ourselves,
don't we? And sometimes If we're honest,
we can say it's really not our delight to do this. We have a
delight, don't get me wrong, but Christ always, without any
struggle within Himself. Somebody said, well now didn't
He struggle in the Garden of Gethsemane? That wasn't His struggle to do
what's right. It was His struggle in the infirmities
and weaknesses of the flesh that He was going through. He was
hurting. He was anticipating going to
the cross and dying. That was what his struggle was. If this cup can pass from me,
he said, but nevertheless, thy will be done. He delighted to
do God's will, to keep God's law. And I thought about this,
when it comes, you know, the law of God, when you think about
the law, If we had nothing but the law of God staring us in
the face, where would we be? We would be doomed forever. All it would do would be to expose
our sinfulness. The fact that we deserve condemnation. We'd have to live our lives saying,
Lord, if thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, who would stand?
Peter said, depart from me, Lord, for I'm a sinful man. If we had
nothing but the law, so how is it that we who are so sinful
can delight in the law of the Lord? How can we who are so sinful
meditate day and night on the law without just being brought
down into the dust of sorrow and despair? There's only one
way. and that is by looking at that
law as it is honored and kept and fulfilled in and by our mediator,
our savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. That's how we
can delight in it. Faith does not dishonor the law. Faith pleads the righteousness
of Christ, who is the perfection of the law. And we go through
our lives knowing that the only perfection of the law that we
know is that which is found in Christ. So that the law cannot
condemn us. We don't have to be afraid of
the law. We don't have to run from the law. It cannot condemn
us. Why? Blessed is the man whom the Lord
imputeth righteousness without works. That's how. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? The law cannot charge us with
sin. It can show us our sin, but it can't charge us. Why? Because Christ is our surety.
Christ is our substitute. Christ is our Redeemer. Christ
is the Lord our righteousness. Look at verse three now. Here's
the success of what Christ accomplished on our behalf. He shall be like
a tree planted by the rivers of water. He'll never go dry. Of course, we know Christ is
the tree of life. That certainly would apply to
him as the tree of life. Christ is the water of life.
Wouldn't that apply to him? Remember he told the woman at
the well, he said, I'm the water of life. You drink from this
fountain, you'll never thirst again. So certainly this applies
to Christ. That bringeth forth his fruit
in his season. Christ brought forth fruit. You
know, John chapter 12, I've got that marked in your scripture,
or in your lesson here. The scripture, John chapter 12.
That's where Christ said, if a seed of wheat falls into the
ground, it'll bear much fruit. But what happens to the seed
of wheat? It literally dies. But out of that death comes life.
And he was speaking of himself. He said, and I, if I be lifted
up, I will draw all unto me, all of his people, whom the Father
gave him before the foundation of the world. So out of his death
comes the fruit, which is his people. That's what we are. We're
the fruits of his labor. We're the wheat of his labor. And he harvests us, he reaps
us, he brings us in, and he gives us water, water of life, the
gospel, the word of God. So it applies to Christ, but
it applies to us in Christ. He said, I'm the vine, you're
the branches, you'll bear much fruit. We can talk about the
fruit, fruit unto God. We can talk about the fruit of
the Spirit, all of that. And he'll bear that fruit. There's
not one person for whom Christ died that will not live. We'll
all live in him. And it says, his leaf also doth
not wither. It doesn't fade, it don't die.
And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. He never fails. That's what that's speaking of.
And we never fail in him. Paul spoke of his struggle within.
He called himself the old wretched man. Oh, wretched man that I
am, who shall deliver me from this body of death? I thank God
through Jesus Christ, my Lord. He said, there's therefore now
no condemnation in them that are in Christ. Christ is prosperous,
successful, victorious, and we are in him. Oh, death, where
is thy sting? Grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death, it's gone. All right, now he turns in verse
four to the ungodly. He says, the ungodly are not
so. Now the ungodly refers to unregenerate, unbelieving persons. And as I said, I know that we
were all that by nature, but that person, now what he's gonna
be talking about is that ungodly person. who lives in that ungodliness
all their lives and dies in that ungodliness. The ungodly are
not so. They're not like the blessed.
He says, they're like the chaff which the wind driveth away. You know, after they harvested
the wheat, they had the chaff laying on the ground, they'd
gather up. It was no good except to be gathered up and burned,
the chaff. And that's what he's talking
about. And I want to stress this. Understand that the only reason
that verse four doesn't describe us is the sovereign grace of
God. The sovereign mercy of almighty
God. Do you know that? By the grace
of God, I am what I am. As I've quoted Psalm 130 in verse
three, if the Lord were to mark iniquities, who among us would
stand? None of us. Verse five, therefore the ungodly
shall not stand in the judgment. To stand in the judgment is a
metaphor for being declared forgiven of all of our sins and declared
righteous in the sight of God. That's only to the blessed. to stand in the judgment, think
about it. These ungodly persons who have
no Christ, no mediator, no righteousness, no blood, they'll be cast down. They'll be declared to be workers
of iniquity like those in Matthew 7, 21 through 23. They're deserving
of eternal death and damnation. But now so are we, except, by
the grace of God in Christ, we have a surety, we have a substitute,
we have a redeemer, a life giver, a preserver, a mediator. And
it says here, they will not stand in the judgment nor sinners in
the congregation of the righteous, the assembly of the righteous,
the assembly of all those who are saved by the grace of God
in Christ. The ungodly will not. will not
stand in that congregation. Christ said he would separate
the sheep from the goats. So they will not be counted in
the congregation of the righteous, those who are found washed in
his blood, clothed in his righteousness. The congregation of the righteous
are those who stand in the way of Christ, the only way of salvation,
forgiveness, righteousness, eternal life and glory. And that's what
Paul was talking about in Romans four. Think about the blessedness
of the man to whom the Lord imputed righteousness without works.
And so in verse six he says, for the Lord knoweth the way
of the righteous. Not only does he know it, but
the reason he knows it, because he is it. The Lord is the way
of righteousness. Christ is the way of righteousness.
And that's it, he made and paved the way. He made it, he did it,
he walked that road. And he is that road, he is the
way, the truth, and the life. And this was and is God's way
from the beginning. He knows the way of the righteous.
And really, you think about it, he reveals the way of righteousness
to his people, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. There's only one way. That's
the way of God's grace through the blood and righteousness of
Christ. The way of the ungodly would be any other way, every
other way, and it will lead to perishing for the ungodly. When
you ever read scriptures like this, We ought to just look up
and just thank God that he delivered us from the way of the ungodly.
That he put us in the way of the righteous by his grace through
Christ. Okay.