I want you to turn in your Bibles
to the book of Psalms for our message today, the very first
Psalm in the book. Do you know how the book of Psalms
begins? It begins this way, Psalm 1,
blessed is the man. Blessed is the man. That's the
way that David begins the book of Psalms. He begins it with
a benediction, even as our Lord began his ministry in the Sermon
on the Mount. Our Lord began his ministry this
way, even as David began the book of Psalms. David said, blessed
is the man. That's the way he started the
book of Psalms, and he continues that way all the way through.
And when our Lord began his earthly ministry, he began with this
note, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn,
for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, they shall
inherit the earth. What does the word blessed mean?
David's saying, blessed is the man. You know what the word blessed
means here? Well, I'll tell you what it means. It means happy.
It means happiness. Or it means fortunate. It means
to be well off. So David begins the book of Psalms
with this statement, happy is the man. Happy is the man. Or you might put it this way,
Very fortunate is the man. Or you might put it this way,
very well off is the man. And that's our subject. Are you
interested in true happiness? Are you interested in being truly
well off? Now the world in general, even
some religious people, have some ideas about what constitutes
happiness. And they have some ideas about
what what it means to say that a man is well-off or that a man
is very fortunate. What do we mean generally when
we say a man is well-off? Well, I know the first thing
that comes to your mind when we say a man is well-off. That
is, he is a prosperous man materially. Now, that's what the average
person, when they say John Smith is well-off, they mean that John
Smith has a fine home that's paid for and John Smith has two
or three cars, and John Smith has a nice bank account, and
he's got some savings, and maybe some stocks and bonds, and John
Smith's well-off. That's what the average person
thinks, that well-off means, and that's what constitutes being
well-off. What would you say we mean when
we say that person's very fortunate? Well, I'd say this is the first
thing that comes to your mind, that he has good health. and
that all of his children are at home or nearby, and they've
all got pretty good health, and all of the grandchildren are
in pretty good shape. He's very fortunate. He's very
fortunate that he has not experienced some great misfortune, or some
great tragedy, or some great sickness, or some great accident. He's fortunate. He's a very fortunate
man. And then when we mean, when we
say someone is very happy, we usually mean that that person
is laughing a lot. He's a person who enjoys comforts,
the comforts of life and freedom from worry. He doesn't have anything
to worry about. He's always happy, happy-go-lucky. That's what we think. He's got
fame and friends and fortune and all these things. But neither
our Lord nor David mentions any of these things. When they say,
blessed is the man, blessed is the man, David starts the book
of Psalms this way, blessed is the man, happy, fortunate, well-off
is the man. And our Lord begins his sermon
on the mount with these words, blessed is the man. And neither one of them mention
material possessions, good health, prosperity in the things in the
physical or material world, or laughter or glee or or fame or
fortune, or any of these things, listen to David, he says to our
Lord, our Lord says, blessed, happy are the poor in spirit. He says, happy, blessed are they
that, not a laughing, but a mourning. And then he says, happy are the,
not the strong and the able and the self-sufficient, but the
meek. And he says, happy or fortunate are they that are not full and
well satisfied, but who are hungering and thirsting. This is strange
language, isn't it? And then he goes on and says,
happy are the merciful and the pure in heart and the peacemakers,
not the troublemakers, but the peacemakers. And then David begins
this book of Psalms with this statement, happy, well or fortunate
is the man. And he goes through the whole
book of Psalms this way. Let me give you just some of
them, just lightly touch base throughout the book of Psalms.
In Psalm 2, verse 12, he says, happy are they who put their
trust in the Lord, who are not trusting the arm of the flesh
or the strength of man, but who are trusting in the Lord. That's
the man that's happy, not the man that's trusting in his banker
and trusting in his job and trusting in social security. and trusting
in stocks and bonds, but who's trusting in the Lord. That's
the man that's happy. And in Psalm 32, 1 and 2, happy,
blessed, fortunate is he whose transgressions are forgiven.
Oh, happy is the man under whom God will not charge sin. That's
the fortunate man. It's not the fellow who has no
sickness, but the man who has no sins because Christ died for
him. Happy is the man, not the man
who has no trials, but the man who has no transgressions. Happy
is the man who, not the man who has no ill will, ill wind blowing,
but the man who has no iniquities charged to his account because
Christ died for him. That's the well-off, fortunate,
happy man. And then in Psalm 65, happy,
blessed, fortunate is the man whom thou choosest. and cause
it to approach unto thee." It's not happy is the man who has
entrance into Mr. Carter's East Room, but happy
is the man who has entrance into God's throne room, into the throne
of grace. That's the happy man. It's not
the man that calls by their first name some of the notables of
the world, but the man who can call God Father. That's the happy
man. He may not know anybody on this
earth that amounts to a hill of beans, but if he knows God
through Christ, that's the happy man. And then happy, Psalm 84
and 5, happy is the man whose strength is in the Lord, not
in his influence in the Lord, not in his bank account in the
Lord, not in his power over other men, but happy is the man whose
strength is in the Lord. You think of that. And then Psalm
94, 12, happy, blessed, well off is the man whom the Lord
chasteneth. Preacher, are you sure you read
that right? Yes, I think I did. I have it right here. It says
in Psalm 94, 12, happy is the man whom the Lord chasteneth
and teacheth him out of his word. You see, my friend, the chastening
of the Lord is not to be dreaded, feared, or aborted. God uses
trials to strengthen faith. to reveal faith. God uses trials
to bring us the fruit of the Spirit, patience and hope and
love and joy and mercy. So a man who feels the hand of
God upon him in affliction or in trials or in chastening ought
to be a happy man because God's doing something for him. God's
not leaving him alone. God's not leaving him to his
self-will. God's not leaving him to his
own way. God's correcting him. And he says, he correcteth every
son whom he loveth. And if you be without correction,
if you be without chastisement, you're not a son of God. So that
man's happy who is under the hand of God in afflictions. It's good for me that I've been
afflicted. God teaches me His way. And then in Psalm 112, happy
is the man that feareth the Lord. Happy is the man who fears God.
Do you fear God? You say, I don't fear my God.
I'm not meaning your God. I mean the God of the Bible.
Do you fear the God of the Bible? You know, throughout the Old
Testament, when it talks about those who knew God and who worshiped
God and who believed God, you know how they were described?
Jacob feared the Lord. Abraham feared the Lord. David
feared the Lord. In the book of the New Testament,
when it talks about the rebels who knew not God, it says there's
no fear of God before their eyes. Solomon said the beginning of
wisdom is the fear of the Lord. David said, you come and I'll
teach you how you ought to fear God. I don't mean a slavish fear,
a fear of hell. I mean the fear of sonship, reverent
fear, a fear of all in the presence of God. Happy is that man who's
learned the fear of the Lord. And then in Psalm 118, verse
26, happy is the man that cometh in the name of the Lord. And
then in Psalm 119, verse 2, happy are they who keep his testimony.
You know, we must be completely out of tune with God. This generation
and every generation, our definition of happiness is totally opposite
of what I've been reading here. The average person's definition
of being fortunate or well-off or happy is directly opposite
of everything I've read throughout the book of Psalms. Now, isn't
that strange? Are we that much out of tune
with God? Our Lord Jesus Christ said He
rebuked those of little faith. He said, don't take any anxious
thought about what shall I eat, what shall I drink, what shall
I wear? These are the things that the
heathen seek after. Your Heavenly Father knows you
have needed these things even before you ask Him. Why, He said,
look at the sparrow. Not one of them falls to the
ground without your Father. Are you not better than sparrows?"
He said, consider the lilies of the field. They toil not,
neither do they spin, and yet Solomon in all his glory was
never dressed up like one of those lilies. Are you not better
than the grass of the field which today is and tomorrow is cast
into the oven? Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and His righteousness. The kingdom of God and His righteousness,
not the kingdoms of this world, and what you can gain through
the kingdoms of this world, and what you can profit by a connection
with the kingdoms of this world. But you seek God's kingdom and
His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.
Happy is that man who seeks God's kingdom and His righteousness,
for these other things will be added. Now let's go back to Psalm
1, and let's talk about the blessed man. That's my subject this morning,
the blessed man. In Psalm 1, verse 1, David said,
Happy, blessed is the man. And then he lists several things,
several characteristics of that man. Number one, Psalm 1, verse
1, he says, Happy is the man who does not walk in the counsel
of the ungodly. Now, my friends, the ungodly
have their counsel. Their counsel is their wisdom.
That's what c-o-u-n-s-e-l, counsel, is their wisdom, their understanding. The wisdom of men is foolishness
with God. And happy is that man who does
not walk in the so-called natural wisdom of this flesh, but he
has found Christ to be his wisdom. Who does not walk in the understanding
of the flesh, but he has found Christ to be his wisdom. The
wisdom of men is foolishness with God. The understanding of
men is darkness. God says, my thoughts are not
your thoughts. There's a way that seemeth right
unto me, but at the end thereof is destruction." And happy, David
said, is that man who has turned from his own natural understanding
and his own natural wisdom, and he's seen it to be utter foolishness
in the eyes of God, and he has found Christ to be his wisdom.
For he of God is made unto us wisdom. Christ is our wisdom. and the justice of God and the
righteousness of God and the ways of God and the will of God
are all understood in their relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ. He
is our wisdom. He is the truth. He said, you
shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. I
am the truth. No man can know the truth of
God or the truth about God except as he knows Christ. Christ is
our wisdom. And happy is that man who has
been able to lay aside his own natural wisdom, I thought. Now
this is what I think. You hear that all the time. Well,
what we think is not what God thinks. And what we understand
to be the way is not God's way. We've got to submit our so-called
wisdom to His wisdom. And happy is that man who's been
able to do that. He's been able to lay aside his
natural understanding and his natural wisdom and his natural
thoughts, and he has found Everything God wants him to know, revealed
in Christ. And the more he knows Christ,
the more that God reveals to him. As he grows in grace, he
grows in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. All right,
watch this. Happy, secondly. Happy is the
man who does not stand in the way of sinners. Sinners not only
have their counsel, but they have their way. What is their
way? Theirs is the way of flesh. It's the way of materialism.
It's the way of dishonesty. It's the way of covetousness.
It's the way of bigotry and malice and hatred and vengeance. This is the way of the sinner.
Happy is that man who walks not in that way and stand not in
that way. Christ said, I am the way. And when we find that way, Christ
to be our way, What do we mean by that? That means that we,
Christ's character and Christ's commandments, become our will
and our desire. We desire to walk in his footsteps. You see, he said, let the wicked
forsake his own way and let him follow the Lord. I've got to
forsake my... I can't go my way and God's way.
It's an impossibility. And happy is that man who has
been willing to turn his back on his way and follow Christ. And watch this, the third now.
Happy is the man who does not walk in the counsel or wisdom
of ungodly men, but Christ is his wisdom, who does not stand
in the way, the way of dishonesty and deceit and covetousness and
craftiness, but walks in the way of Christ. And happy is that
man who does not sit in the seat of the scornful. Now, the scornful
has sat down. He's totally committed to the
seat of criticism. He's totally committed to make
a mockery of God and of Christ and of the way of salvation.
He's made up his mind. He sat down. He sat down in the
seat of the scornful. He settled in his opinion. He
is not teachable. He is not movable. He is committed
to his prejudice. He's committed to his opinion.
He's committed to his tradition. He cannot be taught. Blessed
is that man who cries, Lord, I'm just a child. Teach me. I'm not a smart aleck, I'm not
wise or prudent. I'm a child, that's what I am,
and I want to be taught. And I realize that we haven't
so much in all the years of our lives touched the hem of his
garment as far as knowing Christ is concerned. We've just started,
we've just commenced to begin. We see through a glass dimly. We know in part. We prophesy
in part. We can't sit down in the seat
of the scornful, the skeptic, the agnostic. I won't sit there.
I want to walk in the way of the seeker, the learner, the
disciple, the follower. Happy is that man. Happy is that
man. And then notice verse 2. Blessed
is the man. whose delight is in the word
of the Lord. That's what he's saying here.
He delighteth in the word or the law of the Lord. Happy is
that man, fortunate, well-off, who loves God's word. Now, I
don't mean a man who reads it or hears it out of a sense of
duty or responsibility. I'm talking about that man whose
delight is in the word of God. And in that word does he meditate
day and night. He's like somebody gave the illustration,
a cow out in the field. And he just keeps eating grass.
You see that cow hardly lifts his head. He just keeps her head.
She just keeps eating grass, eating grass, eating grass, eating
grass. And then she'll go off somewhere and stand there and
chew, chew the cud. They say, well, somebody told
me that cow just filled herself with grass. And then she begins
to belch it up or something and just stands there and chews it
and meditates upon it. And he's saying, blessed is the
man who hears God's Word and who studies God's Word and who
reads God's Word and goes to hear God's Word preached, and
then he meditates upon it. He meditates upon it. He studies
the Word of God. Joshua said, listen to Joshua,
come hither and hear the Word of the Lord your God. Come listen.
God's going to speak. David said, listen to this, the
Word of God is perfect. It converts the soul. It makes
wise the simple. It rejoices the heart. It enlightens
the eyes. It's more to be desired than
gold. And in keeping the Word of God,
there's great reward. Blessed is that man, happy is
that man who delights in the Word of God. Do you? Well, if
you do, you're a happy man. If you found that book to be
precious promises, I don't mean a scrapbook in which to keep
the clippings and the Somebody's hair from the first haircut and
a clipping about somebody's death and and you discharge papers
from World War one and pictures of the grandbabies Anybody it
desecrates the Word of God using it for a scrapbook ought to be
ashamed of themselves I'm talking about a man who delights in the
Word of God who treasures it and loves it and Delights in
it and meditates upon it. Our Lord said blessed are they
who hear the Word of God and keep it Paul said, faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Peter said, as newborn
babies desire the sincere milk of the word, that you may grow
thereby. Blessed and happy is the man who has found this blessed
treasure to be the most valuable of all gifts. Wouldn't you hate
to be without God's word? Some of you wouldn't miss it,
would you? It's been so long since you've read it. One great
old preacher said, that in the average home, you could write
with your finger, in the dust on the Bible, the word damnation. And that's right. Christ said,
my word will judge you, and we know so little about the book.
But it's because men have no love for it. You have no love
for God's word. If you loved it, you'd read it.
If preachers loved it, they'd preach it. If people loved it,
they'd go to hear it. The word of God. Happy is the
man. who loves the Word of God. And
then look at verse 3. Happy is the man who is like
a tree planted by the rivers of water. I see so much here
I could take a whole program on it, but let me ask two or
three or four questions. First of all, how did that tree
get there by the rivers of living water? It was planted. He shall be like a tree planted.
It was planted. It didn't grow accidentally.
It didn't grow accidentally. It didn't plant itself. It was
planted by the Lord. Our Lord said in Matthew 15,
13, every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall
be rooted up. And this tree, this blessed tree,
God planted it. Well, where did he plant it?
Well, he planted it by the rivers of water. He didn't plant it
out in a desert. He didn't plant it out in a wasteland. He didn't plant it out in a wilderness
where it would die from lack of nourishment and lack of strength
and lack of sap. He planted it by the river. That's
where the trees are green. I was out in Texas one time in
a meeting and it had a drought there for about seven or eight
months. It hadn't rained and there was a river and down by
the river the trees were just as green and everywhere else
they were about dead. Who is this river, this water,
rivers of water? It's Christ. And he's called
the rivers because it's a plentiful source. It never runs dry. He's
the river of living water. He's the everlasting stream that
gives life and nourishment to his people. And they're planted
in Christ. And they get all their nourishment
from him, all their grace from him, all their righteousness
from him, all their wisdom from him, all their life from him.
All right, notice this. What are its fruits? It says,
he shall be like a tree, this happy man, planted by the rivers
of water that brings forth his fruit in his season. Whose fruits? The Lord's fruits, the one that
planted it, the owner, the husbandman, his fruit, he's the owner. And
it brings forth fruit in his season, but also the tree's fruit. Each of God's people have their
special gifts. He gives to everyone several
as He will, and they'll bring forth fruit, every one of them.
There are no fruitless believers. Our Lord came to the tree on
which there was nothing but leaves, and He cursed it. There's fruit. Every Christian has fruit. His
fruit in his season, in God's own time, in God's due time,
in the time for that fruit, for that tree to bear that fruit.
It'll bear it when God pleases, in due time. Or it may go some
time without evidence of a strong fruit, but it'll have fruit.
You know, the fruit of the Spirit is love and joy and peace and
longsuffering and meekness and kindness. And you without fruit
better do some examination because this tree, this happy man's planted,
God planted him in Christ and he's going to bring forth his
fruit in his season. And notice this, what's the tree's
future? It shall not wither. All of God's
trees are evergreen. They never wither. No cold wind
of trial shall ever destroy them. No hot, dry famine shall ever
kill them. He said, my sheep, hear my voice.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Never. So this tree, planted by the
rivers, the abundant stream, the everlasting stream, the plentiful
source of life, Christ Jesus, will bring forth his fruit in
his season. And his leaf shall not wither,
and whatsoever he doeth, And everything he doeth, he doeth
for the glory of God. At least that's his motive, that's
his objective, to do what he does for the glory of God. And
it shall not fail. His leaf shall not wither, and
whatsoever he doeth, it'll prosper. Isaiah said this about our Master.
He said, the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
I'm not saying that everything I do out of selfish purposes
is going to prosper. It's not. And everything I do
for my own to accomplish my own will and way is not going to
prosper necessarily, but the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper
in this tree. What God willed to be done by
this believer, it'll prosper, whatever that is. All right,
notice this, the ungodly are not so. That is, they can never
be happy. They can never be happy because, and this is why, they're
like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Now, the chaff
may spend some time with the wheat, but there's coming a day
of separation. There's coming a day when it
will be sifted and the wheat will be preserved and put in
the storehouse, and the chaff will be borne by the wind out
into the wasteland, out into the wilderness. They can't be
happy. They're like chaff, which the
wind driveth away. And they shall not be able to
stand in the judgment. The unrighteous shall not be
able to stand. They're going to fall. We're going to stand
by God's grace. by Christ intercession. We stand
in him. We're seated in him. But the
ungodly shall not be able to stand before the force of God's
judgment and wrath and condemnation because the Lord knows the way
of the righteous. What is the way of the righteous?
It's Christ. But the way of the ungodly, that's his own way. I'm going to have my way. That's
all right, preacher. It is all right, my friend. It'll
all be all right. But you're not going to have
your way. The way of the ungodly shall perish. God's going to
have his way. He knows the way of the righteous,
that's Christ. Your way, it'll come to an end. For a while you'll have it, but
it'll come to a close.