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Psalm 1

THE SAINT AND THE SINNER

INTRO

1. This Hebrew hymnbook begins with two "orphan" psalms; that is, with two psalms the authors

of which are not given.

a) Psalm 1

b) Psalm 2

These are two psalms without author or inscription, owning no stated author but God.

2. Psalm 1 has to do with the law.

Psalm 2 has to do with prophecy.

THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS!

a) On these two great hinges all the Old Testament revelation hangs.

b) On these two great hinges all the vast themes which make up the psalms are suspended.

3. Other points:

Psalm 1 Psalm 2

1. Is emotional. 1. Is intellectual.

•Happy is the man who... •A question: Why?

2. Begins with a blessing; ends with a curse. 2. Begins with a curse; ends in a blessing.

3. Essentially a psalm of Christ. 3. Essentially a psalm of Anti-christ.

4. Shows the meditation of the godly. 4. Shows the meditation of the ungodly.

4. These two psalms summarize for us the content of the whole book of Psalms.

5. Psalm 1 gives us a picture of the godly man and the ungodly man---the saint and the sinner.

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I. THE GODLY MAN (v.1-3)

•We begin on a joyful note...blessed, or happy.

•In fact, the Hebrew is in the plural.

•We would say, "Oh, the blessednesses of the man."

•God gives out blessings in the plural, not one at a time.

A. The Godly Man's Path

•He is separated from the world. (v.1)

"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,

nor standeth in the way of sinners,

nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful."

•Modern psychology tells us to emphasis the positive.

•God begins here by emphasizing the negative.

a) Happiness is marked by the things a man does not do...

*places he will not go

*books he will not read

*movies he will not watch

*company he will not keep

•Ahh, the power of negative thinking.

#1. He Does Not Listen To The Ungodly Man.

a) Illustration:

A Christian becomes involved in a car accident which clearly is his fault and does considerable damage to the other person's car. The attending police officer writes a citation and hands him a summons to appear in court. The man consults a lawyer who is none too scrupulous and who goes over the citation carefully and finds a clerical error. He goes into court to cross-examine the police officer:

"Where did this accident happen, officer?"

"At the corner of 23rd and Main."

"You made out this citation?"

"Yes, sir."

"What is the date on this citation, officer?"

"April 21. The time is 5:30 P.M."

The lawyer turns to the judge: "Your honor, according to this police officer, my client is suppose to have been involved in this accident on April 21. My client was not even in the city on the 21st of April. He was not even in the country."

The judge says: "Case dismissed."

The man gets off on a technicality. He is guilty, the police officer knows he is guilty, and the injured party knows he is guilty. However, following "the counsel of the ungodly," he is able to get off.

b) Many people think that would be very clever; really it is very crooked.

c) How far would this Christian get in offering a tract or word of testimony

to the police officer or the injured motorist?

#2. He Does Not Linger With The Sinful Man.

a) There is nothing wrong with being friendly to lost men and women.

1) Jesus was.

2) But always for the purpose of leading them to a higher, holier

way of life.

b) The way: means not to participate in their sinful activities.

c) Examples:

1) Abraham: When he went down to Egypt to escape the famine

in Canaan; lied about his wife, Sarah.

2) Lot: When he moved into Sodom, lost his family.

3) Peter: When he warmed himself at the world's fire, denied

the Lord, and cursed men.

#3. He Does Not Laugh At The Scornful Man.

a) Note the progression in wickedness: the ungodly, the sinner, the scornful

b) Note the progression in backsliding: walking, standing, sitting

AS THE COMPANY GETS WORSE

SIN INCREASES ITS HOLD.

c) The happy, happy man avoids the seat of the scornful.

d) Where are you most likely today to find the chair of the scorners?

IT IS THE CLASSROOM OF THE ATHEIST AND HUMANIST

WHO DELIGHT IN SHREDDING THE FAITH

OF THE UNLEARNED.

e) What do scorners say?

Consider a typical list from our own RCA graduates in secular colleges

that these are things their professor have taught them:

1) The Bible is full of gross errors.

2) The Bible is no more inspired than Shakespeare.

3) The Bible is a collection of myths, folklore, and fables.

4) Jesus is not God.

5) Jesus was not born of a virgin.

6) Jesus was a good man...the flower of evolution.

7) The New Testament documents are unreliable.

8) Socialism and Marxism are superior to capitalism.

f) Day after day things like this are poured into the minds of young people;

it has an effect.

g) The godly man is separated from the world; he avoids the paths of those

who have no love for the Lord.

B. The Godly Man's Pleasure

•He is Satisfied With The Word. (v.2)

His delight is in the law of the Lord;

and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

#1. The Word of God Has Captured His Full Affection.

a) He has a different counselor than the ungodly man.

b) He finds different company than the sinful man.

c) He has a different cause than the scornful man.

d) His first love is for the Word of God.

#2. The Word of God Has Claimed His Full Attention.

a) He does not pour over the books of the scornful, but over the Scriptures.

b) "Meditation" is not like the Hinduism/New Age meditation pawned off on the truth-seekers of today.

1) Beware of any philosophy which teaches how to disengage the mind from deliberate and normal thought processes so it can be free to receive impressions from elsewhere.

2) Such teachings lead to demonic suggestion.

c) Biblical meditation is coming into the presence of God with an open

Bible in hand and saying, "Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth."

d) Here is a list of questions we can ask as we study/meditate upon

the Word:

#1. Is there any sin here for me to avoid?

#2. Is there any promise for me to claim?

#3. Is there any victory to gain?

#4. Is there any blessing to enjoy?

#5. Is there any truth I have never seen before about God, Christ,

the Holy Spirit, about man, sin?

#6. What is the main thing I can learn here?

e) Having Bible study with a pen and pad in hand is a good practice:

1) Writing maketh a man exact.

2) If we cannot verbalize it, we haven't learned anything.

C. The Godly Man's Prosperity

•He Is Situated By The Waters. (v.3)

"And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,

that bringeth forth his fruit in his season;

his leaf also shall not wither;

and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."

1. Water symbolizes in Scripture cleansing...here, specifically the Word of God.

a) Water for drinking symbolizes the Spirit of God.

b) Meditation in Scripture releases the river of God's Spirit so that our

lives are refreshed and revitalized.

7 Characteristics of The Life Situated By The River:

#1. His Prominence: He is like "a tree."

#2. His Permanence: He is like a tree "planted."

a) Unlike the grass that is mowed down each harvest.

b) A tree sends its roots down deep into the soil.

c) It has a deep, abundant life.

#3. His Position: He is planted "by the rivers of water."

a) The droughts which bring bleakness and barrenness to others, do not affect him.

b) He has an unfailing source of life.

#4. His Productivity: He "brings forth fruit."

a) He is a blessing to everyone.

#5. His Propriety: He brings forth his fruit "in his season."

a) The fruit is of the Spirit.

b) Our job is to remain in place, so when He is ready for us to bring forth fruit, we will.

#6. His Perpetuity: "His leaf also shall not wither."

a) Some trees lose their leaves in winter.

b) Some trees are evergreen.

c) We are to be like an evergreen, not affected by the weather--- always the same.

#7. His Prosperity: "Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."

a) Everything will prosper: his family life, his business life, his church life, and his personal life.

Such is the godly man...the happy, happy man.

*******

II. THE GODLESS MAN (v.4-6)

Note: "The ungodly are not so..."

•This is the person who leaves God out of his life..."the ungodly."

•This is the mildest description of the lost man in the Bible.

•By definition a man is either:

married or unmarried

happy or unhappy

thankful or unthankful

godly or ungodly

•The ungodly man is driven, doomed, and damned.

A. He Is Driven. (v.4)

"The ungodly are not so:

but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away."

1. The contrast of the ungodly to the life of the godly is strongly emphasized here.

a) In the Hebrew there is a much more pungent way of expressing the

double-negative of this verse.

b) "Not so the ungodly, not so."

2. In contrast to the towering tree, with its roots deep in the soil, nourished by a

perennial stream, the ungodly is likened to "the chaff which the wind driveth away."

3. Point: The unsaved man is at the mercy of forces he does not see and which

he cannot control.

a) It is a picture of a ship, its engines broken, its steering out of order,

caught in the grip of a turbulent storm.

b) It is being driven straight for the jagged rocks...straight for disaster.

c) And there is not a thing the ungodly can do to save himself.

4. Such are the forces at work in the life of the ungodly.

a) They are satanic forces wielded by "the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience."

b) The unsaved man doesn't believe in Satan or in evil spirits.

c) His education has taught him only to believe in what he can test with

his senses.

d) The pressure of evil spirits is a real pressure on the life of the unsaved.

5. This is not the picture of a man who is the master of his own soul---and that

is always the false promise from the devil when he sets out to destroy

what God has created.

B. He Is Doomed. (v.5)

"Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgement,

nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous."

1. The sinner has no standing in the day of judgment.

2. He will be summoned to the great white throne of God...

...and he will find heaven and earth have fled away.

a) Everything familiar will be gone.

b) Everything he has sought to build, invest his time in, used his talents

to glorify....gone!

c) This is the man who built his house upon the sand and the judgment

has swept it all away.

3. Illustration:

Britain's illustrious Queen Elizabeth launched the ships which smashed the power of Spain and saved England from the papacy and the Spanish Inquisition. She set Britain on the road to empire, inaugurated a golden age, and reigned in pomp and splendor for 45 years. Though she was a staunch Protestant one wonders how much she knew of the true salvation of God.

The historians tell us how she died, propped up on her throne, a haggard old woman of 70, frantically hanging on to life, desperately fighting off the last enemy. Her last words have rung down the centuries:

"All my possessions for a moment of time."

But death came, bore away her soul, and left her clutching fingers riveted to the arms of her deserted throne.

C. He Is Damned. (v.6)

"For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous;

but the way of the ungodly shall perish."

1. There are only two ways:

1st: The way of the Cross...... leads to home in glory.

2nd: The way of the Curse...... leads to a lost eternity.

2. 4 facts about the way of the Curse:

#1. It is called the broad way.

#2. Our feet are on it by nature and by practice